PODCAST AVAILABLE HERE!
1. What are the adrenal glands and why are they ignored?
Adrenals are walnut sized glands that sit on top of your kidneys. They are called the stress gland because they allow you to handle stress. They are frequently ignored because they disease very rarely and are not looked at for malfunction. Adrenals can not be working optimally. If they are not working optimally they may not be making enough adrenaline which means you might feel fatigue or you might be stressed and they may not be making enough sex hormone effecting mood. Poor functioning adrenals can affect many parts of the body. Often times the way your body feels is ignored by physicians because it isn’t connected to typical illnesses.
2. How do the adrenal glands get affected by diet and affect weight gain?
The making of adrenaline is key for the adrenal gland and it needs a constant flow of blood sugar enabling the glands to function normally. If your blood sugar is unstable, you will have issues. You may be eating well, but sometimes your body doesn’t do a good job of turning the food into stable fuel and your blood sugar drops. Food sensitivities can affect the stabilization of your blood sugar. If your blood sugar isn’t stable and/or there is a lot of stress, your body will go through the “hold mode” not allowing you to lose weight. These issues can occur at all ages. Certain foods (dairy, meats, etc) contain hormones that mimic estrogen, so your body down regulates your own estrogen.
3. How do adrenal glands affect the development of degenerative diseases?
Adrenal glands makes natural anti-inflammatories. Inflammation in the chronic sense is at the root of all diseases. Having healthy and properly functioning adrenal glands will help take down the inflammation in our bodies.
What is leaky gut? Your digestive tract is affected by the bacteria or parasites that come into our body through our food. 70-80% of your immune system is housed in your gut. It needs to be there to get rid of the bacteria/parasites and at the same time allow healthy things into your body. If the immune system has been compromised, you can develop leaky gut where it allows bacteria/parasites into the parts of the body where it shouldn’t be.
4. How do the adrenal glands relate to hormone health?
Adrenal glands are extremely important and should pick up the slack as your ovaries slow down. If your adrenal glands are malfunctioning you will likely have a very difficult menopause (not sleeping, hot flashes, loss of concentration, etc). Normalizing adrenal function will help. Bio-identicals can help in the normalization.
5. Why are adrenal glands so important for a menopausal / peri-menopausal woman?
A simple blood test can measure your correct hormone level. The time of the month as to when this test is taken is important. The levels doctors use as “normal” are skewed because its an average of people that aren’t healthy. You need to look at the optimal range.
For menopause, your libido will suffer, have vaginal dryness, and will possibly gain weight. You need to learn about why your adrenals are taxed and how you can boost your adrenal function.
6. What do I do if I am suspicious of adrenal issues?
Get an initial consultation. Your doctor will come up with a plan of action for you. Consider using Dr. Vikki as your consultant. Make an appointment with Dr. Vikki: https://rootcausemedicalclinic.com/