When your body is hungry, it's need nutrients not calories. And when you get sick you probably need more of those nutrients.
Think about nutrients like they are soldiers with assigned missions and tasks. When fighting a disease, the body knows exactly which soldiers to call and how many of them.
For an example, the armed forces needed to be specifically charged with the task of dealing with heart disease will be somehow different than those who are needed to help with other health issues like adrenal fatigue, boost your mood or even heal a wound.
In this topic, I will discuss the nutritional need of two different conditions. Adrenal fatigue and Estrogen Dominance.
ADRENAL FATIGUE
"Adrenal fatigue is a collection of signs and symptoms, known as a syndrome, that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level. Most commonly associated with intense or prolonged stress, it can also arise during or after acute or chronic infections, especially respiratory infections such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia… you live with a general sense of unwellness, tiredness or “grey” feelings. People experiencing adrenal fatigue often have to use coffee, colas and other stimulants to get going in the morning and to prop themselves up during the day.
Adrenalfatigue.com
To heal Adrenal fatigue naturally, I've uncovered the lifestyle, nutritional, herbal and supplement cure that work.
Dietary changes
Low GI diet – being pretty much wheat-free and low sugar has helped me enormously. And cut caffeine out if this is one of your crutches.
Ensure plenty of protein. Have a small protein rich snack after 8pm to sleep to stop you waking at 3am with nightmares or anxiety – which can be triggered by low blood sugar levels.
The diet should be rich in the following nutrients:
Vitamin C is vital as it is used voraciously by the adrenal glands. Normally the adrenal gland require vitamin C to stay healthy and manufacture the adrenal hormones that cope with stress, particularly cortisol. the more cortisol made, the more vitamin C used. So during stress, the first soldier to be called is the vitamin C as an essential to the entire HPA (hypothalamus - pituitary - adrenal_Axis.
Vitamin E.
B complex and especially B5, also know as Pantothenic acid, and I like to call it the stress reducer vitamin.
Feeling stressed? Your vitamin B5 intake may have an important role to play. Vitamin B5 is critical to the development of stress-related hormones produced in the adrenal glands
Magnesium acts like a spark plug for the adrenal glands and for the energy system of every cell in the body. It is essential to the enzyme and energy generation necessary for the adrenal hormone cascade that produces hormones like cortisol to deal with stress. Several of the steps that create energy in every cell, and especially in the adrenal glands, are dependent on magnesium. When there is not enough magnesium, the stress response can be triggered with less provocation, leading to increased irritability and frustration.
Zinc is a mineral that is found in every tissue in the body and is directly involved with how fast cells can divide in the body, which contributes to energy levels. Low levels prevent an adequate stress response and may accelerate the aging response
Iodine, zinc and selenium are required for thyroid activation.
Potassium is one of the most abundant minerals found inside the cell. During adrenal fatigue, potassium levels can be abnormally high, so the balance of sodium and potassium is extremely important for people with adrenal fatigue.
Omega-3s have many positive effects on the symptoms experienced by those under chronic stress or with adrenal fatigue including:
- Increasing serotonin and dopamine levels for mild depressions
- Stabilizing blood pressure and heart palpitations
- Improving focus, memory, and alleviating brain fog
Supplements
The supplements used for adrenal fatigue are designed to support, fortify and restore adrenal function, and fall into 3 basic categories:
1. Oral supplementation of the mentioned vitamins and minerals in the following dosage:
High dose Vitamin C: Because vitamin C is water-soluble and quickly used up and excreted from your body, it should be consumed several times per day. This is particularly true when your body is under any kind of physical, emotional, environmental or infectious stress. The quantity of vitamin C required varies by person and by stress level.
To find how much vitamin C your body requires, try a very simple test called the Vitamin C Loading Test. On day one,take 500 mg of ascorbic acid plus an additional 250 mg every hour until your bowel movements became somewhat loose and runny. reduce your ascorbic acid by 500 mg and add approximately half the amount of bioflavonoids so you have a 2:1 ratio of ascorbic acid to bioflavonoids. Biofalavonoids are essential if ascorbic acid is to be fully metabolized and utilized by your body.
Vitamin E.
B complex – take in the morning as it can be over stimulating at night.
Pantothenic acid- 700-1200 mg
Niacin- 25-50 mg
Thiamine (Vitamin B1) 15-25 mg
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 15-25 mg
Vitamin B6 90-150 mg
Folate (Vitamin B9) 600-1000 mcg (in the methylated form).
Magnesium – 400 mg – after 8 pm. NOT with protein. OR as a skin spray which is absorbed better by the body.
Zinc – take minerals with acidic drink – like apple juice.
2. Vitamins specific to enhance adrenal function and energy production – the IV vitamin infusion called Myers cocktail is particularly helpful
3. Herbal extracts with adaptogenic properties designed to support healthy, balanced adrenal gland function
Adrenaline and oxytocin – the connection
The beginning of this journey to understanding the connection between oxytocin and healing adrenal burnout for me was a 3am information download into my brain.
The basic premise being this: it is known, from research into human biochemistry (see the work of Kerstin Uvnas Moberg, and Michel Odent) that adrenaline (the “stress hormone linked to fight/ flight/ freeze”) and oxytocin (“the hormone of love and closeness”) cannot be produced in the body simultaneously. We can function under one regime… or the other.
Oxytocin is produced during breastfeeding, relaxed labour, orgasm, massage and loving interactions. It promotes a feeling of love and trust and relaxation.
So how to activate the oxytocin system?!
One of the main things you need to do is to focus on damping down the adrenalin system, and encouraging the oxytocin system. Decreasing stress, anxiety-making events, finding ways of feeling safe moving out of your head and panic mode and into your body. You need to:
Reduce stressors, and learning to manage stress responses – easier said than done. Create a daily life which feels safe and secure.
Spend the majority of your time in calm surroundings
Be with people – or animals – that you trust
Receive massage or other hands-on, healing bodywork.
Get gentle exercise every day
Do meditation or mindfulness practice I am really bringing myself back again and again to the idea of myself as a stream, and just watching…
Get plenty of sleep. Power down phones and computers by 9pm. Do everything you can to get yourself into a state of relaxation before bedtime: chamomile tea, a warm bath, reading something soothing, gentle yoga…
Dietary changes and supplements
1. EAT OXYTOCIN PROMOTING FOODS
Yes! You can eat yourself into a more positive and calm state. Balanced-blood sugar, loads of tryptophan rich foods, healthy fats, antioxidants and B vitamins to support your brain chemistry result in higher level of serotonin, higher levels of oxytocin and lower levels of stress.
Be sure to check out the following calming superfoods to feed your body into a more oxytocin induced biochemical state.
Dark chocolate (specifically raw cacao)
Black sesame seeds
Avocado
Fig
Quinoa
Cashews
Walnuts
Brazil Nuts
Wild Salmon
Spirulina
Berries
Wild Mushrooms
Yerba mate
Organic Turkey
Whole milk yogurt or kefir
Eggs
Pomegranate
Banana and Sweet Potato. even though they are an Oxytocin promoting food, you still need to avoid it as high GL foods is not good for your stressed adrenal gland.
2. TAKE OXYTOCIN PROMOTING SUPPLEMENTS
There are several (high quality) supplements that encourage the release of oxytocin. On a biochemical level, there are many ways to boost you up. Here are a few to explore.
Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Magnesium
Chamomile
Melatonin
B vitamins
5HTP
Tryptophan
L-Glutamine
GABA
L-Phenylalinine
L-Theanine
This is all the story about adrenal fatigue. let's jump to the next condition estrogen dominance. And see how we will need totally different tactics to heal that health issues.
Estrogen dominance
Estrogen dominance is a very common condition with women, and may include symptoms such as PMS, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, breast tenderness, water retention, mid-cycle bleeding or heavy painful menstrual cycles. Conditions such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis and fibrocystic breasts are also encouraged and aggravated by estrogen dominance.
These situation are caused by an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone. Excess estrogen or deficient progesterone will lead to estrogen dominance.
Estrogen is normally made by the body, does it’s job, then needs to be metabolized and eliminated. This process starts with a healthy gut as do most all detox processes, then requires the right nutrients to support the liver’s metabolic detox pathways.
Lowering Excess Estrogen
Step 1 in dealing with estrogen dominance is to insure a clean diet, with plenty of methyl donor nutrients for liver support including:
✅ Choline (Cauliflower, eggs, flax seeds, lentils, liver, peanuts, soybeans and wheat germ)
✅ Folate (Leafy greens, asparagus, citrus fruits, cheese, eggs, legumes, peanuts)
✅ Methionine (Dairy products, eggs, fish, meat, poultry and rice)
✅ Vitamin B2/ riboflavin (Cheese, eggs, meat and milk)
✅ Vitamin B6/ pyridoxine (Bananas, fish, grains, legumes, liver, meat, potatoes and poultry)
✅ vitamin B12/cobalamin(Eggs, fish, meat, poultry, dairy products)
Step 2 is to address possible gut inflammation that will impair elimination of estrogen and detox in general. Conditions such as delayed food allergies, leaky gut, or imbalances of the gut microbiome can cause inflammation and impaired detox.
Step 3 is to avoid foreign estrogens called Xenoestrogens.
Beyond this, adding a few natural supplements is often very helpful in lowering excess estrogen and/or blocking the impact of excess estrogen.
DIM and Myomin
DIM, or Diindolylmethane, is a food based supplement that is naturally found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, collard and mustard greens, and kale. DIM helps the liver to metabolize estrogen not only better, but safer, leading to less cancer promoting byproducts such as estrone.
Myomin is an herbal supplement that helps estrogen dominance in two ways. First, it inhibits the breakdown of testosterone to estradiol, thus lowering estrogen levels. Second, it selectively blocks estrogen receptors, which means it will bind to an estrogen receptor but not stimulate it meanwhile blocking stronger estrogens from binding and really activating estrogen receptors.
You can also work the other way, on increasing progesterone levels. You can enjoy a cup of red raspberry leaves tea. Which are loaded with phytoprogesterone.
Functional nutrients have become essential not only for energy production and body matter of classic metabolism, but also a conditioning environment that modulates the epigenome activity and influences stress adaptive responses, immune homeostasis, and disease prevention.
