Adrenal Stress

Have you ever wondered why you can go to the gym, work your butt off on the stepper yet the next day that butt is bigger again? Or if you are a trainer have you noticed that some clients that you have never can lose weight? Or that some are far more prone to injuries and illness, causing you to lose money and time? This article is to inform you about two very important little glands in your body and how they can totally jeopardize all your best efforts and intentions to lead yours and your client’s bodies to optimal health, weight and fitness.
The Adrenal Glands are 2 small glands, about 3cm tall and 2cm long that sit directly above your kidneys. They weigh a grand total of 4 grams! They have two parts, the Adrenal Medulla and the Adrenal Cortex. The cortex is responsible for the production of Cortisol and Aldosterone and the Medulla is responsible for adrenaline. These hormones and others are incredibly powerful in the control of body physiology and how you respond to exercise and nutrition. The main hormone that is responsible for your health is Cortisol.

What Cortisol Does
• Mobilizes and increases amino acids, the building blocks of protein, in the blood and liver. This means it breaks down muscle fibers, hence you lose muscle mass and slow down metabolism
• Stimulates the liver to convert amino acids to glucose, the primary fuel for energy production. Essentially, you use your muscle mass for energy, an inefficient source.
• Stimulates increased glycogen in the liver. Glycogen is the stored form of glucose.
• Mobilizes and increases fatty acids in the blood (from fat cells) to be used as fuel for energy production. This is in normal amounts. In excess the situation reverses and it causes you to store fat around the mid-section, the area of the body most highly associated with degenerative disease.
• Counteracts inflammation and allergies.
• Prevents the loss of sodium in urine and thus helps maintain blood volume and blood pressure.
• Maintains resistance to stress (e.g., infections, physical trauma, temperature extremes, emotional trauma, etc.).
• Maintains mood and emotional stability.

Excess Cortisol
• Diminishes cellular utilization of glucose. You become energy inefficient, becoming sluggish.
• Increases blood sugar levels. This can lead to conditions such as Syndrome X, Metabolic syndrome and Type II Diabetes
• Decreases protein synthesis. This is reduced ability to build new muscle tissue
• Increases protein breakdown that can lead to muscle wasting.
• Causes demineralization of bone that can lead to osteoporosis.
• Interferes with skin regeneration and healing.
• Causes shrinking of lymphatic tissue. This is your immune system so excessive Cortisol will down regulate your immune response to any given pathogen making you more susceptible to infectious disease.
• Diminishes lymphocyte numbers and functions
• Lessens SIgA (secretory antibody productions). This immune system suppression may lead to increased susceptibility to allergies, infections, and degenerative disease.

This does not mean that Cortisol is a bad hormone. It is actually essential for life, as it is our primary awakening hormone. If we did not produce Cortisol we would walk around in a continual daze, not ever fully awake. It would also have led to our inability to survive as a species. Cortisol is one of the primary hormones of the fight or flight phenomenon. Fight or flight is one of the reactions stimulated by the Autonomic nervous System. No talk on adrenal health can be fully appreciated without an understanding of the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System)

The ANS
The ANS basically regulates all functions that keep us alive. These include subconscious functions such as heart rate, breathing, blood flow, Peristalsis, digestion, elimination and so forth. It has three differing branches, the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), the Enteric Nervous System (ENS) and the Sympathetic Nervous System.

PNS: The PNS is also called the rest and digest nervous system. It governs all anabolic or tissue building functions of the body. These include digestion, absorption, elimination and regulating repair of the body. PNS activation allows for our immune system to become more active at night. It is also highly related to the timing of hormonal release

ENS: The ENS is mainly concerned with the body’s upper digestive tract, but also has connections with the lower tract. It contains as many neurons as the entire spinal cord and communicates with the Sympathetic system, endocrine system, parasympathetic system, Limbic and somatic systems. Since this system has direct contact of any of the food you put into your mouth or activity of parasites etc it has a powerful role in influencing your physiology particularly your stress hormones such as Cortisol! We will have strategies for dealing with this later on in the article.

SNS: When looking at Adrenal function the Sympathetic nervous system is the aspect of the nervous system that we are concerned with. It is often called the ‘fight or flight’ nervous system because it readies the physiology of the body to fight or flee from a stressor or danger. When the SNS is dominant, as in a stressful situation, blood is taken from the organs of digestion and directed towards the skeletal muscles, respiration increases, pupils dilate and blood pressure increases. It is often called the catabolic branch of the CNS because of the increased demands required of the nutritive and hormonal systems which leads to tissue breakdown. If this system is activated it will generally inhibit the PNS and if this is sustained you will find the important functions of the PNS become progressively inhibited. This is not a good situation to be in!
These functions described above are essential for our survival as a species. If we were sitting around the campfire and a saber tooth tiger came up to the camp site it would not be optimal for our enduring survival if we remained in rest and digest! When this used to happen though the stressor only lasted for a short duration and we generally were able to burn up through physical activity but today this is rarely ever the case. With stress it does not matter what the source is the net result for the body is always the same – activation of the sympathetic nervous system and release of stress hormones from the adrenal glands, leading to progressive adrenal fatigue.

Symptoms of Autonomic Nervous System Imbalance

SNS Dominance
• Poor digestion – decreased salivation
• Constipation
• Anxiety
• Increased respiratory rate
• Poor sleep quality
• Night sweats
• Orgasm/genital inhibition
• Waking un-rested
• Nervousness
• Jittery
• Increased Muscle tension
• Increased inflammatory conditions
• Increased susceptibility to infection

PNS Dominance
• Strong or excessive digestion
• Hyperactive bowel , colicky
• Incontinence
• Orthostatic failure upon rising
• Decreased respiratory rate
• Decreased sweating
• Poor sleep quality, hibernation
• Mucous secretions
• Genital stimulation, erection
• Nervousness, depression
• Hands warm and dry
• Increased gag reflex
• Increased WBC count and allergies

Sympathetic Nervous System Stimulators (3)
• Insulin
• Sugars and high glycemic foodstuffs
• Many food additives and preservatives and most processed foods
• Resistance training done poorly
• Physical pain
• Emotional, mental or spiritual stressors
• Endo toxicity (excessive production of stress hormones such as cortisol, which must be processed by the liver)
• Environmental toxicity: We are constantly being bombarded with xenoestrogens from plastic packaging and bottles, out-gassing from building materials, synthetics in fabrics, automotive interiors, PCBs from industrial waste in the environment and many more.
• Gastrointestinal inflammation from food allergies and intolerances, such as gluten intolerance (from most grains), which is thought to affect as much as 50% to 60% of Caucasian and ~40% of people of different ethnicities.
• Heavy metal toxicity, which is now highly linked to mercury amalgam fillings and concentration in deep water fish such as sword fish and tuna.
• Alcoholic beverages
• Caffeine, ephedra, ma-huang, guarana
• Many over the counter and prescription medical drugs
• Dehydration
• Lifestyle factors such as watching the news, rush hour traffic, deadlines, financial pressures, aesthetic competition or dissatisfaction, lack of time for ones self, etc.
• Over-training

Categories of Stressors (2)
Generally there are 5 main categories of stressors. These are:
1. PSYCHIC – spiritual, mental, emotional
2. NUTRITIONAL – insufficient quality or quantity
3. CHEMICAL – toxic substances, non-nutritional dietary excesses
4. PHYSICAL – postural, structural traumatic, degenerative, thermal
5. ELECTRO-MAGNETIC – x-ray, microwave, geomagnetic, cosmic etc

The tendency of the body is to summate all these stresses until eventually a stress threshold is reached. This can be likened to the cup running over. Eventually as you fill it up it will eventually pour out from the top leaving a mess somewhere. This is what happens with a human being! After enough stress something will break down leading to any number of problems far too numerous to detail here.
This breakdown generally follows the three stage adaption to stress of General Adaptation Syndrome which was identified by Hans Selye in his pivotal 1956 book the Stress of Life, the first book devoted entirely to the physiological and psychological effects and affects of stress. In this book Selye put forth his three tier model which looks like this: (3)

Alarm Phase: Adrenaline Release – this is the 1st exposure to the stress. It is generally categorized by the release of Adrenaline and Cortisol and is a totally normal reaction to any stress, provided the body is allowed to recover.
Resistance Phase: Activation of the Hypothalamic-Pituarity adrenal axis (HPA). This stage indicates the beginning of an endocrine and neurological adaptation. The Hypothalamus, which is located deep in the brain, is known as the master regulator of the Autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system. It has connections with the endocrine system via the Anterior Pituarity Gland which releases Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone which further stimulates the adrenal glands. It also activates the Sympathetic nervous system via feedback control systems in the Thalamus, which is the main integrative control center in brain function.

Overload-Systems Breakdown: Weight gain, depression, anxiety, immune suppression, decreased concentration, decreased energy. These are the symptoms that occur when the adrenal glands have reached a state of chronic exhaustion. Do these sound like common issues in today’s 24 hour constantly on the go society?

Cortisol Release and Circadian rhythms
The human body operates by a series of physiological cycles known as Circadian rhythms. These patterns of physiologic function have been with us through our whole evolution as a species and disruption of these is disastrous to our health. An example or a circadian cycle is the one demonstrated by the immune system. Generally, the immune system reaches its peak of highest activity at night when we should be in a state of deep sleep, generally between 10pm and 2am, where the majority of physical regeneration takes place.
Our hormonal system, which the adrenals are the major control center are strongly linked to these inbuilt biological clocks. These clocks are based on the 24 hour cycle of light and darkness experienced by each and every one of us on a 24 hour basis. With the Adrenal glands, production of Cortisol peaks in the early morning as the sun rises hence allowing us to become fully awake and aware. Levels ideally should taper off as the sun sets and reach their lowest levels around three hours after dark. This rhythm should really indicate when we should be our most active and when we should rest.

As shown above, Cortisol levels start to rise early in the morning in synchrony with the sun. After 9am Cortisol levels start to decline for the rest of the day. At around 2pm we experience a dip in Cortisol. We then have another rise and then we have a gradual drop in the evening with our lowest levels around 9pm allowing for the rise of Melatonin and sleep and recovery.

This is an altered Cortisol secretion ratio. This is seen very commonly in today’s society. We have low Cortisol levels early in the day due to exhaustion the day before and lack of sleep which leads to an inability to wake up in the morning. We then have high levels of Cortisol through the day due to the stressors that we experience. We have an increase at night when we should be winding down due to electromagnetic stresses that we experience such as TV and fluorescent lighting which stimulates our Adrenal glands. This cycle when followed in the long term leads to Adrenal exhaustion.

Exercise and the release of Cortisol
Exercise is one of the key factors in the secretion and control of Cortisol levels. Exercise can be used as a positive tool for the long term resolution of Hormonal problems. It is important to remember that exercise is a stress on the body systems and can be used in influence both positive and negative changes in physiology. One of the main factors that influence the endocrine response to exercise is respiration. Respiration is key to many physiological functions such as acid/alkaline balance, metabolism and circulatory functions. Correct respiration during exercise can prevent an exercise from becoming too catabolic or sympathetic stimulating. Sympathetic dominance leads to an over production of Cortisol and other stress hormones.

Aerobic exercise is one of the primary constituents of exercise today. It is constantly hammered into people that to be healthy aerobic exercise needs to be the primary component of their exercise regime for optimal health and fitness. Aerobic exercise directly causes an increase in Cortisol levels due to the increased level of respiration and the tendency to hyperventilate. It is also a stimulant to the sympathetic nervous system and is catabolic in nature. For people who are in Adrenal exhaustion, aerobic exercise is not the best choice for balancing their physiology. It has also been shown that when people exercise at 60% of their maximum heart rate for four hours a week or more they will produce a harmful amount of exercise induced free radicals which are the leading cause of aging, disease, cancer and death. (5) Bear that in mind before going for a run!
Exercise selection for autonomic imbalance is a key factor for balancing the adrenal glands. The balancing of a person’s physiology is the key factor for achieving a therapeutic result from exercise and achieving desired outcomes. We need to look at a clients overall stress load and which side of their autonomic nervous system is dominant in their lives. What is generally found is that people are sympathetically overloaded and need stimulation of their parasympathetic nervous system.
Sympathetic Stimulating Exercise
• Aerobic exercise
• Resistance Training Exercise
• Weight Training
• Lactic Acid training
• Sprint training
• Medicine Ball Training
• Running
• Competitive team Sports
• Triathlon

Parasympathetic Stimulating Exercise

• Yoga
• Tai Chi
• Qi Gong
• Pilates
• Swiss Ball Exercise
• Alexander technique
• Feldenkrais
• Horse Riding
• Walking
• Resistance Training (correctly done)
• Swimming

As demonstrated above you can see that the most commonly used modalities of training are the ones that stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, which is exactly the opposite of what most people need! This is why the majority of the exercising population is not achieving the results they desire due to incorrect exercise selection.
Another factor with weight loss and exercise is the situation of overtraining. Many people today over train and this leads to a breakdown in performance, increase of fat, suppression of the immune system and psychological issues such as depression.
The time that exercise is performed has a huge bearing of the hormonal effects of the training. If training at night occurs depending on the type of exercise performed there is an increase in levels of Cortisol. This upsets Melatonin, which is one of the primary growth and repair hormones, and is also the hormone which sends you to sleep. When Cortisol is raised, Melatonin is suppressed which disrupts your circadian rhythms, prevents you from falling into a deep sleep and alters your entire physiology. Sleep is the time when you release the majority of your growth hormone. Growth hormone allows you to burn fat and build muscle. By suppressing this hormone we limit the progress that is able to be made.

Adrenal Stress and weight loss
It has been shown that up to 80% of people with Adrenal Fatigue suffer from impaired function of the Thyroid Glands. The Thyroid glands are our master regulators of metabolism and are responsible for the conversion of T4 into its more biologically active form of T3 which controls how fast we set our basal metabolic rate. This implies that the rate we burn the nutrition that we take into our system takes longer and so we can eat less and still gain weight.
Elevated Cortisol leads to an accumulation of fat around the abdominal region. This fat around the abdominal region is considered by many to be the most damaging kind of fat that the body can store. It is highly related to cardiovascular disease and many other illnesses. This is also the area of body fat that people have the most difficulty in shifting. This is due to the over abundance of stress that we all have to deal with and our inability to deal with it. The breakdown of muscle mass that Cortisol promotes also slows down our metabolic rate which in turn affects the function of the Thyroid.
The breakdown of muscle mass that is caused by excess Cortisol slows down metabolic rate. The less muscle mass that you have the slower the Thyroid dictates your metabolic rate. Muscle is very costly from a metabolic point of view and the more muscle mass you have, the more energy is required to maintain it. This means for weight loss maintenance of muscle mass is one of the key factors and this means the reduction of Cortisol levels.

Metabolic Effects of Elevated Cortisol
(Related to Weight Gain)
(ref. The Cortisol Connection)

Loss of Muscle Mass
• Breakdown of muscles, tendons and ligaments (to provide amino acids for conversion into glucose)
• Decreased synthesis of protein (to conserve amino acids for conversion into glucose)
• Reduced levels of DHEA, growth hormone, IGF-1 and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
• Drop in basal metabolic rate (ie: a reduced number of calories is burned throughout the day and night)

Increase in Blood-Sugar Levels
• Reduced transport of glucose into cells
• Decreased insulin sensitivity
• Increase in appetite and carbohydrate cravings

Increase in Body Fat
• Increase in the overall amount of body fat (due to increased appetite, overeating and reduced metabolic rate)
• A redistribution and accumulation of body fat to the abdominal region.
• Increase in cravings for sweet foods of little nutritional value and high glycaemic index further decreasing insulin sensitivity

Diet, Nutrition and Cortisol
All hormones are derived from the foods that we put in our mouth. Steroid hormones such as Cortisol, testosterone, DHEA, progesterone and estrogen are derived from cholesterol. This should make it abundantly clear to us that we need to have fat with every meal to maintain a healthy hormonal system. Unfortunately it has been dogmatically shoved down our throats that we need a low fat diet to maintain health and lose weight. With what we know about hormonal health, Cortisol and these other hormones need to be produced to maintain hormonal health for weight loss, the total opposite of what these diets allow!
Every meal and everything you put in your mouth has a hormonal consequence. This is one of the most important things to remember with the adrenal glands and losing weight. An example of this is eating a high carbohydrate meal, particularly high glycaemic carbohydrates. This meal will cause a spike in blood sugar, which will cause an increase of the hormone insulin and a suppression of the hormone glucagon. These hormones in turn store energy in the form of adipose tissue (fat) or mobilize the stored fat for energy. The next step is that when this insulin is released, it is often released in excess which can lead to hypoglycaemia. What the body does in an effort to normalize blood sugar, initiates a counter-regulatory process during which in an attempt to normalize blood sugar the Adrenals secrete increased levels of Cortisol and adrenaline. It is then easy to understand that an excessive intake of carbohydrates often leads to increased Cortisol and weight gain.
Another thing to remember that is important is the often forgotten about issue of food intolerance and allergies. The majority of people who struggle to lose weight often have undiagnosed food allergies or intolerances. This happens for a number of reasons. One of these is the viscerosomatic response. This is basically when inflammation in an organ, such as a leaky gut in the small intestine causes reciprocal reflex inhibition of the muscles that come from the same nerve plexus. This is one of the primary causes of poor abdominal tone. What also happens is that a food intolerance cause inflammation in the gut and inflammation causes the release of Cortisol as it counteracts inflammation. This long term leads to immune system suppression which can lead to the proliferation of problems such as parasites, bacteria abd fungus such as Candida.
Stimulants such as coffee, chocolate and sugar all have a negative effect on the hormonal system of the body. In a state of Adrenal fatigue, these substances will further deplete the body further. Any substance that is a stimulant will cause an activation of the sympathetic nervous system which causes Cortisol release. These substances can often be referred to as ‘non-foods’ meaning they cost more to digest and assimilate than nutrition that they provide to the body. Any time this happens it causes a stress response, inflammation, Cortisol release and the breakdown of proteins, which slows down metabolism, suppresses the immune system and causes marginal and severe nutritional deficiencies. Any nutritional deficiency will slow down metabolism and affect digestion. All of this contributes to stress responses in the system and progressive Adrenal fatigue.
Retention time of food is another factor that affects your stress levels. Retention time is when you take a food into your mouth the total time it remains in your body. Transit time is the time from mouth to anus. When you take a food into your mouth it affects your physiology until it has totally left your body. This means if you eat a food that you are intolerant too you suffer the negative effects for that long. The average retention time of a healthy body is 72 hours so that means if you eat a bad food it will affect your body for that long. An important fact to remember is that the average person only eats 12 foods in their lifetime, generally having the same food for breakfast each day. This means that every day if you are eating the incorrect foods for your body you are constantly putting your body into a state of stress every day, all deal.

How our thoughts make us fat
An emerging new area in medicine is the field of psychoneuroimmunology. This field has to do with the effect of emotions on our health. Mounting evidence from this field and others such as neurology and psychology are showing this to be more and more true. There are also piles of empirical evidence available to us from the world of eastern Medicine which Western medicine is now starting to validate.
Our thoughts make us fat via a number of mechanisms. Our brain is based on a Triune structure. This structure was identified by Paul Maclean and is discussed in further detail in his book The Triune Brain. Our brain structure is built on a three tiered structure. The 1st layer is made up of our brainstem and more primitive areas of our brain. It deals with our survival and the regulation of our autonomic, unconscious functions. It is known as our Reptilian brain. Our 2nd layer, which is known as our Paleomammalian brain is also known as our Limbic brain. It deals with our emotions and how we handle them. The 3rd layer, which is the final layer to evolve is our neocortex, which is what separates us from other species. It is the area of our brain where we have our reasoning and logical thought. It is the centre of our consciousness and makes us aware.
Our reptilian brain deals with safety, sustenance and sex/procreation. Today our safety generally has to deal with financial security. Sustenance deals with over-eating, under eating, eating poor quality foods and nutritional deficiencies. Sex deals with issues such as sexual relationships, too little intimacy and inability to connect and feel fulfilled. Now the more of these stressors we have in our life, the greater the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This is because our reptilian brain controls our Autonomic nervous system so any of these stresses manifest as Adrenal stress.
The other way our brain perceives stress is through a part of it called the Amygdala. This part of the brain is part of the Reptilian brain and is one of our most important survival centers. The Amygdala works via association. This means when we experience a stress our Amygdala is aware of the stress and has made an association to a previous event faster than the cortical regions of the brain can analyze it. When the Amygdala makes this association it activates the survival centers and the sympathetic nervous system releasing Cortisol and Adrenaline. This system is essential for our survival and is hard wired into our physiology so much that it is beyond our control and is in our subconscious. The only way to manage this effectively is to limit your stressors and manage the other areas of your life such as nutrition more effectively. There is a technique available and will be mentioned later in the article.

Now we know all these facts about how our Adrenal glands and what we do affects them we need to know how we can affect change for our clients and ourselves. These steps, when followed correctly will help restore the Adrenal Glands to optimal function, normalize weight, reduce inflammation, improve muscle tone and restore health!

Steps to normalize Adrenal Function
1. Nasal breathing – Nasal breathing is one of the keys to maintain optimal physiological function. It will pull the body out of a sympathetic dominance and will stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Breathing Tips – Initially concentrate on deep stable diaphragmatic breathing. To perform this, lie on your back with one hand on your stomach. Inhale through your nose, allowing your stomach to rise as you inhale. Inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 5 and expel for 5 seconds. Perform this initially for 5 minutes a day. This will be enough to begin to normalize your physiology. An important tip to remember is that the optimal breathing rate should be 6-8 breaths per minute. Breathing over the rate of 16 breaths per minute is considered hyperventilation which shifts the body into a catabolic state.

2. Nasal Breathing during exercise – perform all exercise only breathing through your nose. An easy way to learn this is to hold water in your mouth while you are exercising. This forces you to breathe through your nose and also helps keep you hydrated. Any time you are exercising and you feel you need to breathe through your nose stop and slow down.

3. Drink the optimal amount of water – any time you are dehydrated you put your body into a stress situation and activate the sympathetic nervous system. I have found that the optimal amount of water is the amount recommended by Doctor F. Batman in his book Your Bodies Many Cries for Water. This formula he provides is 0.033 x bodyweight in kilograms. To this you add a pinch of good quality sea salt to every liter of water. This helps with electrolyte balance and helps to restore marginal nutritional deficiencies. When exercising add one liter of water for every hour of exercising.

4. Eat a whole food diet – The more complete your diet, the lower your chances of marginal and severe nutritional deficiencies. If it is financially viable Organic food is a better option due to them containing 40% more antioxidants than conventionally farmed and having no pesticides, fungicides or herbicides. These are all endocrine disruptors and add more chemical load to the body, giving the body more stress to deal with.

5. Lower your intake a high glycaemic carbohydrates and consume more fish oil – high glycaemic index carbohydrates spike blood sugar causing Cortisol release. Eliminating these will help with Cortisol. Fish oil is great for Cortisol because it helps produce prostaglandins that counteract inflammation which directly reduces Cortisol. We are also Omega 3 deficient compared to what we are evolutionally suited to survive with and it helps with many other functions.

6. Eat correctly for your metabolic type – some people are genetically more suited to eat more protein relative to carbohydrates or vice versa. This has a major influence on how you handle your foods and your blood sugar regulation. In the resources section you will be directed on how to find practitioners skilled in the practice of diet and metabolic typing.

7. Exercise in the morning – Exercising in the afternoon and evening causes spikes in Cortisol that hinders recovery and sleep. Exercise in the morning when Cortisol is naturally rising allows your body to take advantage of the beneficial effects of Cortisol and achieve optimal results. Remember to nasal breathe during exercise

8. Take up a Parasympathetic training modality – Exercise modalities such as Yoga or Qi Gong stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and that is the system that needs stimulation in the majority of people. This will help you reset your adrenal glands and restore your health.

9. Go to sleep with the natural rhythms of the sun – We are designed to rise and fall with the natural cycle of light and dark. For optimal health we should fall asleep within 3 hours of the sun going down and wake up with the sun rising. We should also sleep in a room that is totally dark as Cortisol is an awakening hormone and light on the skin stimulates the release of Cortisol. Also removing all electrical devices from the bedroom will help with sleep if you have electromagnetic stability. Finally try not to use computers or watch TV in the hour before going to sleep and try not to use fluorescent lights. These all stimulate the sympathetic nervous system which is not optimal for going to sleep and having a full recovery cycle.

10. Practice mental relaxation strategies – Mediation, affirmations, walking and deep breathing all help stimulate the Parasympathetic nervous system which help us relax and recover. These exercises will be detailed in a later article on exercise and relaxation techniques specifically for increasing brain function and Parasympathetic stimulation.

11. Have your Brain Integrated – Having an integrated brain helps you deal with the excessive response of the Amygdala to emotional stress. Doing this will help lower Cortisol levels and will also help with problem solving and general life. Practitioners will be located in the resources section of the article.

12. Consider Supplementation – Supplementation for the Adrenal Glands should only really be entertained after all previous strategies mentioned above have been mastered. Remember, supplementation is a supplement to a balanced diet and lifestyle. Supplements should start with whole food supplements before processing to isolated supplements. Supplements that benefit the Adrenals include Fish Oil, Cod Liver Oil, Green Tea, Liquorice root, Valerian, Glycine, Magnesium, Pantothenic acid, Acetyl L Carnitine, Vitamin C and Zinc. Always consult with a naturopathic practitioner before considering a supplementation program.

As you can see the topic of Adrenal function is a complex, interrelated field with total body effects that can affect every area of life. If you follow the steps above and consult with a recommended practitioner you can be assured of achieving your dreams of losing weight, building muscle and achieving the body and health you desire and deserve!!

Resources
• www.sportskinesiology.net – Information about Sports Kinesiology and practitioner director
• www.complementary.com.au – Information about Kinesiology, Course information and practitioner information
• www.westonapricefoundation.org – Information about real food and traditional methods of cooking
• www.chekinstitute.com – articles about exercise and nutrition information.
• www.metabolictyping.com – Self testing available for your metabolic type
• www.mercola.com – world’s leading resource on natural health including a free e-newsletter
• www.leapbrainintegration.com – information on brain integration and supplementation for optimal brain performance

References
1. Chek P. Holistic Approach to Training www.chekinstitute.com – Encinitas: C.H.E.K Institute
2. Chek P. Holistic Lifestyle coaching through Optimal Nutrition Level 2 Manual – C.H.E.K Institute
3. Chek P. Balancing the Autonomic Nervous system – www.chekinstitute.com – C.H.E.K Institute
4. Montgomery C. Advanced Programming Structures – ASKI 2007 Diploma Sports Kinesiology
5. Krebs C. Leap Brain Integration Workshop – 2007 : Melbourne Applied Physiology