Don't Overlook Those Signs of Fatigue

Modern life surely does take a toll on the human body. The amount that we have to try and pack into any given day is often overwhelming and we find ourselves sleeping less and working longer hours as we try and balance our jobs with our family responsibilities and our dwindling social life. All of this pressure causes us to omit exercise and take less care of ourselves and to turn to convenience foods, as we simply think that we do not have enough time to prepare a wholesome diet. Lack of exercise and poor nutrition will lead to additional stresses and strains on the body and it's hardly surprising that things start to go wrong. Adrenal fatigue is a very common condition, even though it is poorly diagnosed and linked to the adrenal glands, very small organs located near the kidneys, of which we ask a great deal. After some years of unhealthy lifestyle habits and crazy schedules, the telltale signs of failure start to creep in.

We have to remember that our body was basically "designed" over the centuries to function according to basic primitive needs. We needed to eat, we needed to sleep and we needed to fight, if necessary. Today, of course, we place an amazing demand on our bodies by eating processed, nutritionally deficient foods, ingesting toxins and failing to recharge our bodily batteries by sleeping adequately. We should be resting even more and demanding nutritional excellence, if we are to survive, this way.

It's hardly surprising that chronic fatigue sets in. The adrenal glands are not able to help us handle stress or regulate our blood sugar. Stress hormones create an imbalance, our thyroid, nervous system and brain function is impaired and as our immunity is compromised, we are so vulnerable. With little sleep, we cannot regenerate our adrenal glands and as we eat an increasingly poor diet, food sensitivities cause a hormonal imbalance as the body tries to fight off inflammation and attack.

For a majority of people, symptoms may not be chronic enough to warrant further investigation. They may feel run down, but attribute this to the hectic lifestyle and think it is just a consequence of the way that life is, these days. When they get low energy, they don't recognize this as a warning sign and think that they can combat this with a "quick" junk diet, or a hectic thirty minutes in the gym, just putting additional stress and strain on their adrenal glands.

One of the most important building blocks for hormone composition in the body is pregnolone. When we are rundown and overstressed, the body uses pregnolone to make cortisol to handle stress. However, it appears that excess cortisol can be "stolen" when the body is overstressed, from testosterone or DHEA, which adds additional problems on top of an already aggravated situation.

What's the answer? Essentially, slow down, make sure that you go to sleep and wake up in harmony with the cycles of the sun, eat only a very highly nutritious diet and exercise regularly. Easier said than done?