Stress and Your Adrenal Glands
By Ron Burg, CAM Formulas
Introduction
We live in a stress-filled world. Stress is all around us. For many people, the daily stresses of life are compounded by intense work pressures and the stress of an unproductive relationship. When you are under stress, you are attacking your adrenal glands. On top of this, many people are increasing their level of stress by drinking caffeine excessively and smoking cigarettes. That sets you up for a whole lot of discomfort. In this article, we’ll identify how stress affects your adrenals. We’ll also give you some strategies to avoid stress-related adrenal fatigue.
The Vitamin C Connection
The adrenal glands require more Vitamin C than any other part of the body. When we are under stress, the adrenal glands have an even greater demand for Vitamin C. But, if all the Vitamin C is going to the adrenals, there is less of this vital nutrient available to other parts of the body. For example, the thymus gland is also highly dependent on Vitamin C. If you are stressed, it will have a deficiency because it is all being directed to the adrenal glands.
A lack of Vitamin C will also accelerate the aging process. So, stress causes premature aging by causing all of our Vitamin C to be channeled to the adrenals, leaving very little left over to keep our bodies young. The result will be that the skin will prematurely wrinkle because of the inability of collagen and elastin to repair and rebuild themselves.
Vitamin C is also needed for such things as the activation of your white blood cells. Both white blood cells and insulin require Vitamin C for transport. When you consume a lot of sugar, you use up all of the available insulin. Because the Vitamin C activity is not being directed to the white blood cells, your white blood cell count goes down dramatically.
The Methylation Connection
Stress kills off many vital body functions. Your stomach acid count will go down when you are plagued by stress. This means that you will no longer be properly absorbing the nutrition that you need. It especially affects the supply of nutrients required for methylation. Methylation takes place with about 4000 reactions in the body. Your immune system will be suppressed due to a lack of methylation. Hormone neurotransmitter imbalances will negatively impact upon cartilage synthesis along with less production of stomach acid.
Reducing Your Stress
If you are in a situation where you can’t reduce your stress, the best thing you can do is to control the stress. The best way to do that is to work on your adrenal glands. That’s because the adrenal glands control your anti-stress hormones.
Many people think that smoking a cigarette will calm them down. It actually does the opposite. It will crash the adrenal glands more, which will cause you to stress more. Yet, curing your adrenal glands will keep you on an even keel.
One way to improve the health of your adrenal glands is by taking adaptogenic herbal compounds that have been proven to have a positive adrenal effect. The following are especially beneficial:
- Jiaogulan
- Schizandra berry
- Ashwagandha
- Licorice root (Chinese version)
- Astragalus
- Siberian Ginseng
- Suma
Clearly, it is essential to take in as much Vitamin C as you can in order to satisfy the increased demand that the stressed adrenals have for it. Do not, however, take synthetic Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), which is actually a toxin in the body.
Your preferred Vitamin C sources should be papaya, kiwi, mango, and blueberries. In fact, the Vitamin C in plants has been found to be up to 12 times stronger than synthetic Vitamin C. That is why you don’t need to take huge doses when you rely on plant-based Vitamin C.
Exercise is one of the greatest ways to combat stress. You may find that going for a run is an effective way for you to clear your head and unwind. Or it may be that biking is what does it for you. For some, an intense weight training session at the gym will help them to kick stress to the sidewalk.
Many people also find that going into a meditative state is a great help in putting stress to bed. Developing mindfulness, or the ability to harness your thoughts and direct them to a calm place is hugely beneficial. Some people find that staring at flickering candle or concentrating on the sound of water dripping get help them to attain to a mindful state. Pets are also great for reducing stress.
In addition to the general suggestions offered so far, it is a smart idea to provide your body with targeted adrenal support. A quality adrenal rebuilding supplement will help the body to maintain the healthy structure and function of adrenal tissue. This greatly contributes to vitality and overall health during stressful times. Providing this type of support to the adrenal glands will make the entire body more resilient in times of stress.
In order to meet the demands of the adrenal glands, you need to take a supplement that contains cortex glandular tissue and tissues of the supporting endocrine glands.
Conclusion
Stress is a fact of life that few of us will completely eliminate from our lives. In order to keep your stress levels down, you need to work out what works best for you. Once you have done that, the key is consistent application.
You should definitely find a type of exercise that gels with you and participate in it a minimum of three times per week. Experiment with adaptogenic herbal compounds until you find the one that works best for your body. You also need to increase your Vitamin C intake in the form of natural plant based sources. And you must find the right adrenal building supplements.
Take care of each of these areas, and your adrenal glands will respond by releasing the hormones that will help you to get a handle on your stressors.
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