Maybe it’s a car repair you keep putting off… or the health problems of aging parents weighing heavily on your mind.

Maybe you’re just stressed because you feel like you’re being pulled in too many directions.

Or, maybe, you’re just not drinking enough…

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Under-hydration over-amplifies your stress hormone

Even when you’re not thirsty enough to notice, being under-hydrated could be silently working against you — by intensifying your stress response and leading to trouble on the health front.

A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that individuals who drank less than 1.5 liters of fluid – equivalent to seven cups of tea – per day had a cortisol response to stress that was over 50% higher than those who met daily water intake recommendations.

When the body senses it’s dehydrated, whether due to inadequate fluid intake or fluid loss, it triggers the release of the hormone vasopressin, that acts primarily on the kidneys to promote water reabsorption.

The sustained release of vasopressin strains the kidneys, which are working harder than usual to maintain blood volume and electrolyte balance.

But vasopressin also acts on the brain’s stress-response center—the hypothalamus — telling it to make the adrenal glands pump out more and more cortisol.

Professor Neil Walsh, a physiologist in LJMU’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, and lead researcher, said, “Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone and exaggerated cortisol reactivity to stress is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and depression.”

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Easy and effective cortisol-reduction strategies

Being hydrated may help your body manage stress more effectively by preventing the release of excessive cortisol. But what happens if you drink enough and still feel like you’re on the stress struggle bus?

Look at your diet…

According to doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, foods that can slow the production of cortisol include:

• Magnesium-rich foods like bananas, avocados and dark chocolate
• Omega-3 foods, including salmon, anchovies and chia seeds
• Foods rich in probiotics for gut health, such as Greek yogurt, kombucha and sauerkraut

At the same time, avoid these foods known to increase cortisol release:

• Caffeinated drinks
• Alcohol
• High in sugar snacks
• Refined carbohydrates
• Unhealthy fats

For extra support, consider adaptogen herbs. They get their name because of their exceptional ability to help the body manage stress and restore balance.

They can also relieve adrenal fatigue. Your adrenal glands aren’t just home to cortisol. These tiny glands produce several hormones that impact metabolism, sugar levels, immune response, blood pressure, sexual function and more.

Here’s a list to get you started:

• Boswellia
• Holy Basil
• Ashwagandha
• Rhodiola
• L-Theanine

Sources:

How dehydration secretly fuels anxiety and health problems – ScienceDaily

Tips to Reduce Cortisol Levels and Dial Down Stress – Cleveland Clinic

The post The cortisol-link between stress and dehydration appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But the signs of mental exhaustion can be harder to recognize — even though they impact an awful lot of us.

Because of this, we don’t always know when to stop to try to recover. Instead, we often push past the point of no return, leading to burnout.

So how can you know that your brain is throwing up red flags, begging you to take a step back and get some much-needed time and outside support?

Here are the top 10 mental exhaustion warning signs you should heed…

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#1 – Anger or impatience

When your brain is drained, your mood can suffer. You might wonder why you feel so short-tempered. But mental exhaustion makes it harder to control your emotions.

So, if you snap at others because you’re easily irritated by small things that would usually not bother you, you could be well on the way to mental exhaustion.

#2 – Inability to get your work done

Mental exhaustion can make even small tasks feel insurmountable.

You may be unable to concentrate long enough to complete projects or get distracted. Or you could even lack the motivation to get things off the ground in the first place.

If that sounds familiar, check off this sign that you’re mentally overwhelmed.

#3 – Zoning out

Pushing the limits of mental fatigue can make your mind wander and even lead to drowsiness.

While this can cause problems at work and in your daily life at home, it can become dangerous when you need to pay attention and react quickly, such as when driving, operating machinery or caring for children.

Don’t ignore this mental exhaustion warning sign for your safety and that of others.

#4 – Lack of sleep

While it might seem like you would sleep better when your brain is overworked, it’s not so simple.

Research has shown that the reverse is true, with increased mental exhaustion leading to insomnia. Even worse, this can cause a negative feedback loop, with lack of sleep worsening mental exhaustion.

Don’t let this sign of mental exhaustion take over.

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#5 – Depression

You can feel numb or hopeless when you’ve pushed your brain past its limits. You might even feel like you’re moving in slow motion because you lack the energy to get through your daily tasks.

If any of these problems or low moods last for more than two weeks, it could be a signal that your depression is more serious and that it’s time to talk to your doctor.

#6 – Increased worrying

If you’ve been feeling increased levels of worry, it could be a sign you’re mentally exhausted.

That happens when your sympathetic nervous system, which kicks off your ‘fight or flight’ response, is triggered by mental exhaustion. Fight or flight is meant to be temporary.

But when cortisol, the stress hormone that kickstarts it, stays elevated, it suppresses serotonin (a key feel-good hormone). This imbalance creates a cycle of stress, worry and depression.

#7 – Difficulty exercising

Everything feels harder when your brain is at a breaking point, especially exercise. Many researchers believe this is because mental exhaustion decreases your tolerance for exercise.

This can make it feel like your regular exercise routine is more difficult than usual and requires more effort. That can cause you to give up on something actually good for relieving mental stress.

#8 – Changes in healthy habits

Mental fatigue can leave you grasping at straws to feel better. You could snack more often or choose unhealthy options like sugary, fatty or salty foods to “feel better.”

On the other hand, some people suffering from mental exhaustion may not have an appetite at all. Either of these changes could lead to corresponding changes on your bathroom scale.

Additionally, mental exhaustion can cause some people to turn to unhealthy habits like alcohol and drugs to manage their stress.

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#9 – Making mistakes

Because mental exhaustion can decrease focus and increase distraction, you can make more mistakes than usual. It also makes it much harder for you to catch and fix your mistakes.

#10 – Higher pain levels

Finally, one of the biggest flashing warning signs that you are mentally exhausted is experiencing pain more acutely.

This can include everything from headaches and fibromyalgia symptoms to back pain, sore muscles and even stomach and GI concerns. If your pain levels go up, your brain could be begging for a mental health break.

Turn mental exhaustion around

Taking a temporary break from stressors is a good step toward relief from mental exhaustion. But if you’ve dealt with these signs for a long time, you may have developed adrenal fatigue.

Years of constant excess cortisol production sets off an autoimmune inflammatory response in your entire body, affecting the adrenal-hypothalamus-pituitary feedback loop.

When I experienced mental exhaustion and adrenal fatigue in my early adulthood, I was led by an integrative doctor to adaptogenic herbs. As their name implies, they help our bodies adapt to changes, like those brought about by stress, worry and depression. I’ve found relief using a formulation that includes:

• Ashwagandha
• L-theanine
• Rhodiola
• Holy Basil
• Boswellia

Take mental exhaustion as seriously as you do physical exhaustion. The effects on your health and quality of life can be just as potent.

Sources:

Signs You’re Mentally Exhausted – WebMD

The post 10 warning signs you’re mentally exhausted appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Those well-intentioned resolutions can actually create stress and feelings of failure when we don’t live up to our own expectations. And a lot of experts agree, that’s just more stress no one needs.

But, here’s the thing. We can’t help but reflect on the transition from the old year to the new one without thinking about what we might like to be different about our lives.

For most of us, that’s simply to feel better… have a little more energy, feel calmer, happier and mentally sharper… and feel positive about how we’re aging.

Ultimately that starts with getting back to the basics of good self-care. So toss the resolutions and try three simple habits that take little effort but payout big-time…

#1 – Boost your morning hydration

If there’s one health hack you should do every morning, it’s to drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up.

In fact, one study found that in participants who had not consumed water for 12 hours overnight:

• Drinking about 7 ounces of water upon waking — just one glass — not only helped them recover from nightly dehydration and reduce thirst but also reduced anger and fatigue and improved mood.
• Even better, drinking two glasses boosted working memory.
• Those who didn’t drink any water complained of being tired, grumpy and thirsty — not surprising!

The Heart Foundation warns that dehydration can thicken blood and impact circulation, and also recommends getting in the habit of drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning!

#2 – Take a walk once a day

A daily walk is a simple healthy habit just about anyone can start. Walk a little or walk a lot.

And when you pick up the pace, the benefits ramp up for your telomeres — the little caps at the ends of your DNA. Short telomeres are synonymous with aging and frailty, so you want to keep yours long for as long as you can — and walking briskly seems to do the trick.

Research using the genetic data of more than 400,000 U.K. adults found that a faster walking pace was associated with longer telomeres — regardless of the amount of physical activity — and could translate to the equivalent of turning your biological age back 16 years!

#3 – Prioritize sleep

A mind-body health practitioner, whose advice I’ve always respected, said to me a long time ago about sleep, “Do not look at it as a privilege or a treat; it is an essential piece of the wellness puzzle.”

He also said getting eight hours a night can do more to ward off risk of heart disease, stroke, anxiety, obesity and reduce pain, than diet and exercise alone. But a lot of adults struggle with getting a good night’s sleep.

If stress happens to be part of the mix — as it often is — adrenal fatigue is often the cause of sleepless nights. But unless your doctor practices functional medicine, you’ll never know.

You might get a prescription for sleeping pills, but it won’t be long before other health problems begin to snowball…

Less stress, better days ahead

The adrenal glands sit atop your kidneys and produce hormones necessary for moderating your stress response — also known as your “flight-or-fight” response. When we’re under a constant level of stress, the stress hormone cortisol fires almost constantly, and the adrenal glands can’t keep balance.

The result? Disrupted sleep, to start. But if not corrected, weight problems, mood swings, loss of energy, cognitive trouble and more can follow.

I refused to lose my health and vitality to stress and turned to “adaptogens” for help. Adaptogens are nutritional herbs known for their special ability to help your body manage stress and restore balance, including Boswellia, Holy Basil, Ashwagandha, Rhodiola and L-Theanine.

Along with mindfulness practices, stress has much less of a hold on me. Unlike resolutions that only add to your stress levels, take concrete steps to support your health this year and beyond.

The post Why New Year’s resolutions can backfire appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But the condition it’s most closely linked to is diabetes.

In fact, the two are so likely to go hand-in-hand that doctors have coined a term for it – ‘diabesity.’

According to Cleveland Clinic endocrinologist, Jay Waddadar, MD,” “Diabesity is a disease with enormous potential to cause ill effects on the body in the long run. Diabesity is a silent disease that damages your body if it’s not controlled, even while you feel fine.”

However, not everyone with obesity develops diabetes, and a team of scientists at Rutgers University believes they’ve uncovered why and how it could help others…

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Stress and obesity-induced insulin resistance

Scientists have long thought obesity causes diabetes by impairing the way insulin signals within the liver and fat cells.

However, while looking at hormone levels in mice, the Rutgers team discovered that overeating in normal mice increases the stress hormone norepinephrine within days, resulting in stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system.

This insight quickly led the researchers in a new direction: determining what effect excess production of this hormone has in spurring diabetes development.

To do so, they fed genetically engineered mice (unable to produce stress hormones) the same obesity-inducing high-fat and high-sugar diet. But even though these mice ate as many calories and got just as obese as normal mice, they didn’t develop metabolic disease.

Their conclusion?

Overeating and obesity increase the body’s sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight response), raises the level of the stress hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine and causes insulin resistance.

The new findings may help explain why some obese individuals develop diabetes while others don’t and why stress can worsen diabetes even with little weight gain.

“Many types of stress – financial stress, marital stress, the stress associated with living in dangerous areas or suffering discrimination or even the physical stress that comes from excessive alcohol consumption — all increase diabetes and synergize with the metabolic stress of obesity,” said Christoph Buettner, chief of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

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Reduce the effects of stress

“We hope this paper provides a different take on insulin resistance,” Dr. Buettner added. “It may also explain why none of the drugs currently used to treat insulin resistance, except insulin itself, directly increases cellular insulin signaling.”

That makes addressing how stress impacts the body, specifically diabetes, something that can’t be ignored. And while overeating and stress can partner up to increase the risk for diabetes, developing healthy eating habits should still be at the top of any list to lower those risks.

Stress, however, can be harder to tame. There are a few lifestyle factors that can help manage stress, including exercise, medication or prayer and learning to say “no.”

However, we can’t talk about stress and the body’s natural fight-or-flight response without discussing the adrenal glands.

The adrenals secrete several hormones including epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and cortisol, which have similar functions — including increasing the heart rate and force of heart contractions, increasing blood flow to the muscles and brain, relaxing airway smooth muscles, and assisting in glucose (sugar) metabolism.

All of these functions are necessary for the fight or flight response needed during times of short-term stress. But when stress becomes chronic (long-term), the adrenals become fatigued. Cortisol output can contribute to a recurrent stress loop that can’t be resolved appropriately, potentially resulting in elevated norepinephrine.

It becomes difficult to rein the fight or flight response back in with hormones that normally would, like DHEA, and we can experience problems with blood sugar, weight gain, low energy levels and more.

Adaptogens are active ingredients in certain plants that help your body adapt to stress. Some adaptogen herbs, including ashwagandha and holy basil, have been shown to improve the body’s response to physical and emotional stress:

• Ashwagandha has a positive effect on the endocrine and nervous systems by regulating metabolism and how the brain responds to stress.
• Holy basil also helps to balance blood sugar and cholesterol and also provides a rich source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.

Sources:

Researchers suggest stress hormones explain how obesity causes diabetes – EurekAlert!

Diabesity: How Obesity Is Related to Diabetes – Cleveland Clinic

Adrenal Glands — Johns Hopkins Medicine

Adaptogens — Cleveland Clinic

The one thing that reverses the amazing benefits of healthy fats – Easy Health Options

The post Obesity’s fight-or-flight response driving diabetes appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Frequently, fibromyalgia symptoms begin after an infection, surgery, stressful events or some type of physical injury. However, it can also strike with no obvious cause.

But a study at York University in England shows that doing yoga exercises can help reduce the physical pain of fibromyalgia, and here’s why…

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A needed boost of cortisol

According to scientists, yoga influences what is called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis).

The HPA axis consists of a cascade of endocrine pathways that respond to specific negative feedback loops involving the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland and adrenal glands. One role of the HPA axis centers around the release of the hormone cortisol.

Studies show that women with fibromyalgia have below-average cortisol levels. Those reduced levels make them much more sensitive to stress, pain and fatigue.

It’s been proposed that adrenal fatigue or adrenal insufficiency is part of the cause behind fibromyalgia.

The adrenal glands are small glands that sit atop both kidneys. They’re your “lifesaving” organs — a  nickname they earned because they act as a control center for our “fight or flight” response by secreting hormones that kick in during stressful situations.

However overworked adrenal glands become fatigued and function much less effectively, resulting in insufficient output of cortisol.

The research shows that doing 75 minutes of yoga twice a week for at least two months can beneficially increase your cortisol levels and help the body produce cortisol at the correct times of day.

“Ideally, our cortisol levels peak about 30-40 minutes after we get up in the morning and decline throughout the day until we’re ready to go to sleep,” says researcher Kathryn Curtis. “The secretion of the hormone, cortisol, is dysregulated in women with fibromyalgia.”

She adds that “Hatha yoga promotes physical relaxation by decreasing activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which lowers heart rate and increases breath volume.”

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Give Hatha yoga a try

Hatha yoga is a term that encompasses most types of yoga practiced in the Western hemisphere, including vinyasa, believed to open up the body’s energy channels and let the energy flow more freely.

In fact, in my experience, yoga and other types of strengthening and balancing exercises can also improve your mood and sense of well-being by demonstrating how you can shape your mind and body for the better. No matter what physical problems you may suffer, whether it is fibromyalgia or some other chronic issue, yoga can often help you cope with its symptoms more effectively.

Although today’s conventional doctor seems to feel as though almost every problem should be treated with medication, exercises like yoga, and even vitamins and herbs that reduce pain, demonstrate that you have the potential for aiding your own wellness — and that’s healing that a doctor can’t provide.

There are several easy-to-follow yoga videos available on youtube.com if you don’t have a local yoga studio in your community. But if you do live near a studio, I would highly recommend you go. Part of what makes yoga a soothing, healing experience is personal instruction.

The post Boost this hormone to banish fibromyalgia pain appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But now you need to take a nap after grocery shopping and doing a load of laundry.

What happened?

Well, unfortunately for us all, a loss of energy is normal with age.

As you get older, you lose precious mitochondria, the powerhouses of your cells. Your body also creates less adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that’s like the energy delivery man. When optimal, it drops off delightful packages of energy that keep your cells going. But when this delivery man stops coming as frequently, your cells get depleted.

On top of all that, other factors can zap you as you get older, like depression, chronic disease and certain medications.

But the big question is: What can you do to restore that youthful zest, so you don’t feel like a zero-energy zombie for the rest of your life?

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Well, lifestyle plays a powerful role in how much energy — and ATP — you have too. So, you have the power to put more pep in your step by making strategic lifestyle changes.

Here are six changes you can make to reignite your youthful energy:

1. Be more active
When you’re feeling low energy, it’s hard to stay active. You’d rather binge-watch Game of Thrones for the third time than head to a Zumba class. But energy begets energy. If you can push past your doldrums and exercise anyway, soon you’ll have more energy overall. Why? Because physical activity conserves ATP, that energy delivery man I was telling you about. It strengthens muscles, making them more efficient, which makes them use less ATP. It also causes your brain to release chemicals that make you feel more energetic.

2. Stop stressing
When you’re stressed, your adrenal glands pump out the hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes your body to produce less ATP. Cortisol also causes inflammation, and inflammation slows the production of ATP too. Additionally, when people experience a constant state of stress, their adrenal glands cannot keep up with the body’s hormonal needs. But if you adopt daily de-stressing practices, you can easily restore your ATP and energy and make cortisol your friend again. Try practices that help you slash stress and stay mindful like meditation, tai chi, and yoga.

3. Eat better
It should come as no surprise that what you eat affects how much energy you have. Eating lots of processed food triggers inflammation. More inflammation means less ATP. Not getting enough vitamins and minerals can hamper your body’s ability to produce ATP too. Then, of course, there’s the matter of how much you’re eating. Eating too little calories can make you feel fatigued. But eating too much can trigger blood sugar spikes that lead to fatigue as well. Try to maintain a balanced and healthy diet that includes mostly fresh, whole foods. You should also get plenty of protein because the fatty acids in protein-rich foods increase the production of ATP.

4. Get plenty of sleep
Not getting enough sleep will make you feel tired — no shocker there. But you may not realize what’s going on behind the scenes in your sleep-deprived body. A lack of sleep increases cortisol levels, which amps up inflammation and decreases ATP. Sleep issues like sleep apnea can also lower the amount of oxygen in your blood, which means less ATP too. Now, if you struggle with insomnia, getting enough sleep may be easier said than done. Some of the more effective ways I’ve found to manage chronic sleep issues include sticking to a set sleeping schedule, cutting back on blue light from electronics, ditching caffeine, supplementing with melatonin, resetting your energetic balance with acupuncture and making yourself sleepier with medicinal marijuana.

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5. Drink more water
Research shows that 75 percent of Americans may suffer from chronic, low-grade dehydration. And dehydration is a serious energy zapper. On top of that, plenty of Americans choose sugary beverages instead of water. These drinks cause blood sugar spikes, which can lead to fatigue. Caffeinated and alcoholic drinks can also contribute to dehydration and fatigue. So, make sure what you’re sipping on daily supports healthy energy levels. Get at least eight cups of water per day, and cut back on caffeinated, sugary and alcoholic beverages.

6. Stay social
When you’re tired all the time, it’s tempting to cancel your dinner plans, curl up on the couch with your dog and read People magazine. But keeping up with your social life will give you more energy in the long run. Isolating yourself puts you at a higher risk of depression. Depression is a major factor in fatigue. Socializing with family and friends also causes your brain to release feel-good chemicals that increase energy levels.

Hopefully, these minor lifestyle changes make you feel as energetic as you did years ago. If they don’t and you find yourself struggling to keep up with daily tasks because you’re so tired, take a trip to your doctor to make sure there’s no medical cause behind your lagging energy levels.

Now, I’ve saved the best til last. All of these six steps can help you kick up your energy levels and produce wellness benefits for your entire body. But I can’t leave without sharing the easiest way to increase your ATP…

And that’s to get more CoQ10 in your body. CoQ10 helps your body produce ATP, and they both fall off with age. You can read more about why CoQ10 may be the magic bullet to a healthier, more energetic life!

Sources:

1. Losing steam? Avoid these energy zappers — Harvard Health Publishing
2. 75% of Americans May Suffer From Chronic Dehydration, According to Doctors — Medical Daily

The post 6 ways to reignite your youthful energy appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Sometimes it seems like these negative moods strike at random.

But the truth is, when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, it may be because you’ve been putting the wrong food on your plate…

Scientists are learning more and more about which foods set you up for a happy, positive mood — and which ones leave you feeling depressed, anxious and irritable.

Fast food, for example, is tied to an increased risk of depression in many, many studies.

So what should you eat to feel good?

Well, research has shown that the answer varies depending on your age. The foods that make you feel good when you’re young, aren’t the same ones that do the trick once you get older…

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Feel-good foods for your age group

When researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York conducted an anonymous internet survey about diet and mood it was an eye-opener…

They asked participants to complete a Food-Mood Questionnaire that closely examined their intake of foods that are known to have a powerful effect on brain chemistry and biology. And here’s what they found…

People between the ages of 18 and 29 feel better when they eat foods that increase the production of mood-boosting brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine. The food that has the strongest impact on these brain chemicals is meat (white or red).

Exercise also has a powerful effect on serotonin and dopamine, which explains why young adults who ate meat less than three times per week and exercised less than three times per week were more likely to feel major mental distress. They just weren’t building up a large enough supply of these critical brain chemicals.

But for people past 30, meat isn’t the most important mood-booster on the menu. Eating a steak won’t do the trick anymore, but there are two dietary choices you can make to promote a positive mood:

1. Eat more antioxidants.
2. Eat less of the foods that trigger the “fight or flight” response and lead to adrenal fatigue.

Researchers found that people over 30 who followed these habits felt happier overall. Why?

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According to Lina Begdache, assistant professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University, the “mature adult mood seems to be more sensitive to regular consumption of sources of antioxidants and abstinence of food that inappropriately activates the innate fight-or-flight response (commonly known as the stress response).”

“With aging, there is an increase in free radical formation (oxidants), so our need for antioxidants increases. Free radicals cause disturbances in the brain, which increases the risk for mental distress. Also, our ability to regulate stress decreases, so if we consume food that activates the stress response (such as coffee and too many carbohydrates), we are more likely to experience mental distress.”

And when it comes to foods that trigger the “fight or flight” response, it’s pretty obvious why those would make your mood take a dive. They encourage your body to produce excessive amounts of the stress hormone cortisol, which makes you feel jittery and irritable. Some of the worst offenders are processed, fried and chargrilled foods that are high in advanced glycation endproducts which promote oxidation and inflammation.

Here are your happy foods…

Ready to make food choices that keep you feeling good?

Well, if you’re 29 or younger, that’s easy enough — getting meat in your diet a few times a week should help. Just make sure to steer clear of processed meats and lunch meats, and eat less read meat.

If you’re 30 or older, it’s time to up your antioxidant intake. You can do that be eating more antioxidant-rich foods like:

• Berries
• Dark chocolate (Here are 7 reasons to eat more!)
• Green tea
• Buckwheat
• Millet
• Barley
• Walnuts
• Almonds
• Pecans
• Artichokes
• Kale
• Olives
• Beets
• Plums
• Apricots
• Clove
• Peppermint
• Sage
• Cinnamon
• Oregano
• Thyme

You’ll also want to avoid those “fight or flight” triggering foods, so reduce or cut out foods like refined carbs, sweets, processed foods, alcohol and caffeine. And don’t forget to eat breakfast every day, because skipping that can activate the stress response in your body too.

If you follow these simple tips, you should be well on your way to a more balanced mood…and much happier mornings.

Your mood depends on the food you eat, and what you should eat changes as you get older — Binghamptom.edu

The post The best feel-good foods by age group appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Do you finish a workout and then compromise the rest of your day trying to recover?

As a trainer who has worked with women for decades, I frequently see women seeking energy from exercise but actually digging themselves into a hole.

That’s because in the early stages of adrenal fatigue, most women don’t even realize what’s happening. We’re so used to pushing through, feeling tired, and having constant to-do lists that low energy levels get swept under the rug. Who has time for that?

The first stage of adrenal fatigue is barely recognizable. The biggest problems don’t occur in the first stage. If you’re in good health, your body has reserves. If you don’t have those reserves initially and or you don’t get relief from the stressors and the situation progresses, that’s when your body is most likely to begin some breakdown.

There are four stages of adrenal fatigue that you want to know about so, as you dive into new fitness goals, you can understand the signs and symptoms your body is sending and handle them accordingly…

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Your adrenal glands support essential functions from metabolism to stress response. But when they become fatigued, problems with sleep quality, unwanted weight gain, moodiness, energy levels and more can take your vitality for a dive. Nutrients called “adaptogens” help restore balance and improve… MORE⟩⟩

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Stage 1

What’s Happening:

• The onset of a stressor (could be anything, i.e. job loss, family changes, loss)
• Elevated cortisol, DHEA, and insulin

Signs and Symptoms:

• Increased arousal and alertness
• Sleep may suffer

How to Cope:

When you have uncontrollable stressors, make changes that help reduce your self-imposed stress.

For example, reduce the frequency, intensity, or duration of exercise. Why? Cortisol produces energy in emotionally, mentally or physically stressful situations in order to calm you down. When you exercise, you normally produce extra cortisol. So if your body is already producing it to help you deal with a stressor, you don’t need any extra from exercise.

Let some things go or get help around the house. Make meal prep easier with shortcuts or making large batches of simple go-to make foods. That being said, make sure what you do eat is high-quality whole food.

Stage 2

What’s Happening:

• Some drop in DHEA because of the increased need for the production of cortisol
• You’re tired but wired

Signs and Symptoms:

• Unhealthy reliance on coffee or sugar during this time
• Might be an unhealthy seek for control with routine, rigidity, or inability to shift gears
• You may be exhausted but have trouble sleeping

How to Cope:

Rely on support systems to help you identify when you’re mood is different. You won’t notice it as much as others when you’re caught in the storm. You may be exhausted but unable to sleep.

Get fresh air. Get time to yourself both with friends and alone doing something you enjoy. Buff up your nutrition through both food and supplements to target nutrient insufficiencies. Reduce your exposure to toxins in your environment.

Stage 3

What’s Happening:

• Further drops in DHEA and testosterone
• Sex hormone precursors shift to cortisol production

Signs and Symptoms:

• Increasing and constant tiredness
• Lack of enthusiasm
• Regular infections or illness
• Lower sex drive

How to Cope:

Shift gears into self-care to prevent a major bottoming out. Take a day off before and or after a weekend to extend your rest time. Unplug from social media. Elevate your nutrition game to add antioxidants (like astaxanthin) and boost overall food quality. Remove alcohol, reduce coffee, and remove any processed foods. Let rest and recovery precede exercise. Move, but primarily in recovery modes like yoga, walks, and outdoor activity. Do things that bring you joy.

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Stage 4

What’s Happening:

• Your body is out of reserves
• The adrenals have already recruited other hormones

Signs and Symptoms:

• Extreme tiredness
• Lack of sex drive
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Weight loss
• Apathy

How to Cope:

Time off, patience and a complete change of lifestyle are required if things go this far: Consider changing a stressful job, especially if you have a long commute or too frequent travel. Nutrition needs to come to the forefront, with a focus on gut health. Stop exercising for now if you haven’t already. Add deep breathing and restorative yoga.

Get help bringing hormone levels to a balance as you make these lifestyle changes (an integrative or alternative physician can help).  Start listening to your body again. Shut down electronics whenever possible. Get outdoors daily for sunlight and fresh air. Guard your sleep and don’t let anything (pets, snoring companions, light) disrupt it. Set things in place to prevent this kind of burnout from happening again.

Your adrenals are linked to other systems in the body. Your thyroid levels can drop when your adrenals are going into high gear. That can be simply a sign of the body balancing itself. It’s not always a sign of thyroid problems initially.

Check-in with your lifestyle habits. Prolonged and regular fatigue could be an early warning sign that you need to make changes now to reverse symptoms and prevent a more serious problem later. Time off, less but higher quality exercise and a reduction of overall stress load can lighten the load on your system.

We don’t take rest and recovery seriously enough until we have to, and then often think the only option is medication. Look first at nutrition, sleep, exercise and the presence of joy and peacefulness in your life. You have control.

The post When hormones drain your workout energy appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But the lack of energy is also depressing. No one wants to turn into a lump on the couch, turning down invitations to have fun with friends and family just because you don’t have the get-up-and-go.

If you’re battling low energy, hormone issues could be at the core of your ebbing energy stores…

Peak Vitality^™

Your adrenal glands support essential functions from metabolism to stress response. But when they become fatigued, problems with sleep quality, unwanted weight gain, moodiness, energy levels and more can take your vitality for a dive. Nutrients called “adaptogens” help restore balance and improve… MORE⟩⟩

⟨www.PeakNatural.com⟩

«SPONSORED»

Low thyroid hormone function

When thyroid-sensitive tissues throughout your body don’t get enough thyroid, you’ll have low energy and other symptoms. Your thyroid-sensitive tissues are your brain, muscles, heart, intestines, skin, and general metabolism/energy). When this occurs, you have a few options. You can (a) take measures to boost your sensitivity to the thyroid hormones you currently have circulating; (b) boost your thyroid gland’s production of hormone; or (c) take a prescription bio-identical thyroid hormone replacement pill every day to ensure your tissues have what they need.

You probably know that the amount of your thyroid hormones is accurately measurable with the standard blood tests TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine). However, these cannot measure how well your thyroid hormones work in your thyroid-sensitive tissues (i.e. their function).

That’s why I ask my patients to check their basal body temperatures, just after awakening but before getting out of bed. If this is low (e.g. below 98.2 F oral or 97.3 F axillary) and you have three or more of the signs/symptoms listed below, then you most likely have low thyroid function…

• Sensitivity to cold; cold hands and feet often
• Feeling tired in the daytime when sitting or at rest
• Unwanted weight gain; morning puffy face/swollen eyelids; water retention
• Constipation, abdominal bloating or colitis symptoms
• High blood cholesterol; high blood pressure
• Memory/concentration impairment; easily confused
• Depressed mood or anxiety upon waking or often during the waking hours
• Dry or slow-growing hair or nails/excessive hair loss; acne, eczema, psoriasis
• Stiff or painful joints; rheumatoid or osteoarthritis; carpal tunnel syndrome
• Hoarse voice, slowed speech
• Endometriosis, infertility, menstrual disorders, or abnormal uterine bleeding
• Frequent colds, sore throats, earaches, or other infections

With a low basal body temperature and more than three signs/symptoms from this list, you most likely have low thyroid function and will most definitely benefit from supplementation with natural thyroid hormone. It safely and effectively reverses many and possibly all of these symptoms within just weeks to months.

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The thyroid’s main job is to make hormones that regulate the heart, brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, muscles and every other organ and tissue. But to function properly, it needs an adequate supply of iodine — something that gets harder to metabolize with age. That’s why… MORE⟩⟩

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Adrenal fatigue (lack of cortisol)

After years of constant or repeated high-stress demands (physical, mental or emotional), you may experience the latent effects of excess cortisol production and then burn-out (not enough cortisol to supply your stress demands). This would be one or more of these signs or symptoms:

• Daytime fatigue: but you may get a second wind of energy at bedtime
• Not sleeping well: Cortisol blocks your sleep hormone melatonin so you toss and turn during the night and cannot turn off your thoughts very easily
• Weight gain around the middle: the classic apple-shape obesity even if you are exercising and eating healthy
• Craving unhealthy foods because cortisol increases hunger to supply energy for your stress needs
• Gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, diarrhea, or constipation (with or without abdominal pain) come in part from excess cortisol secretion
• Sex hormone imbalances due to the “cortisol steal” effect in which your testosterone or estrogen production decreases
• Depressed mood comes from high levels of cortisol which suppresses serotonin (a key feel-good hormone) production
• Accelerated aging of the facial skin (looking older than stated age)

What can you do about this cause of fatigue? To heal from adrenal fatigue, it will require that you stop the repeated physical, mental or emotional stress causing this condition. I realize this is not at all a simple thing to do. That’s because it’s in our nature to stress and worry. We forget who we really are and our purpose here on earth. We forget that we came to learn and that learning to master our very thoughts and feelings is greater than any amount of money, good looks or friends.

There are a variety of ways to manage and master stress so we can enjoy life and have a predominant feeling of peace within you, even in apparently scary times. Also, there are nutrients, herbs, and foods are known to assist in healing adrenal fatigue. Sometimes you may even need to take adrenal extract or cortisol to replace the deficiency.

The post The imbalance at the core of your energy problem appeared first on Easy Health Options®.