Ayurveda for Adrenal Fatigue
Ayurveda for Adrenal Health
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I recently ran a poll in my newsletter and Instagram stories on What you reach for when you’re exhausted.
From over 170 responses:
18% said it’s another cup of coffee
29% said a sugary treat
35% gap out to a scroll session
and 18% said you push through, and crash later
Of COURSE we want the quick fix! But we also want to be careful, because all of these choices above? Are burning out your adrenals. Let’s talk about it…
One of the most common complaints I hear from women over the age of 35 is “I’m exhausted”.
Seems to be a big part of Perimenopause, and the hormonal changes all women face in the 8-10 years before we’ve officially stopped having visits from Aunt Flow.
… but is it really?
It’s true that Estrogen is a big producer of energy for women, and as we approach menopause, our ovaries produce less and less of it.
BUT! The majority of your energy is coming from cortisol, which is produced by your adrenal glands (2 cute lil’ blobbies that sit on top of your kidneys).
When the Estrogen stops flowing, your adrenals are meant to be there to pick up the slack.
…. Unless you’ve burned em’ out.
And so many of us have burned them out.
QUICK ASSESSMENT: HOW’S YOUR ADRENAL HEALTH?
Adrenal Fatigue Looks Like:
Exhaustion
Slowed metabolism
Feeling cold often
Decreased immunity
Brain fog
Depression/anxiety
Infertility
PMS
Belly fat accumulation
Low blood pressure, dizziness when standing, low blood sugar in between meals
Hypoglycemia/low blood sugar
Salt cravings
Feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope with stress
Sensitivity to light
**It’s interesting and not at all surprising to note that these are many of the same symptoms of Hypothyroid, or under-active thyroid.
Your thyroid’s job is to regulate how your body uses energy. And if you’re overdoing it to the point of exhaustion? More than one of your parts is bound to break down.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?
Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of options from the Western med field to help us with this issue yet. Some functional medicine docs promote the use of low levels of cortisone for a year or more to help the adrenal glands “kick back in.” But a very common outcome of this approach is the adrenals shut down when hormone therapy is administered, and never regain function.
And when we have almost no estrogen left post-menopause? We DEFINITELY want our adrenals to function.
So what do we do?
From Ayurvedic perspective, the best way to regenerate the adrenal glands is to REST! (huge surprise right? lol)
Now before the overwhelm creeps in because you can’t rest because you’re so busy, let me offer some more specific ideas to consider/try:
1. Can you shift your bedtime to no later than 10:30pm?
According to Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese medicine, the adrenal glands, in particular, need rest in the hours before midnight in order to heal. If you usually use that time for watching your shows or scrolling, can you swap that to an early morning coffee activity? If you stay up late because you have to get your teenager from work, can you ask their dad to do it (it’ll give him a much happier wife long term). What’s keeping you up so late, and how can you adjust?
2. Can you avoid the urge to survive on caffeine?
1-2 cups in the morning is the most we should be having as gracefully aging ladies, as it does more harm than good long term (to your adrenals, but also your stomach acid levels, colon health, bone density, and your blood pressure). Consider adding ghee or coconut oil to a cup of coffee to reduce acidity, decrease ‘coffee jitters’, and give yourself some healthy fat (post menopause your ovaries will still produce small amounts of estrogen, but it also comes from your healthy fat cells!)
3. Can you find ONE pocket of time in your day where you sit or lie down for a moment with your eyes closed?
I get that meditation is hard, I’m never going to suggest you need to find an hour in your day to sit cross-legged in silence. But your nervous system DOES NEED A BREAK! And hitting the couch to scroll for a few minutes (or an hour) between tasks absolutely does not count. Can you find a pocket of your day, such as when you get in your car to go home from work, to just turn off the noise, close your eyes, and remember what it’s like to totally relax your body? The more you do this the better you’ll get at it, and you’ll find yourself doing it more often.
4. If you’re into the herbal route, why not try adding Shilajit to the things above (NOT IN PLACE OF THEM 🙃)?
Known in India as the “destroyer of weakness”, Shilajit is commonly used as medicine for sufferers of adrenal fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome thanks to the positive effects it has on our mitochondria (the energy-creating cells in your body). So instead of ‘boosting your energy’ using sugar, coffee, and ‘5-hour energy’ shots (all things that burn your adrenals out further), you can use shilajit to replenish the deep energy-making centers of the body >> a much better long-term solution. You can check out my favorite brand here, and use the code THEHABITAYURVEDA for 10% off 🙂
If I’ve learned anything from over 30 years of ‘standard American life’ (and a chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis to go with it),
…followed by almost a decade of Ayurvedic practice (and a whole lot less stress), it’s that small things like this really do make the biggest difference.
Want to try a 7-day protocol to help you get balanced? Grab the 7-Day Hormone Reset.
Want to do the reset, and be able to ask for my help any time along the way? Join Practical Ayurveda.
