Home > Solutions > Energy

Adrenal health – are you running on empty?

Your adrenal glands control your ability to respond to all types of stressors. Whenever the body has to adapt to stress e.g. conflict with others, illness, driving a car in heavy traffic, too many late nights and poor food choices, your adrenal glands are called upon to provide the chemicals needed to power your body and brain. Overuse of the adrenal glands can lead to problems.

The first stage of adrenal dysfunction is a state of hyperadrenal. Your glands are overproducing adrenal hormones due to extreme or prolonged stress and have lost the ability to switch off. You may feel panicky, anxious, irritable, hyper, have difficulty sleeping, feel worse after certain types of exercise and experience changes in appetite.

The next stage is hypoadrenal. At this point your adrenal glands have become exhausted and have difficulty producing the hormones needed to help you deal with stress. You may feel low in energy, feel dizzy if you get up quickly, have sleep problems, overeat, feel exhausted after exercise, develop allergies, become susceptible to viruses and only feel energized under pressure. Your mood may also be affected, with feelings of overwhelm, depression and anxiety common.

The final (and more rare) stage of adrenal exhaustion is similar to states of chronic fatigue, where you have very low energy, low immunity, frequent illness and inability to recover from stressors.

People working in high-stress occupations are probably more prone to adrenal exhaustion, although genetic factors seem to play a part in our level of adrenal strength.

Our programs aim to build adrenal strength through nutrition, quality sleep, supplementation, psychological skills and lifestyle/career management.