If day by day you are doing your best to lose weight - you are not alone in your aspirations, because at the moment, increased body weight is one of the most common problem of modern society! The ratio of people who turn to specialists with a problem of reduced weight to address the problem of high weight is extremely small. If you do everything correctly (observe a diet and exercise regularly), but this does not solve your problem - it can be a problem of the adrenal glands. Yes, this is the most common problem, but not the only one..
Let's talk about metabolism
Before plunging into the problem of working the adrenal glands, we will analyze the work of metabolism. When applying a new diet with a restriction of calorie intake, the organism reloads the work of metabolism under new conditions (calorie intake), eventually adapting itself to new conditions. That is why many people observe a short-term weight loss and further increase in weight when the same diet is administered.
And while doing this most often apply extreme diets with minimum amount of calories consumed, which leads to the fact that the body in stress is trying to adapt to this kind of inflow of calories. But an extreme diet is impossible (and certainly stealthily) to observe all life and we return to the usual diet. After stress, the body begins to gain weight quickly. (We'll talk about ideal diets later!)
Adrenal fatigue and your weight.
Let's take one of the patients: she has a problem with hair loss and the weight has increased by 30 pounds over the past 5 years. At the time of the referral to a specialist, she underwent a four-month course of extremely extreme diet and intensive physical exertion. The result was: a weight loss of only half a pound!
We will tell a little more about the life of the patient during these 5 years. Everything happened with a severe trauma of her husband, which led to his disability and disability. All the workload to provide the family (husband and two children) and medical support for the husband if our patient. Absence of sleep, balanced nutrition and constant stress is the result of the patient's life.
The science behind chronic stress and weight gain.
Now, I recognize that Emily's situation is extreme, but this beautifully highlights the role the adrenals play in weight loss. Emily had been in a state of fight/flight/freeze for five years. Here's the bottom line: When your adrenals are stressed, a whole complicated cascade of events occur in your body. During the short term, your digestion and absorption stop when you are exposed to a stressor. Then, the adrenals tell the liver to release its glucose stores, and your blood sugar levels increase and insulin resistance can develop. Your senses and reflexes get sharper, your pupils widen, and your reaction times get better.
The problem is that these stress responses were designed for short-term stressors, like running from a lion. They were never meant to be chronic or long-lasting, and when the stressors become chronic, this insulin resistance leads to deposition of fat in our abdomen. This is called "angry fat" because it's more inflammatory and irritates the rest of your system. It's also harder to lose than other weight. Because your adrenals are on alert for needing to run from a lion, you begin to desperately hold on to every calorie your body gets.
Here's what you can do to soothe your nervous system and lose weight.
It's critical to turn off this fight/flight/freeze response and direct the body into more natural processes. How do you do this? First, see a good functional medicine provider. You can get tests and have a professional evaluate your stress levels and adrenal function. In the meantime, eliminate processed carbs (I know you're craving them!) and sugar and make sure you get high-quality rest, which means seven to nine hours a night of unbroken sleep.
Another great thing to do is to start meditating. Don't worry about being an expert; just sit still and breathe. Make your exhales longer than your inhales; this activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which is all about rest, relaxation, digestion, restoration. And finally, slowly and methodically work on resolving the underlying causes of your stress one at a time. It takes some dedication and patience, but it is entirely possible to heal the adrenals and lose those pesky extra pounds!
