Adrenal Fatigue And Metabolic Damage

I appreciate this is a very complex topic and it requires delving into your knowledge of the endocrine system, but I will try to simplify it to the best of my ability. The adrenal glands are small glands sitting on top of each kidney and divided into 2 parts: the adrenal cortex and the medullary substance. The adrenal cortex helps to keep the correct balance between water and sodium, carbohydrates metabolism and regulates blood glucose. It also produces a sex hormone very similar to what is produced in the testes. The adrenal cortex produces 3 types of hormones: . glycocorticoids . mineralcorticoids . sexual hormones These regulate the following: . carbohydrates metabolism . protein metabolism . fat metabolism . development of sexual organs The medullary substance produces adrenaline, a hormone that essentially speeds up your metabolism when your body is faced with stress (fight or flight mechanism). The medullary substance if made of short strings of cells that contain brown granules broadly called catecholamine or more popularly known as adrenaline and noradrenaline. The metabolic stimulation and response is as follows: increased metabolism to support physiological functions in stressful situations more blood is rushed to muscles and to the brain, the heart is stimulated to beat faster in order to pump more blood around increased respiratory rythm and raised blood pressure. increased protein, fats and carbs metabolism, to produce more energy activation of the coagulation mechanism to prepare for potential lesions The production of adrenaline accelerates our metabolism to manage stress adequately and when stress subsides this process slows down and the adrenal glands go back to their normal function. In our times and age the "flight or fight" response is rarely a physical condition, however stress factors such as anxiety, fear, chemical additives or food preservatives, lack of sleep etc. all contribute to adrenal fatigue. When stress is a permanent or a long term occurrence, the adrenal glands exhaust all the energy within the body and they can end up shrinking their own size too.The excessive and continuous production of adrenal hormones lower the immune system and inhibit production of white cells that are relevant to the protection of your body from external attack such as viruses. If you couple this scenario with poor nutrition, constant calories restriction and forced strenuous exercise you can understand how the body will in turn resort to switch to survival mechanism ultimately resulting in muscle catabolism. To maintain good function of the adrenal glands we should avoid any type of stress, being emotional, work related, physiological etc. That is because any stress forces the adrenal glands to work excessively. Insufficient feeding or poor nutrition, over eating, smoking, consumption of alcohol and drugs are all factors that contribute to adrenal fatigue. You could run a simple test to verify how your adrenal glands are working. This test compares two simple measurements of blood pressure: laying down and standing up. This is how you run the test: rest for 5 minutes in a prone position, then take your blood pressure; immediately after, stand up and take another measurement. If the standing blood pressure figure is significantly lower than the laying down one, it is possible your adrenal glands function could be reduced. As previously mentioned, the adrenal glands can under perform or over perform, but the most common situation is their exhaustion which manifests with tiredness, difficulty in getting up in the morning, lack of concentration, poor protein absorption and incorrect metabolism of sugars which in time leads to the inability to burn subcutaneous and visceral fat. If you suspect adrenal fatigue is best to avoid alcohol, coffee and smoking, fried food, sugars and any heavily processed and highly manufactured food. Prefer to consume fresh, organic food and vegetables in their raw form, pulses, and seeds. It would be a good procedure to supplement with panthotenic acid (vit. B5) as lack of it causes an impaired function of the glands, as well as all the vitamin B e C group, and L-thyroxin.