Your adrenal glands function as your body’s “shock absorbers” by helping you to handle all forms of stress. They produce the hormone known as cortisol which is released not only when stressed but also to aid in waking up, alertness, focus and even helps regulate your blood sugar. When your adrenal glands have been “overworked” they don’t do their job as well and cortisol levels may be inappropriately high at certain times of the day, e.g. at night which can strongly affect your energy, focus and sleep resulting in what is commonly known as adrenal fatigue. Often times those exhibiting signs of adrenal fatigue experience a “midday energy drop” around 2-4 pm which may be an early sign that your adrenal function is not optimal. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue also include chronic exhaustion (even after sleep), inability to focus and sleep disturbances. Moreover there is a classic sign of inability to tolerate stress which could have been previously tolerated in the past. This can manifest as increased anxiety, sweating, irregular bowel habits or sudden mental/physical fatigue that does not self-resolve.

It is essential to do advanced functional testing that helps to assess your cortisol throughout the day and thereby determine if you may have adrenal fatigue. Optimally cortisol levels are highest earlier in the day around 8am and gradually fall by 6-7 pm. To help rebuild your adrenal glands several areas need to be addressed:

While we are rebuilding your adrenal glands, it is crucial to provide some natural replacement of the vitamins, minerals and precursor nutrients that your adrenals need to function properly. Once your adrenals have been rebuilt, you will not need to take these supplements. Until that time, they will help you to feel better and give you much needed support throughout the day and improve sleep patterns. Such nutritional support includes, but not limited to:

1. Magnesium – over half of the population is deficient in this essential mineral which is required by many biological pathways including your adrenals to promote healthy stress response and even prevent muscle cramping/spasm.
2. Pantothenic acid or other B vitamins; especially Vitamin B2/3/5 are critical for optimal adrenal function.
3. Vitamin C; the adrenals have the highest concentration of Vitamin C in the body. This vitamin is very important for proper adrenal functioning.
4. DHEA; a precursor hormone critical for adrenal function and may be preferentially be “shunted” towards too much cortisol production or the unneeded production of other sex hormones and thereby one may be deficient .
5. Liquorice Tea – 1 cup in the morning. This herb helps the body to conserve the cortisol your adrenals are producing and help the body do better with less cortisol; optimally taken before 12pm noon where cortisol levels are highest.
6. Glandular adrenal extract (from animals) that can help to rebuild your own adrenal gland especially in chronic conditions whereby a person may have been suffering from adrenal fatigue for year.

Adaptogenic herbs which help calibrate an appropriate stress response by your adrenals (e.g. to tone down if over-active or build-up if under-active); the suitability of such herbs for a given person is determined on a case-by-case basis depending on a person’s full medical history and both food/supplement intolerances which may include; also keep in mind such herbs need at least 2-3 months of continued use in order to feel the full benefit:

• Siberian Ginseng Extract 
• Ashwagandha 
• Rhodiola
• Holy basil; also used traditionally for depression based fatigue
• Schizandra 
• Picrorhiza kurroa

Always try to reduce the stresses that have reduced your adrenal function:

• Regular exercise helps to “burn” the daily stress energy out of your body, thus preventing it from causing damage. You should do 20 to 30 minutes of exercise daily – walking, yoga, stretching, swimming, etc. Whatever form of exercise works best for you as long as it gets your heart rate elevated for longer than just a few minutes.
• Sleeping – get at least 8 hours of sleep a night; research has recently shown that people need a minimum of 6 hours, optimally 8 hours of sleep in order to maintain your immune system and detoxify inflammatory processes produced by the brain and critical organs like the adrenals
• Avoid sugar and caffeine. Even though your body often craves them when you are stressed and your adrenals are low, using them makes your problem worse in the long run.
• Begin to do things that feed your soul and consider mind-body practices like meditation and retreats that help “switch off” your daily life routine at least once weekly.