“Adrenal fatigue” is a very general term that has come to mean that the body is not dealing with stress well.
Stress can come from many directions. It can be emotional tension, overwork, too little rest, overtraining, etc. If you're an emotional wreck, are constantly worrying, sleep little, or even over exercise, you could be loading up your adrenals with too much work and stressing them out.
Adrenal Dysfunction
The results of stress and “adrenal fatigue” can be varied. But in all cases, your adrenals are not functioning most likely because of the stress put on them.
You might not produce enough stress hormones (that give you energy throughout the day), your body can become “resistant” to the constant overflow of stress hormones (so that you can't feel their effects), or you could produce these hormones at the wrong time (which can give you insomnia) 8.
Anyway you have it, your stress system is out of whack. And in this case, your quality of life (along with your health) suffers.
Let’s look at the signs that your adrenals are out of whack. These are the tell-tale signs that you could have a case of adrenal fatigue.
The Signs You Have “Adrenal Fatigue”
1. You have trouble sleeping
When your brain is constantly exposed to stress hormones, it’s bad!
Chronic stress can actually kill your neurons, and when this happens, you’ll feel like crap and won’t be able to think as well 1. When your brain is exposed to too frequently to stress hormones, stress hormones prevent your brain cells (neurons) from branching outwards and growing 2.
Without this process, called neurogenesis, your brain cells can’t thrive and receive and transmit the neurotransmitters that make you feel good, and your brain might actually shrink in size 3!
2. You have trouble sleeping
If you have trouble getting to sleep or trouble staying asleep, chances are that your adrenals are overactivated. During a natural sleep cycle, your adrenal hormones like cortisol are supposed to sink low at night and then climb in the morning to wake you up 4,5
And if adrenal fatigue has thrown your cortisol schedule off, you could be very fatigued during the day and sleeplessly energetic at night.
But when your cortisol doesn’t shut down at night, you’ll be staring at the ceiling or waking up very often. Sometimes, it’s a vicious cycle because when you don’t sleep well, your stress response gets activated which can make it hard to sleep even when you didn’t sleep the night before 4.
3. You’re skin is getting wrinkled
There are a few causes of skin wrinkling, including sun damage and glycation (where sugar damages the proteins in your skin). Stress can also breakdown your skin!
Stress hormones age your skin by destroying the existing collagen and decreasing the creation of new collagen 6. Stress actually changes how genes are expressed in your skin and it’s not good for the genes that turn on collagen production 6.
So if you’re chronically stressed out, your skin is likely to suffer. Stress can also crank up inflammation in your skin, which damages it and makes it look older 7.
4. You’re often tired
Cortisol wakes you up in the morning, stimulates your body, and has important anti-inflammatory effects 8. Without enough of it, it will be hard to get out of bed or get much done during the day.
5. You get sick often
Stress that lasts for more than a day is terrible for your immune system. And the immune system helps keep colds, flu, cancer, and other diseases from taking over your body.
Amazingly, your immune system responds to your emotions. If you are calm and confident, you’re setting up your immune system to be balanced and to function well.
But chronic stress does two things. First, it suppresses the “protective” effects of your immune system 10. Second, it causes your immune system to act errantly and be overstimulated, which damages your body 10.
6. You lack sex drive
If a man’s stress hormones are high, it can drive down testosterone 11,12, and cortisol can decrease the sex drive of women 13.
Researchers are detailed in their studies on the effect stress has on sex drive, and it’s clear that chronic stress leads to less “genital arousal” and even distracts women from erotic films 14. Stress and adrenal fatigue kill your desire!
7. Your digestion sucks
When the body is fatigued and stressed, it doesn’t spend nearly as much energy on digestion. Your body shuttles resources away from digestion when you’re stressed. You’re either in rest and digest mode, in which you digest well, or you’re sympathetic nervous system is activated and you’re geared up for “fight or flight.”
Lifestyle techniques and natural compounds are great at melting away the stress and balancing out your adrenals. A host of herbs and other natural ingredients can change the way you feel.
Dealing with unpredictable mood swings, high anxiety, or stress?
You don’t have to resort to questionable anti-psychotic prescription drugs to find relief.
You can help calm your body naturally by following some simple lifestyle changes, eating the right kinds of foods, and taking natural remedies.
What are they?
Nutritionist Evan Burns has created a FREE report which reveals an easy-to-follow 3-step process toward reducing stress, calming anxiety, and eliminating mood swings and irritability.
Click here to download it right now!
