Lowered Adrenal Reserve

Life’s stresses come at us from every direction: emotional, physical, social, toxic, infectious, chemical, environmental, and allergic. Normally the adrenal glands manufacture an array of hormones that help us cope, but when the the stresses of life are prolonged or severe, the adrenals can be damaged, leading to lowered adrenal reserve or even outright adrenal failure. Fatigue is often the first sign.

Lowered adrenal reserve is virtually always present in people who have experienced prolonged stress, chronic fatigue, or immune system difficulties. While conventional medicine usually overlooks adrenal failure, alternative-minded physicians find that restoring adrenal health accelerates the healing process.

Approach

Lowered adrenal reserve can be assumed to be present in anyone who is chronically tired or ill, has persistent allergies, has had recurrent infections, or leads a stressful life. Since nutritional therapy is harmless, a trial program in these individuals is justified.

Also, adrenal function throughout the day can be accurately assessed using the Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory (1-800-522-4762) Adrenal Cortex Stress Profile, a saliva test you can do at home. This relatively inexpensive test measures morning DHEA and adrenal cortisol output upon arising, at noon, 4 PM and bedtime, and the report provides a curve of daily cortisol output, which is an excellent measure of adrenal function.

Suggested Supplements

Several nutritional medicines are known to restore flagging adrenal function so that this crucial gland can provide adequate amounts of the hormones that protect us from stress.

An effective adrenal support program would include one or two capsules twice a day of each of the following: Adren-Plus, Adrenal Cortex, Ginseng, Potassium-Magnesium aspartate, DHEA 25 mg., Pantothenic acid, and Ester-C.