Heal your adrenals to heal your gut

For the first 10 years of my practice I helped people heal their gut by addressing their biome. We did this through testing, diet, antimicrobials and herbs.

I didn’t work too much with stress or the adrenals because the gut tests I run only tell us what’s going on in the gut, not the reason the gut is out of balance.

And the biggest reason that the gut is out of balance is either a mental, emotional or physical stressor or toxin.

These days we look at the whole person, not just the gut. By adding a mineral and heavy metals test to my offerings, I can now see how stressed my clients are.

I always say it is hard to fix what you don’t know about or see. Now we can see how the adrenals, thyroid and nervous system are functioning. And it’s a great way to start a conversation and explore solutions.

When people are stressed, their adrenals start working overtime, even when people aren’t consciously aware of their stressors or repressed fear. The body knows everything, you may be able to hide your stressors from yourself but you can’t hide them from your body.

Stress of course comes in many forms. You can be stressed from an inflammatory diet or unstable blood sugar. You can be stressed from toxic overload or not getting enough sleep. You can be stressed because you are afraid you won’t be able to achieve something very important to you (having a baby, healing your gut, career success, saving your relationship, losing weight…)

When we are stressed physically or emotionally, the adrenals take the brunt. They respond by pumping out cortisol and other hormones.

When the adrenals crash they take the gut down with it. In this case, healing the adrenals need to be part of the picture.

Adrenal tests

Adrenal testing options are: a 4 point saliva test, the urine-based DUTCH hormone test and the HTMA (mineral and heavy metal test).

The first two tests can tell you that your body is stressed but don’t point at deficiencies that can be driving stress or other issues like a slow thyroid, weak immune system, toxin overload or unstable blood sugar. The HTMA does.

The HTMA shows how lifestyle and stress levels affect mitochondria, metabolism (motility) and vitality. They also show what minerals the body is deficient in.

The HTMA allows me to have constructive conversations about stress and prepare the body for healing so the protocols actually work.

Mineral deficiencies of potassium, sodium and magnesium can exacerbate adrenal dysfunction, cause stress intolerance and deep burn out. This is the opposite of a healing state. In my experience, many people, out of desperation, try to heal when their body is not ready for it.

Understanding how to care for the adrenals is often the missing piece for recovery.

What are the adrenals?

The adrenals are tiny, kidney shaped organs that sit on top of the kidneys (they are located on the lower part of the back). They pump out cortisol and other hormones to help the body respond to external and internal stressors. Internal stressors are inflammation, toxins or blood sugar swings.

Adrenals work hard to help us respond to threats and survive. They are not designed to work all the time, but often people get stuck in fight or flight and the adrenals don’t get to rest.

There are three stages of adrenal distress.

The first stage is chronically elevated cortisol which makes you feel energized. You may feel anxious, wired and can’t relax, but you have the stamina to push through your challenges. When stress continues for a long time we go to stage two where energy starts to dwindle.

Stage 3 is crash and burn out. Many of my clients are in stage 2 or 3.

There are many stressors today. Feeling helpless about world events and watching the news. Feeling disconnected so we spend too much time on social media. We work too hard, move too much or not enough, and spend too much time in front screens. Health researching is a big stressor for most of my clients because it drives more anxiety.

Alcohol, excess caffeine and sugar are common crutches to get through the day and they drive more inflammation and stress the adrenals further.

There’s food fear (not eating enough) or comfort eating the wrong things. There’s sleep deprivation, overcommit, never slowing down and trying to do it all.

Never feeling enough leads to perfectionism, overachieving and self doubt. Unprocessed trauma and health issues pile onto the list.

When other unexpected stressors hit, the system goes into overwhelm and our adrenals can’t keep up. We burn out.

What is burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. When it occurs you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, foggy and unable to focus or meet demands. There may be shame, guilt or anxiety around it.

In burnout, you stop enjoying the things you used to. You distract yourself with unhealthy things (carbs, scrolling, researching, over exercising). You can also experience an increasing sense of fatigue and hopelessness.

In our “push through it” culture, we deny our stress and burn out and keep going. We compensate in unhealthy ways.

The body gives us symptoms so we can pay attention and make change. Our symptoms are a call to action that we can’t ignore. And I am thankful that my body told me it was time to change my ways. I had many of the stressors above.

Change is often threatening and difficult. But my gut symptoms guided the way.

Getting in touch with your stress, raising awareness through the HTMA test or other channels is the way out. And will provide the best clues on how to address your adrenals (that are just reacting to your stress).

Below are some concrete tips on how to give your adrenals the support they need to recover.

Adrenal tips

Repairing adrenals is a mind and body effort.

In burnout, the adrenals are in a state of exhaustion. The priority is to replace lost minerals and get more rest and sleep. Replacing minerals will help with that by getting the body out of that tired but wired mode.

Adrenals need magnesium, potassium, sodium and in lesser degrees, calcium to function well.

As I mentioned above, lowering inflammation and stabilizing blood sugar takes pressure off the adrenals because it pumps out cortisol to stabilize both.

Working with the mind is also key. I became a hypnotherapist to help people release and rewire subconscious stressors.

There are many ways to work with the mind. Some options are journaling, meditative practices, cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnosis and EFT. These practices help bring awareness to buried stressors and also rewire them.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks I see is that people use the type A life strategy that crashed their adrenals to fix their gut. Often it takes letting go and less rather than more, to heal the adrenals and gut.

You also can’t be in a rush. This is often a trauma response. We don’t trust and want it to happen fast.

Healing the adrenals is a long game. You need to go slow. Hurrying it will slow it down. This is when we get a chance to work with our perfectionism.

Here are the 3 steps of addressing adrenal burnout.

Step 1: assess the level of burnout

Measure how burned out you are. This sets a baseline, grounded in reality instead of perception. And gives a concrete way to track progress. You begin to understand what you need.

Step 2: slow down and take stock stressors.

What are the mental or physical stressors that trigger cortisol release in your body? Is it compulsive exercise, productivity or food fear? Repressed resentment, anger or guilt? Feeling disconnected and misunderstood? Fear of missing out? Self loathing? Lack of trust or hope? Can’t give up booze or coffee or sugar? Lack of sleep?

Once you list your stressors you can address them slowly, one by one. Going slow is the key, small steps move us closer to regulation and vitality without triggering too much resistance. Small, slow steps also help with overwhelm.

Awareness of what’s going on with you the foundation of any successful healing process.

Step 3: giving your body what it needs.

This becomes easier you understand what is throwing you out of balance.

More adrenal tips

You don’t have to do everything all at once on the list below to heal. These are areas to focus energy and attention.

1. Balance blood sugar and lower inflammation with diet. Eat regular meals. A mix of protein, healthy fats and a bit of carbs. Have a set meal schedule.

The rule of thumb for carbs is: a golfball size portion at breakfast, two golf balls at lunch and three golf balls at dinner to help you sleep. Carbs can be potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, rice, fruit or well cooked beans. Ditch processed foods with seed oils and unpronounceable ingredients. Eat real food, three square meals a day and minimize snacking if you are not hypoglycemic. To figure out what foods inflame you. Take them out for a minimum of three weeks and add each food in one at a time to feel the effects.

2. Switch coffee to green tea. Matcha is my favorite powdered green tea. Green tea still has a bit of caffeine but much less and it’s balanced with l-theanine to feel calmer. Green tea is good for the liver, kills bacteria and is full of polyphenols that feeds the biome. Coffee is hard to give up so replace it with matcha instead, which doesn’t contribute to a big cortisol spike like coffee does.

3. Give your body the vitamins minerals it needs to function on cellular level. Potassium, sodium and magnesium are key nutrients. Vitamin C is another key nutrient. Here’s a post I wrote about foods that contain these essential minerals, including a homemade potassium broth. And here is a link to a homemade Adrenal cocktail. Using magnesium lotions or epsom salt baths can bypass the digestive system for higher absorption.

Also avoid foods that bind to minerals, like grains. And don’t take binders like charcoal with meals, because they binds to and remove minerals along with toxins.

4. Slow your roll. Take three to four 15 minute breaks during the day where you lay down, breath, go outside for a short walk or sit and drink tea. This could also be a time to journal about what stressed you during the day to raise awareness of triggers.

Alternatively, you could do 4 to 5 body checks during the day. Stop to notice your breathing (shallow or deep?) and posture (where are your shoulders?), how tight do your muscles feel? Take a few deep breaths before you resume your day. Simply checking in will help your body regulate and balance.

5. Choose gentle movement over intense exercise. Pilates, yoga, gentle rebounding or bike rides, stretching and walking are great ways to move the body without releasing cortisol. Cardio or HIIT may not be your friend right now.

6. Do something you enjoy. Time outside. A talk with a friend. A bike ride. A book. A bath. A walk with animals or children. Journaling. Crafts. Napping. Take your mind off your health and notice the effect of “unproductive” pleasure on your body. It may not feel good at first to do something pleasurable because it doesn’t feel safe. This is exactly why you should do it. Convincing your mind and body that you are safe is the best way to turn off cortisol. Pleasure conveys safety to the brain.

Be careful with watching movies or TV shows, many cause nervous system activation if there’s suspense or drama. Same applies to scrolling on your phone, it may feel relaxing, but it may be too stimulating or depleting.

7. Get to bed by 10. The quality of sleep you get before midnight is deeply restorative. Set a bedtime routine to give your body a routine. If you have trouble sleeping, listen to a yoga nidra or hypnosis sleep recording. If you are on your phone or computer late, wear blue light blocking glasses.

Go outside to get sunshine within an hour of waking and get activity during the day to help regulate sleep.

8. Addressing stress or anxiety is a complicated topic. The root of some stressors can go deep and may require somatic work, nervous system regulation or trauma therapy. Stress and anxiety often have physical roots, so supporting the adrenals, body and working with the subconscious mind can be life and mood changing.

9. Herbs that help. Adaptogens (ashwaghadnda, rhodiola and Siberian ginseng), B vitamins and medicinal mushrooms (chaga, reishi, cordyceps, lion’s main) aid adrenal recovery.

They can’t substitute for good rest and diet, but can help you feel better faster if you’re doing the other things. My favorite combo product is called Daily Stress Formula by Pure Encapsulation. You can put an organic mushroom powder to put in your tea. 4 Sigmatic is a popular brand.

10. This is the most important tip. If you are really overwhelmed or burned out, just focus on rest and diet only. Forget about everything else. Staying consistent with these two things will be huge. And when you are feeling better you can add pleasurable activities to your life.

If you are someone who tends to do too much and push too hard, this tip is for you. Go slow and do less. Less is more when it comes to the adrenals.

If you feel stuck, get support. Support alone can lower our inflammation and calm our adrenals.

If you are interested in trying this mind body approach when all else has failed, get in touch and we can talk about if my program the HTMA, subconscious reprogramming and nervous system work is right for you. And find out more about my programs right here.