Photo: Kamaji Ogino

What fruit is good for adrenal glands?

Fruit is an essential part of an adrenal fatigue diet and some can actually help lower your cortisol levels. Some of the best fruits for this include: Blueberries. Dried fruit such as apricots.

drlamcoaching.com - The Importance of an Adrenal Fatigue Diet

What vitamin makes hair stronger and thicker?

Biotin Biotin. Biotin, also known as vitamin B7, stimulates the production of keratin to increase follicle growth. Biotin deficiencies tend to be...

Last updated Nov 23, 2020

Does turmeric unclog arteries?

Turmeric Turmeric is one of nature's most potent anti-inflammatories, due to a compound called curcumin. This not only reduces arterial...

Last updated Feb 13, 2022

Traditional “juice” activates 24/7 fat-burning

A potent powdered supplement blended right into water or your favored beverage to be appreciated as a scrumptious morning smoothy.

Learn More »

Promotion

Diet is an important part of optimal health for every human being, but especially those who suffer from Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) . Researchers are now concluding that the majority of chronic illnesses, approximately 80%, are caused by environmental factors. Adrenal fatigue falls into this category. It is a debilitating ailment brought on by long-term external stressors that have caused our bodies to operate inefficiently. Systems become imbalanced, hormones are out of range, fatigue kicks in, and organs begin to shut down. AFS is a debilitating health condition that needs to be properly addressed, and one of the keys to recovery and prevention is a proper adrenal fatigue diet. Stress is inevitable. But if not dealt with properly, it will destroy your body. One of the main tools we are given to keep our body healthy both physically and mentally is our diet. A poor diet can put a major strain on the entire body, including the adrenal glands, increasing the risk of suffering from adrenal fatigue. The more the adrenals are exhausted and stressed, the less they can absorb nutrients or tolerate medications, even in small doses. Adopting the proper adrenal fatigue diet can better equip your body to deal with stress, both internally and externally. Some of the benefits of a healthy diet for the adrenal glands are:

Your body gets all the nutrients it needs to function properly.

The increased nutrition means that your body can start to heal any damage that stress has caused.

Decreased stress levels.

Better adrenal gland health and functioning.

Rebalancing your hormones.

More blood sugar stability.

Decreased blood pressure.

Increased quality of life.

What is AFS?

Your adrenals produce cortisol, sometimes known as the stress hormone. This is what’s responsible for that energetic, jittery feeling you sometimes get in stressful situations. It raises your heart rate, your blood pressure, your breathing rate, and causes changes throughout your body that prepare you to fight or flee from danger. The problem comes when your stress is chronic. Work, relationships, a poor diet--all of these factors in the modern world and more can cause ongoing stress. This can cause your adrenals to work overtime, constantly producing cortisol, and overworking the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) Stress Response. When this occurs, the circuits, organs, and systems in your body can go out of balance, pulling related systems out of balance and degrading your health. This can be a very dangerous situation if not alleviated. Unfortunately, because AFS isn’t recognized by the medical establishment, it often goes unrecognized. That’s why it’s so important that you get the right kind of help to relieve adrenal stress with strategies such as the adrenal fatigue diet.

Follow a Meal Schedule

The timing of a meal is just as important as the food content when it comes to the adrenal fatigue diet. Meals must be made with precisely the right combination of nutrients at just the right time. With the busy schedules that our society has developed today, it is not a wonder how and why so many people have developed poor eating habits. They are always on the run, meals are grabbed at drive-throughs or thrown together haphazardly when it's convenient. Times set aside for eating become far apart, meals become fried and heavily processed, and the body cannot digest or use half of what is consumed. And most often, what is consumed does more harm than good. When food is consumed at random intervals, additional stress is placed on the adrenal glands to keep the body functioning. Blood sugar levels spike, causing insulin to be produced in order to try to bring down the sugar levels, giving rise to a feeling of hunger soon after eating. Then the adrenal glands become overstressed trying to regulate the sugar levels with the hormone cortisol. That’s why it’s important to eat at regular, fixed times even when you are away from home. And you should never go more than 2 to 3 hours without eating. The following schedule is an ideal time frame for eating on the adrenal fatigue diet: Breakfast. When following the adrenal fatigue diet, you should eat breakfast between 6:00 am and 8:00 am, shortly after waking, and never later than 10:00 am. Your glycogen reserves are low after a night of sleep. Eating early replenishes the body and keeps it stable and healthy. Your breakfast should not consist of any fruits or fruit juices as they are high in sugar content and can cause your blood sugar to spike and crash. Snack. Keeping your body replenished with food and water is essential for optimal health. Around 10:00 am, have a healthy snack of nuts or lean protein sources.

Lunch should be eaten around 12:00 pm.

Snack. Eat another healthy snack between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

Dinner. Dinner should be eaten between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm.

Meals should be small and frequent with the goal of keeping healthy nutrients running through the body at all times. Eat at a steady pace, and do not rush through your designated dining time. A hectic or rushed meal means more work and more stress for both your digestive system and your body.

What drink will hydrate you the fastest?

Water. While it likely comes as no surprise, drinking water is most often the best and cheapest way to stay hydrated and rehydrate. Unlike many...

Last updated Nov 23, 2018

Can mojito cause hangover?

After rating each drink, the survey found that the Pornstar Martini was the most hangover-inducing, while respondents rating the Mojito as the...

Last updated Oct 25, 2022

Traditional “juice” activates 24/7 fat-burning

A scrumptious morning smoothy based on the diets of among the healthiest, longest-living hamlet in the world.

Learn More »

Promotion

Always Choose Organic

When choosing the healthiest foods to consume, you should always opt for organic options whenever possible. Everyone should eat organic, but when you’re suffering from AFS, your body is even more susceptible to the toxins non-organic foods contain. They act like a poison to the body and add additional stresses that could otherwise be avoided. Here are the most important reasons why you should always buy organic foods when on the adrenal fatigue diet: They do not use genetically modified organisms, more commonly known as GMO’s. Genetically modified ingredients are unhealthy and have been linked to imbalances, allergies, and other harmful ailments. Organic foods are safe and pure containing no toxic pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, nano-particles, or climate-destabilizing chemical fertilizers. You’re less likely to suffer from E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter, or MRSA when you purchase foods from humane, clean, and conscious-minded facilities.

Organic farms prohibit the use of sewage sludge on their lands.

Animals on organic farms cannot be fed slaughterhouse waste, manure, or blood. They are treated and cared for humanely, offering a healthier source of by-products and foods in return. Organic food is more nutritionally dense. Studies have shown that organic foods contain more vitamins, more important trace minerals that would otherwise be lacking, and cancer-fighting antioxidants. When the body is suffering from adrenal fatigue or other chronic illnesses, it is important to obtain the healthiest and most nutrient-fortified foods possible. Choosing organic is the wisest choice. Following the adrenal fatigue diet will provide you with the healthiest food choices available . You will want to make this a lifestyle change that you continue on even after your adrenal fatigue recovery.

Here’s what you should be eating and drinking:

Water

The adrenal fatigue diet recommends that you drink plenty of pure water to help flush toxins from the body and ease the toxin load on the organs.

Vegetables

The bulk of your diet should consist of fresh vegetables. Eating vegetables provides an extensive amount of health benefits that are vital for the maintenance of your body. People who eat veggies as part of their healthy diet have a reduced risk of developing many chronic illnesses. They are low in fat and calories, and none of them contain cholesterol. Thirty to forty percent of the adrenal fatigue diet should consist of vegetables. Vegetables should be eaten raw or lightly steamed to retain all the nutrients, and served with a healthy fat like olive oil or coconut oil to help absorb the fat-soluble nutrients.

Here are some tips for making the best vegetable choices:

Seaweed and sea vegetables, which are easily digestible and contain a variety of essential trace nutrients that are beneficial in the AFS recovery process. Make sure you consume 6 to 8 servings of vegetables and choose brightly colored options, as they are excellent sources of phytonutrients, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins, which are unique and hard to find otherwise. Baby vegetables and sprouted vegetables are very highly concentrated with nutrients and are a great choice. Eat lots of leafy green vegetables such as Swiss chard, kale, spinach, broccoli, choy sum, etc.

Lean Organic Meat

20 to 30 percent of the adrenal fatigue diet should come from lean protein. Your protein should come from multiple sources of high-quality foods such as legumes, eggs, animals, fowl, and fish. This provides for more well-rounded nutrition.

Here are some particularly good choices:

Salmon

Tuna

Turkey

Organic eggs

Healthy Fats

20 to 30 percent of your nutritional intake should come from healthy fats such as nuts and seeds. Try soaking nuts and seeds first. This makes them easier to digest and improves the availability of their nutrients for absorption.

The best nuts include:

Almonds

Flaxseeds

Pumpkin seeds

Sunflower seeds

Walnuts

Legumes

The best legumes you can eat are:

Cannellini Beans

Whole Grains

Whole grains are slow to digest and cause the release of serotonin, a feel-good hormone. Try eating:

Oats

Quinoa

Fruit

Fruit is an essential part of an adrenal fatigue diet and some can actually help lower your cortisol levels. Some of the best fruits for this include:

Blueberries

Dried fruit such as apricots

Papaya

Strawberries

Mango

Probiotics

These help to improve gut health and can include:

Sauerkraut

Kefir

Yogurt

This diet can be a little difficult to digest if you aren’t used to it. If you have a lot of digestive issues, try to avoid a raw foods diets; eat everything cooked. Or try using a digestive aid or enzyme supplement to help break down fibrous foods and proteins, reducing the stress in the GI tract and improving digestive function.

Helpful Tips to Make Your Dietary Transition a Bit Easier

What helps sleep fast?

Here are 20 simple ways to fall asleep as fast as possible. Lower the temperature. ... Use the 4-7-8 breathing method. ... Get on a schedule. ......

Last updated Feb 8, 2019

Should I peel fruit before juicing?

For fruits, especially citrus, that means peeling away tough outer skins, peels and pith. They can add bitter and unpleasant flavors to your juice....

Last updated Aug 2, 2018

Strange purple cocktail removes 2.7lbs every 4 days

This effective juice jolts the metabolism, boosts energy and burns fat all day.

Learn More »

Promotion

Making lifestyle changes isn’t always easy, even when it is in your best interest to do so. When incorporating the adrenal fatigue diet into your life, it is recommended that you start slow and make progressive changes day by day. Getting professional help from a nutritionist or someone who specializes in an adrenal diet for support and accountability can be very helpful during this transition time. Be sure to ask your doctor or healthcare practitioner before starting any new dietary regimes or new food products. If you suffer from adrenal fatigue, your body is extremely sensitive and could have reactions to foods that were at one time not bothersome.

Foods to Avoid

Obviously, there are also foods that you should try to avoid when you’re on an adrenal fatigue diet such as:

Junk Food and Sweets

Soda, candy bars, and chips may be the easiest thing to grab for when you are in a hurry and in a time crunch. They’ll even curb your appetite for a few hours to hold you over between meals, but you should avoid this urge! Prepare for your day by packing healthy foods to eat on the go and become knowledgeable about your decisions. Sugar could very well be the single worst ingredient in the modern diet and is probably one of the leading causes of many of the epidemics of chronic illnesses that have risen out of the western diet. Glucose is essential for the body and if it is not received from the diet, the body can produce it from the fats and proteins that it receives. It can be metabolized by every cell in the body to produce energy. On the other hand, fructose is foreign and harmful to our body. It is not essential to our body in any way. The only organ that can metabolize fructose is the liver, and even that is limited in its capacity. When too much of this sugar enters the liver, it gets turned into fat. If you are craving a snack, or something sweet, opt for fruits. Fruit is a real food filled with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water that is digestible and properly tolerated and appreciated by the body.

Certain Fruit

Avoid fruits such as bananas, oranges, and dried fruits like raisins, dates, and figs, as they are high in potassium and can exacerbate the sodium-potassium ratio, making adrenal fatigue even worse. Take these minimally.

Table Salt

Avoid table salt when seasoning your foods as it is heavily processed, lacks minerals, and usually contains additives to prevent it from clumping. Pink Himalayan salt and sea salt are both healthy alternatives. They can help in correcting the body’s level of sodium while adding flavor and nutrients.

Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners may seem like the ideal choice when you’re trying to lose weight, but the truth is that they’re heavily processed and may contain components that cause stress and damage your health. They can also cause more weight gain in the future, so try to avoid them.

Refined Carbohydrates

Eliminate refined carbohydrates including white rice, pasta, breads, and pastries as they cause a severe spike and drop in sugar levels leading to hypoglycemia symptoms.

Stimulants and Alcohol

Do not consume caffeine or other stimulants. They make the body work harder than it can sustain for long terms and can lead to adrenal crashes. You should also avoid alcohol and other foods that cause the body to react aversively as they elicit unnecessary stressful reactions.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Do not cook with polyunsaturated fats such as corn, peanut, sunflower, and safflower oils as they contain essential fatty acids that transform into unhealthy forms with heat. This means that you need to avoid fried foods whenever possible. However, these oils are safe to add to foods after they have been cooked.

The Takeaway

Eat at regular intervals to avoid straining your adrenal glands and to keep your blood sugar stable. Avoid processed, fatty, or sugary foods, and instead focus on organic, whole foods. Talk to a doctor if you’re struggling to establish a healthy diet. The adrenal fatigue diet offers the solution for nutritious meal plans for optimal health. It also helps you adopt excellent eating habits for both the body and mind. By eliminating sugar crashes and keeping energy levels stable, you are likely to feel better throughout the day and achieve greater health and longevity. Here are some general tips for establishing a healthier diet: If you need more information on a healthy diet for adrenal fatigue, then you can talk to our team by clicking here or calling us at +1 (626) 571-1234.

drlamcoaching.com - The Importance of an Adrenal Fatigue Diet