Could the problem be adrenal overload or Insufficiency?

Do you suffer from these symptoms: Upper body or abdominal obesity, frequent urination, especially at night, moodiness, irritability or depression, chronic fatigue, high blood sugar, brain fog or mental dullness, difficulty learning, memory problems, trouble focusing, muscle weakness, especially in the legs, low sex drive?

How about, salty food cravings, difficulty sleeping straight through for eight hours and difficulty dealing with highly emotional situations. Fatigue upon waking is another symptom, dependency on caffeinated drinks like coffee can occur in an attempt to wake up. Do you have a weak immune system, mild or moderate abdominal pain or sometimes nauseous and have joint pain?

Women, in addition to the symptoms listed above, is your menstrual cycle irregular?

You may have adrenal insufficiency.

The adrenal glands rest on top of the kidneys and are cone-shaped. They release many different hormones that affect almost every function in the body including mental sharpness, energy level, libido and stress levels.

When you are stressed out, your adrenal glands produce adrenaline, which causes the fight or flight response. And then the body later produces cortisol as a calming mechanism. Caffeinated drinks and foods also stimulate insulin production, which in turn produces cortisol.

The third thing that causes your adrenals to produce cortisol is pain. The reason your body produces cortisol when you are in pain is because cortisol is your body’s natural anti-inflammatory hormone. However, excess cortisol can cause weight gain, especially in the belly.

What you should do is change your diet. Believe it or not, adrenals do better with a high fat, medium amount of protein diet. But make sure you consume the “good” fats, which are olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil only.

Stick with three to five ounces of protein, three times per day. Do not consume meat or animal products unless they are organic! Another source of protein is organic eggs, nuts and seeds.

I do not recommend dairy due to its ability to cause inflammation in the body, gastrointestinal complaints and allergies. Cow’s milk is a mucous former.

Also make sure you decrease refined carbohydrates like sugar, flour products, soft drinks, pasta, white rice, etc. Carbohydrates trigger an insulin rise that can also stimulate cortisol as a buffer. Spikes in insulin do cause fat storage.

As you may have noticed either in yourself or others, the more carbs you eat, the more you crave. There is a way to break the cycle, and that is with a carbohydrate craving suppressant called “Appetite Curb.”

The adrenal glands can be boosted up with a product called “Adrenal” and a hormone called “DHEA.” Some people will go to Walmart and buy DHEA made in China, which I do not recommend because of its poor quality and the possible introduction of toxins into its formula.

Your adrenals respond well to exercise, but not vigorous exercise, which can make the problem worse because vigorous exercise stresses the body and thus produces more cortisol.

The best exercise for an adrenal problem is a one hour walk, preferably outdoors. If you are unable to start with an hour, then start with 10 or 15 minutes and build.

I do not know how many people I have had come to me for help on losing weight that said, “I have been working out at the gym or jogging an hour every day, but the weight isn’t budging.”

Well, now you know why. Also, the weight will not come off if you take in too many calories in the way of carbohydrates. You can’t possibly burn those calories off with exercise. Jogging five miles barely burns off 200 calories; however, that pie you just ate was 800 calories. So you see there are 600 calories left over that your body will store as fat.

And, if you have adrenal problems, you just caused your body to store even more fat with the production of cortisol from the vigorous exercise. Have you or someone you have known experienced no weight loss from exercise? Well, now you know the reason why.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions regarding this article, please email me at aslimmeryou@aslimmeryou.us.

Dr. Valentine is a weight loss consultant, a health consultant and a chiropractor. You can reach her at 855-771-SLIM (7546) or stop by A Slimmer You at 10300 49th St. N, Suite 211. Log on to www.aslimmeryou.us for more information.