Your adrenal glands are the small endocrine glands perched on top of your kidneys. Their job is to regulate your body’s stress response with the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.
When you live a high-stress life, you experience the continuous production of these hormones which can impact your health in a big way. The results can mean suppressed immunity, improper digestion, an increase in blood sugar and elevated blood pressure.
When your adrenals are working overtime, your health can take a major hit. Natural body functions like digestion and immune response become ‘non-essential’ until the stress is lowered and your body can enter restful repair time. This is why elevated stress can lead to chronic inflammation and disease over time.
How do you regulate your adrenals if you’ve been living a high-stress life? There are a few things you can do that may seem simple, but will reap big rewards in your overall health and vitality for the long term.
Eat Clean Whole Foods
Remember the Clean Fifteen I talked about a few weeks ago? Eat lots of those. Find the best quality and responsibly raised produce, protein and grains that you can find. Eat home-cooked meals as often as you can and limit processed convenience food.
Sleep Yourself Well
Determine the amount of sleep you work best on and tuck in at the same time every night. 7-9 hours is a helpful target to aim for. If you’ve been living in high levels of stress for a long time, plan your very next weekend to include going to sleep early and sleeping until you wake a few days in a row. Give yourself time to fall asleep, get cozy in bed, spray some soothing lavender oil, and read an uplifting book to make you drowsy.
Pro Tip: If your household is up early and will wake you early in the morning, invest in a quiet hotel room so you can nurture your zzzzz’s. Your body and your relationships will operate so much better once you’re well-rested.
Reduce Refined Carbohydrates In Your Diet
These types of foods can mess with your insulin response because they cause your blood sugar to rise quickly. Aim instead for low-glycemic, whole grains and vegetables that digest well and build your body’s stores of vitamins and minerals.
Engage In Calming Activities
Activate your parasympathetic nervous system by doing deep breathing exercises, meditating, or doing yoga. Like weight training builds your body’s muscles and cardiovascular exercise strengthens your lungs and arteries, so these relaxing actions build up your relaxation response. Take three long, slow deep breaths in and out of your nose right now and see how good you feel.
Hydrate and Reduce Caffeine
I know… I love a warm beverage throughout the day too. It’s so comforting! But here’s the deal: Caffeine intake has been proven to initiate a stress response by increasing the amount of cortisol released by the adrenals. Add all the other daily stress you face, and caffeine can make your cortisol production excessively high. This can, in turn, lead to high blood glucose levels and lowered insulin sensitivity that are preludes to obesity and type 2 diabetes. So: Have a cup at breakfast and switch to water or herbal tea throughout the day. Try it for a week and tell me how you feel. What do you have to gain? Lovely, indulgent rest!
Your body is designed to thrive when given the best care and to heal itself when given quality rest. Make a few adjustments and over time you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
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Blessings,
Sheila
