With our busy schedule everyday, more and more individuals try to find ways to increase their energy levels in order to keep them going all throughout the day. Here are some amazing tips which you can apply to boost your natural energy, and fight adrenal fatigue.
1. Learn the proper breathing technique
Try to breathe naturally. Breathe with your abdominal muscles to improve your energy and allow more air inside your system.
2. Don’t skip meals
You must have a well balanced diet. Eat 3 meals a day and add two light snacks to perk you up with more energy. An empty stomach will make a person dull and weak.
3. Create a more adaptable schedule to your lifestyle
Try to prioritize among your busy schedule what is the most important from the least. From there, decide which one needs more attention. By doing this you have less time to worry and consume less energy, thus allowing you to have more energy to do vital tasks.
4. Avoid late night activities
As much as possible try to limit your late night activities like watching tv or doing paperwork on the computer. Your body’s clock normal habit gets affected with this. So, it’s better to switch off everything and have a good night sleep.
5. Have adequate sleep
A body’s normal sleep requirement is mostly 8-10 hours in order for the body to recuperate and rejuvenate. Don’t deprive yourself with the much needed rest.
6. Get some power naps if needed
Sometimes in the middle of the day, you tend to feel tired already. It is ideal when you feel this that you take a short nap to increase your energy levels, but make sure you don’t overdo it or it will interrupt your night time sleep routine.
7. Indulge to your favorite hobby
Give enough breathing space from your work and other activities. Make a time out if needed and do something you love to fully energize yourself. Sometimes, a mere walk in the park or near the beach will bring out wonders and soothing appeal to your tired and aching body.
8. Stay focus and keep organized
Proper mindset will require lesser task to do on your part which then results to more unused energy from your body. Properly organize the things to be done for the day. A well organized schedule will keep you ahead of time and more relaxing moments to enjoy.
9. Try something new for an experience
Indulge yourself to a relaxing environment by going to a spa for a soothing massage or play a new sport that you love to refresh your mind. Involving yourself to a sport you like will make you more energetic.
10. Don’t smoke
Smoking is unhealthy. It weakens the immune system and makes you feel less energetic because smoking inhibits the needed oxygen of our body.
11. Do a lot of exercises
It is necessary that you set a time in the morning to exercise in order to get rid the sleepiness feeling and liven your day. Simple stretching or brisk walking will be good to your body.
12. Have proper posture
An incorrect posture will lead to a lot of body aches and discomfort, thus limiting your ability to work properly. A good posture will give you more energy to do a lot of work easily.
13. Minimize your coffee drinking
Although, you must not omit your love for coffee, try to drink other healthy beverages like fresh fruit juices and green tea. It will not only cleanse your digestive system, but the fruits are good source of vitamin C for more energy.
14. Eat foods rich in protein, carbohydrates and minerals
Protein and carbohydrates are good source of energy. Try to eat foods like meat, fish, whole grains and nuts to gain more energy. Foods rich in minerals are essential also to increase the brain power that emits energy to the whole body.
15. Limit your sugar consumption
Unlike the belief that sugar will make you more energetic, thus, it is a fact that large intake of sugar will result to the irregular up and down movement of our energy levels, leaving the body a burn-out feeling.
16. Drink lots of water
The normal requirement of water intake is 8-10 glasses or more in a day for the toxins in our body to be flushed away. Hydrate yourself with water to combat fatigue.
17. Eat a banana
Bananas are believed to be energy booster because they contain potassium which is a great source of energy. So, eat one banana a day to perk you up.
18. Get enough sunshine
Expose yourself with the morning sun if you have the luxury to do so. This is the best source of vitamin D, proven to prevent depression, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid and other adrenal related facts.
19. Listen to lively and invigorating music
To enhance energy to your body, indulge yourself to a lively music. It will not only awake your sleepy mood but also make you move faster as the rhythm becomes more rapid.
20. Drink all natural herbal supplements
To stay healthy and full of vigor, you need other supplements to meet all your energy and nutritional needs.
21. Proper intake of vitamins
Make sure your body gets all the needed vitamins for your body to fully work effectively and produce top levels of energy.
22. Infuse positivity in your outlook
Don’t let negative vibes rule your life. Be positive and always be on the look out for a more fruitful life ahead.
23. Remove the clutter in your place
Minimize the things around you. Assess which items you don’t need any more. A clutter free environment brings a better outlook.
24. Be with your loved ones, family and friends
Being with the persons you love, create a happier and energetic feeling, making you do more things.
25. Take a hot and cold shower
When you take your shower, try to alternate cold from hot to fully energized yourself.
26. Avoid worrying
Accept what life has to offer and take life easy. Don’t worry too much about things that go beyond your power. Learn to deal with problems by deciding fast.
27. Get things done quickly
Don’t put off activities that you can do today to prevent piling up of work eventually. Manage your tasks according to priority.
28. Learn to laugh
Take away the stress you feel by laughing it out. Bring the humor in you. Although, this sounds weird, but certain studies proved that laughter cures some sickness and relieves stress.
29. Learn to appreciate your accomplishments
Give praise to all your achievements. Learn to focus on what you have accomplished and be happy.
30. Be contented with what you have
Whenever you are feeling down and weary, try to count all your blessing. Be thankful with what you have at the moment. By doing this, you are eliminating away the negative feelings, thus, allowing you to be more productive and energetic. We hope you can apply some of these methods to increase your energy naturally!
Adrenal glands are categorized under the major endocrine glands. The endocrine system is composed of a small group of glands that communicate and work together to coordinate all body systems. These glands produce chemicals that are called hormones.
The adrenal glands pair consists of the adrenal medulla and adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex produces two kinds of hormones: 1.) Cortisol and 2.) Aldosterone.
Adrenal glands are two glands that are located on top of the right and left kidneys. The right adrenal gland is triangular in shape, while the left is semi lunar in shape, just like the moon cut in half. And the adrenal glands are surrounded by fatty tissues, including renal (kidney) tissues.
What are directly affected by stress are our adrenal glands, since these glands are responsible for the fight or flight response of the body. At the first exposure to stress, the adrenal glands increase in size, wherein the blood that supplies it also increases. As the stress continues, so is the shrinking of the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands’ function is to release hormones to respond to stress.
Therefore in times of exposure to stress, the body’s blood pressure rises, such as the heart beat and breathing. The pupils are also dilated. The intestinal blood moves to the extremities like the arms and the legs. This reaction is meant to be temporary. The changes from the effect of the adrenal glands make the body more efficient at performing their purpose. This is the fight or flight response. If a person survives, his adrenal glands will have time to recover from the stress, but if the person fails his adrenal glands will be overworked. If there is a lot of work put out for the adrenal glands, the immune system will be down and there will be a higher risk for infection and acquiring other diseases. Therefore people who get sick more often are those who are at a high level of exposure to stress.
The blood flow supply to the digestive system is reduced. Because of this, stress causes indigestion, diarrhea, irritable bowel and other gastric problems.
The adrenal hormones cause an increase in clotting the blood, so prolonged stress can lead to formation of plaque and heart disease. So it will be beneficial for one’s health if we are able to handle our stress rationally and keep it at a minimum.
Stress is the response of the body to something unexpected, like something that is not the routine or not the usual thing we are used to. Stress alerts the defense mechanism of the body to respond to it in a way that we did not think we are capable of doing.
Stress unleashes the super human in all of us, and an example is pain, trauma, injury, disease or even accident or calamities such as storm, earthquake, tsunami. This is where ordinary people are able to carry the refrigerator by himself, and able to move furniture outside the burning house, run fast, etc. This is also better known as the adrenalin rush (fight). This response of the body is to fix the irregularity or imbalance, but if the body fails to fix this, there will be exhaustion (flight).
Too much stress can lead to a number of mental and also physical and emotional issues, and can present numerous signs and symptoms. The signs and symptoms of stress are increased irritability, poor sleep, poor memory retention, short attention span. Even focusing and concentrating is also difficult for someone experiencing stress. Sometimes, daily activities are also affected and normal everyday functioning is also disrupted. People under stress can be a lot more sensitive than those who are relaxed, they are easily bothered, and cry easily, gets mad right away and there could also be signs of depression in severe cases.
There are many kinds of stress. One is emotional stress – the kind of stress that targets the feelings and emotions of the person, this is the kind of stress that is mostly the root cause of different mental disorders and problems. Another kind of stress is the chemical stress. These chemical stresses are those that are in our surroundings such as environmental pollution, gas leak, oil leak and garbage that pollute the air we breathe. In addition, there is also a stress type called the physical stress that can be brought about by heat, cold temperatures like the winter, etc. Physical stress can also be an injury, accident, trauma inside and outside the body, internal hemorrhage, fracture, bruise, burn, and so on and so forth.
Stress and other factors can damage our adrenal glands. Other factors that can damage our adrenal glands are adrenal glands disorders that may be inborn or acquired during our lifetime.
Adrenal glands disorders can lead to acute or chronic insufficiency and those related to hyperfunction (overactivity), which most often leads to overproduction of androgen or cortisol.
An example is the acute adrenocortical insufficiency. This is the disorder where the entire cortical adrenal gland becomes insufficient. This usually occurs with severe infection. The symptoms can be an instant extreme drop in the blood pressure, the color of the skin is grayish and the temperature is elevated. Treatment of this is immediate cortisol replacement.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a syndrome that is inherited. The primary defect is an inability of the adrenal glands to synthesize cortisol. Excessive androgen production makes the female fetus be masculine in some way, like a female infant with a clitoris large enough to appear as a penis.
Another factor that can damage our adrenal glands besides stress is our eating habit or our diet.
Eating small frequent meals and eating less sugar and less salty foods helps the adrenal glands. Eating foods based on the food pyramid is a plus. Therefore our diet plays a crucial role keeping our adrenal glands from damage. So skipping meals and having a sugar rush is not good.
Meditation, yoga, exercise, sports and other relaxing activities are beneficial for one’s health and also helps the damaged adrenal glands heal.
Stress works out the adrenal glands, while during the resting, meditating and relaxing mode makes the adrenal glands recover. Therefore we are not only saving our adrenal glands from damage, but also preserving our health if we worry less and if we avoid things that can stress us.
Adrenal fatigue can best be defined as a collection of symptoms that results in the function of the adrenal glands at a level lower than their optimal level. In this situation the adrenal glands are exhausted and as such they cannot perform their functions such as producing a balanced level of hormones. On the other hand, adrenal fatigue if not detected, can lead to some serious complications such as Addison’s disease or adrenal insufficiency.
There are so many causes that can be associated with adrenal fatigue. One of the major causes of adrenal fatigue is stress. Stress causes someone to be so tired and as such this results in a dysfunction of the adrenal glands. On the other hand, adrenal fatigue can be contracted after someone has suffered from serious diseases and infections such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia. It is hard to identify adrenal fatigue because it may not have such visible adrenal fatigue symptoms.
Some of the symptoms of adrenal fatigue may be reduced after sleep but others may not and as such victims of adrenal fatigue may need to ingest some stimulants such as coffee so that they can get on with their day. As such, adrenal fatigue may have mild symptoms which may be detectable but on the other hand, if some of these symptoms are not detected early enough then they can result to serious complications as mentioned above. Some of the mentioned symptoms of adrenal fatigue are outlined below.
It is good for people to note that having one or two of these symptoms does not necessarily mean that they suffer from adrenal fatigue. This is because one has to suffer from a collection of all the symptoms. In conclusion, in order to deal with adrenal fatigue then someone has to avoid some of the causes that lead to these symptoms. For instance patients can maintain a healthy diet life and avoid eating salty, sugary or fatty foods. You can click here for additional adrenal fatigue symptoms information.
By Lisa Hill MD. Original article link
In our busy lives, many choose to skip breakfast stating that they are not hungry. However, this creates a scenario where your body plays catch-up the rest of the day. It is important for everyone to eat before 10:00 AM, but especially those with low adrenal function. Ten o’ clock is when your stored blood sugar supply after the night’s fast will generally run out. Not eating will stress your adrenal gland further, pushing you into greater adrenal fatigue. Even a small snack is helpful if that is all you can manage. Eating regularly (every 3 hours), will help your body keep blood sugars constant throughout the day without overworking your adrenal gland.
see James L. Wilson, “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome” for further information
See our Adrenal Fatigue Treatment guide here
By Lisa Hill MD. Original article link
Action steps:
Do you experience unexplained fatigue? Even if you got enough sleep during the night, but the moment you wake up still there’s a lack of energy or strength to continue your daily activities. If these symptoms persist, you might have Adrenal fatigue.
Adrenal fatigue refers to the different indications caused by decrease in adrenal gland levels. This is mostly associated with stress. This kind of fatigue cannot be solved by just increasing your sleep or rest. This syndrome is often referred to as the non-Addison’s disease. It affects one’s adrenal glands which are responsible in producing hormones that are needed for the body’s regulating processes. In this disease, the adrenal glands do not yield adequate cortisol, one of the gluco corticoids that enhance our bodies capacity to transform food into energy. This is the immune system’s inflammatory response and our body’s counteraction to stress. It commonly affects individuals 30-50 years old, but can start as young as 16 years old. This condition is also known as “adrenal insufficiency” or “Adrenal Exhaustion”.
To check if you already have some manifestations of this syndrome, use the following checklist and consult your doctor for medical advice:
In the event you have these symptoms, here are some ways to combat adrenal fatigue:
1. Live a healthy lifestyle
As the saying goes “You are what you eat”. It is really important to watch our diet properly. Don’t skip meals and eat at least 3 times daily with a well-balanced diet. Keep away from alcohol, caffeine, sugar and processed foods. Drink lots of fluids to keep you well hydrated. Enjoy each meal and don’t rush yourself to prevent indigestion.
2. Exercise regularly
Find something you like doing, and at the same time build your stamina. Exercises like dancing, jogging, walking, taking your dog for a walk, playing your favorite sport or simply playing with your kids will help your body combat stress.
3. Take adrenal fatigue supplements
Although, we try our best to maintain a healthy diet, sometimes not all nutrients are met by the food we eat. Sometimes it is essential to use supplements, they help replace the missing vitamins and nutrients our body needs. There are a wide variety of adrenal fatigue supplements on the market right now. We will review the best ones to help find the best performing products.
4. Adequate sleep
With our busy lifestyle, sometimes we only get few hours of sleep. If you have the luxury of having a day off just to rest, use it to get that extra boost of energy for the rest of the week . A good night’s sleep will allow the body to recuperate and perform better than a body with a lack of sleep. Try to get to bed and wake up the same time every day. This helps your body regulate itself, and make the most of the sleep you get daily.
5. Enjoy life and be happy
In recent studies, laughter has been proven a perfect medicine to depressed individuals and also to those with illnesses. Smiling brings positive energy to your body, and others as well.
Enjoy each day as it is and learn to live life to the fullest…Follow these tips and defeat adrenal fatigue.
I created this website to provide a place people could find answers about Adrenal Fatigue and how it can be normalized by proper diet, sleep, stress relief and quality supplements. Please join in the conversation and leave a comment. We are glad to have you!