STRESS & ADRENAL HEALTH

Stress is a fact of life

– and it can be both good and bad for us!

You have two small glands sitting at the top of each kidney, known as the adrenal glands. They play an important role in your body’s endocrine (hormonal) system.

These glands are responsible for your ‘fight or flight’ response.

Our stress response is designed to help us in situations that are incredibly challenging or truly dangerous.

To keep us sharp and focused on dealing with the stressful situation (both internally and externally), our stress response slows down or shuts off functions that seem to be less pressing.

This includes immune system function, reproductive function, and digestion.

Fight or Flight v’s Rest and Digest

Although major traumatic events and extremely high-stress situations can certainly lead to adrenal fatigue, in a lot of cases I find that the biggest problem is chronic, low-level stress.

This is the kind of stress that just lingers around all the time, meaning that our bodies are in a near-constant state of fight-or-flight, instead of returning to normal after a danger has passed.

It’s important to understand that when we talk about stress for our bodies, we’re not just talking about emotional and mental stress (worries related to family, relationships, work, money, etc).

Stressors can also include things like chronic exposure to toxins, inflammatory foods, or hidden imbalances within the body.