What Is Adrenal Fatigue? Part 1

This is a multi-part post on Adrenal Fatigue , how to recognize it and get the help you need.

Adrenal Fatigue (Hypoadrenia)

 First of all what is Hypoadrenia? This is the medical term for deficiency in the adrenal hormones. In the normal way steroid hormones are produced in exact quantities according to the body’s emotional and physical needs. However when Hypoadrenia occurs these hormones, especially cortisol, will be decreased. This will cause havoc throughout your body and even affect you mentally.

There are varying degrees of Hypoadrenia or depletion of the adrenal hormones. There can be a small amount of the hormones, resulting in general malaise, or none at all. Complete absence of the adrenaline hormones is known as Addison’s disease. This disorder is relatively uncommon affecting 4 in 10,000. The most prevalent cause for this problem is autoimmune disease. The other major cause is extreme stress. This can be either emotional or physical. Stress will cause the hormones to be depleted. Patients of Addison’s disease are usually on corticosteroids all their lives. If left untreated this disorder can be fatal.

On the other end of the scale there are many people suffering from adrenalin hormone depletion who have only a small decrease in hormones. However it still makes a surprising difference in their health. The adrenal hormones are so important to our mental and physical wellbeing that even the smallest misbalance can cause serious problems.

There are several names for Hypoadrenia, but adrenal fatigue most aptly describes it. This is because fatigue or tiredness is the most common symptom that patients of this disorder experience.

Adrenal fatigue is one of the names given to ailments arising from the depletion of adrenal hormones. It is in fact a collection of symptoms known as adrenal fatigue syndrome. It is not widely recognized by the medical profession. However it’s devastating effects should be recognized, as a surprising number of people suffer from adrenaline fatigue.

One of the reasons for the medical community’s neglect of this problem is the fact that the symptoms are not only diverse but are often hard to pinpoint. The symptoms can often be associated with other diseases or syndromes and the real source can become difficult to diagnose. Another reason that doctors do not consider the adrenal glands as a cause of the patient’s symptoms is the fact that adrenal fatigue is not a widely studied syndrome. This leaves many patients with this disorder confused and without hope of ever getting better.

Your Brain and You

You are the lucky owner of a magnificent piece of biological machinery – the human brain. Your brain is always on, performs lightning-fast calculations, and is a whiz at making connections between seemingly unrelated factors and observations. The only downside is that your brain didn’t come with an owner’s manual.

Fortunately, your brain has no moving parts. All the action is on the inside – inside the black box. And, your brain is always available. It will do whatever you tell it to do. All you have to do is take care of it properly – provide it with energy, take it out for a walk, and make sure it’s connected.

The energy part could be easy, but most of us fall down on the job. Our bodies require high-quality nutrition, but mostly what they get is a poor substitute. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain cereals; complete protein from milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs, fish, chicken, turkey; and plenty of water cover daily requirements for optimum functioning. [If you're a vegetarian, make sure you get complete protein from dairy products - rice and beans do not provide complete protein!]

A balanced food and nutrition plan provides your brain with all the energy it needs ¹ – and it needs plenty of energy! Glucose is the primary source of energy for your brain – complex carbohydrates like  sweet potatoes and whole grains make it all happen.

Going for a walk – a metaphor for all kinds of vigorous physical activity – not only helps keep you in top shape but is also one of the best things you can do for your brain. So many recent scientific studies have shown that peak brain function and levels of exercise are strongly related.^{2, 3}

Physical activity causes new areas of your brain to “light up” and builds connections between areas of your brain that weren’t connected before. So, you’re body’s getting smarter at the same time that you’re getting smarter! A  pretty good deal.

Finally, it’s very important to make sure that all the parts of your body are talking to each other in the right way and at the right time. Your brain needs to receive the information it’s supposed to receive to make good decisions, and your body needs to receive the information it needs from your brain to get all the jobs done that need to be done.

¹Rosales FJ, Zelsel Sh: Perspectives from the symposium: The Role of Nutrition in Infant and Toddler Brain and Behavioral Development. Nutr Neurosci 11(3):135-143, 2008
²Christie BR, et al: Exercising our brains: how physical activity impacts synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus. Neuromolecular Med 10(2):47-58, 2008
³Lange-Asschenfeldt C, Kojda G: Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular dysfunction and the benefits of exercise: From vessels to neurons. Exp Gerontol 43(6):499-504, 2008

20 Health Tips That Can Change Your Life

           No time like the present to start thinking about your New Years Goals.Take a look at the below health tips .These can (if utlized) really go along way to begin a healthier life today.Take a small step today for a big difference today!

1.   Practice good sleep hygiene. Go to bed between 9:30 pm and 10:30 pm when possible.
2.   Eat a balance of Fat, Proteins, and good Carbs at every meal.
3.   Beware of Hydrogenated (Trans)-fats read labels carefully stay clear!
4.   Increase your fiber intake through the best fiber, these are found in fruits vegetable and seeds
5.   Incorporate a high quality olive oil weekly through eating and topically on skin.
6.   Eat an organic apple a day
7.   Eat omega 3  antibotic free eggs
8.   Consume Green Veggies daily
9.   Eat grass fed cattle  and wild salmon
10.   Contemplate what it is that you focus your thought life on daily
11.    Drink 8-16oz water every morning before you eat  and  go to work
12.   Drink  a  ½  oz  of water for every pound of weight ex: 160 pound women equals  80oz of water per day.(5 16 oz bottles /day (more if exercising)
13.   Cut out any sugary drinks or snacks that have corn syrup  on the ingredient list
14.   Take a high quality EFA daily
15.   Exercise/Move daily, even if it’s simple stretching to you favorite food TV show, exercise while relaxing
16.   Never, Ever, Ever Skip Breakfast
17.   Take Ten quite minutes every morning before rising to focus your days  activities and intention of the day
18.   Through out the day practice BELLY  BREATHING
19.   Never Microwave in plastic, Heat food when all possible in the oven.
20.  Take in 10 minutes daily of unscreened sunshine

Sports Hydration Tips

The Seven Secrets of Hydration

If you wish for you or your child to perform at a high level, You and , they need to consume fluids. Water For each 1% of body weight lost due to dehydration, your performance slips by about 2%, and a small 2% loss in weight can force your heart rate and body temperature to spiral upward, making strenuous exercise almost impossible to carry out.So what are the rules for fluid intake? How much do you really need and what should your drink be like? To make it easy for you, we have listed the seven rules of fluid intake during exercise below. If you follow these rules, you will keep your body water intact during exercise and perform at a much higher level.

1 . The rate of passage of water from your stomach into your small intestine depends on how much fluid is actually in your stomach. If there is lots of water there, fluid flow from stomach to intestine is like a springtime flood; if there is little water, the movement resembles a lightly dripping tap. Therefore, to increase stomach intestinal flow (and overall absorption of water) you need to deposit a fair amount of liquid in your stomach just before you begin your exercise. In fact, 10 to 12 ounces of fluid is a good start. This will feel uncomfortable at first, so practice funneling this amount of water into your tank several times before actual competition.

2. To sustain a rapid movement of fluid into your small intestine

For more………Read All The Tips Here

Read The Fine Print Please

It’s In The Fine Print

Ever take a close look at the label of the food you are feeding your kids and yourself? All I can say is open your eyes and start paying attention. Today Americans are in a major health crisis and individually we have some responsibility for the fat mess we are in.  TV entices us to the latest and greatest fast frozen food cuisine, let’s not even go there today about the fast food restaurants and their all out assault on our children and their health…Can you say Happy (Not) Meal

There are even chemicals mixtures they have concocted to be “ better that natural” Fake milk, cheese, butter even egg replacements YUCK..

If you want to know if what you place in your family’s mouth is good for them you better start reading the fine print and understanding what it really says, not what the manufacturer wants you to believe. They use trick little terms like “Natural, and Healthy to throw you off the trail. Because these terms are as yet undefined by the food industry manufactures can use them to mean any little thing their hearts desire in the mean time killing ours.

Sometime the ingredients are so cleverly concealed in tiny print and colors that blend into the packaging that it is near impossible to see it let alone read it

without major help from a strong pair of reading glasses you left at home.   It is no accident you can’t read it; the manufactures don’t want you to.  So form this day forward get yourself a pair of reading glasses just for your purse, keep them there you need to be armed to defend yourself against the manufactures small print antics.

Most packaged foods contain additives yes chemicals that enhance you eating experience and the longevity of the product. There are many I could review but here are a few of the big food additives that have affected so many are  

Aspartame

Aspartame, an artificial sweetener known as Equal, NutraSweet or Spoonful is in lots no sugar candies, gum diet beverages, and snacks.  Consuming this chemical has been  linked to over 92 side effects from headaches , seizures memory loss, dizziness even death. It is reported that airline pilots are not allowed to consume products that have this chemical in them

 MSG

 Monosodium Glutamate is in almost all processed foods. Even in somewhat say clearly no MSG. Its neurotoxin and it can cause a wide variety of symptoms like skin rashes, rapid heart beat, depression it actually makes you want to keep eating. It’s addictive. Yes it can make you fat. Some products /ingredients that have MSG are boullion, broth, malodextrin and any thing that is ultra-pasteurized to name a few of an exhaustive list.

Both Aspartame and MSG cross the brain blood barrier and excite your brain cells to death.

 Artificial Sweeteners

 Splenda(Sucralose) , Sunette (Acesulfame-K) , Saccharin once banned as a carcinogen.

 Hydrogenated or Partially hydrogenated oils

 If the label says no –trans fats check for partially hydrogenated oils. It’s legal to say “no trans fats if there is less than 0.5/ no about is a safe amount.

 Nitrates and Nitrites

 Mostly found in processed meats like bacon, ham. They can cause headaches and dizziness.

 Potassium bromate

 Mostly used in breads and baked goods. It gives a bouncy quality to the product and has been linked as a possible carcinogen. Can cause gastric upset and nervous system issues.

I will write further in the future on these and other poisonous additives