What is Adrenal Fatigue and Are You Unknowingly an Unecessary Victim

Do you feel constantly tired, moody and depressed? Do you wake up feeling tired even after a full night’s rest? Do you crave sugary and salty foods, and depend on your morning coffee just to keep your eyes open?

Are you constantly exhausted and reaching for coffee or sweets to wake you up? Your adrenals may be fatigued.

These are all common symptoms of adrenal fatigue -- a condition caused, in short, by too much stress and work. It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of adults suffer from adrenal fatigue, yet it continues to be a largely ignored and overlooked health problem, according to Dr. James Wilson, author of Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.

“Adrenal fatigue can affect anyone who experiences frequent, persistent or severe mental, emotional or physical stress. It can also be an important contributing factor in health conditions ranging from allergies to obesity. Despite its prevalence in our modern world, adrenal fatigue has generally been ignored and misunderstood by the medical community,” Dr. Wilson writes on his Web site.

What is Adrenal Fatigue? What are the Signs and Symptoms?

Your adrenal glands (located on top of each kidney) act as control centers for many hormones. One of their most important tasks is to get your body ready for the "fight or flight" stress response, which means increasing adrenaline and other hormones.

This response increases your heart rate and blood pressure, slows your digestion and basically gets your body ready to face a potential threat or challenge.

While this response is good when it's needed, many of us are constantly faced with stressors (work, environmental toxins, not enough sleep, worry, anxiety etc.) and are in this "fight or flight" mode for far too long -- much longer than was ever intended from an evolutionary standpoint.

The result? The adrenals become overworked and fatigued, and adrenal fatigue develops. If you feel one or more of the following on a regular basis, you may have adrenal fatigue, according to Dr. Wilson:

Cravings for salty or sugary foods is a symptom of adrenal fatigue.

• You feel tired for no reason.

• You have trouble getting up in the morning, even when you go to bed at a reasonable hour.

• You are feeling rundown or overwhelmed.

• You have difficulty bouncing back from stress or illness.

• You crave salty and sweet snacks.

• You feel more awake, alert and energetic after 6PM than you do all day.

Further, when your body is overly stressed your adrenal glands increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which can alter your:

• Appetite, leading to food cravings
• Energy levels, leading to fatigue and exhaustion
• Mood, leaving you feeling emotionally drained
• Memory and learning
• Muscle mass and bone density
• Immune response

You may notice symptoms began after a single, high-stress event, or alternatively after a prolonged period of daily stress. Either can over-stimulate your adrenals to the point of fatigue, and anyone may be affected. However, the following factors increase your risk of adrenal fatigue:

• Chronic illness
• Poor diet
• Too little sleep
• Too much pressure/overwork
• Substance abuse
• Repeated infections (bronchitis, pneumonia, etc.)
• Maternal adrenal fatigue during gestation

Likewise, adrenal fatigue is often associated with chronic illnesses because they also place demands on your adrenal glands. According to Dr. Wilson, the following conditions may either be related to, or exacerbated by, adrenal fatigue:

Alcoholism and Addictions Allergies Autoimmune Disease Syndrome X and Burnout Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Chronic Infections Dental Problems Blood Sugar Imbalances

Fibromyalgia Herpes HIV and Hepatitis C Hypoglycemia Mild Depression PMS and Menopause Rheumatoid Arthritis Sleep Disruptions

How to Diagnose Adrenal Fatigue

Conventional medicine typically does not acknowledge adrenal fatigue until potentially life-threatening conditions like Cushing’s syndrome (an overproduction of cortisol) and Addison’s disease (an underproduction of cortisol) develop. However, you can have adrenal fatigue or an adrenal imbalance -- along with a range of debilitating symptoms -- long before you progress into one of these extremes.

A health care provider who is knowledgeable in the area of adrenal fatigue can perform a saliva test to check your levels of cortisol over a 24-hour period. In healthy adrenal function, cortisol should be elevated in the morning, lower and steady throughout the day, and then should drop in the evening when you go to sleep. In people with adrenal fatigue, however, cortisol levels remain elevated throughout the day and rise in the evening when you should be relaxing.

If you find that your adrenals are fatigued, there is help available and by following the steps below you can restore your adrenals and regain your vim and vigor.

Five Steps for Restoring Healthy Adrenal Function

It likely took some time for your adrenals to become fatigued, and it will take some time to nurse them back to health. And, you must commit to changing your lifestyle to be less stressed and more restful if you want to get better. At this time, the most important thing should be your health and you should make time for the following in that regard:

Taking time to de-stress, unwind and relax is crucial to help your adrenal glands recover.

1. Get more sleep. Your body does most of its regeneration during sleep, so whenever you feel tired, it’s time to sleep. This includes taking naps during the day if you can, sleeping in an extra hour or two if you’re tired in the morning, and turning off the TV early so you can nod off sooner.

2. Revamp your diet with healthy foods. A healthy diet focused on fresh, whole preferably organic foods will provide your body with the strong nutrient base it needs to function. Focus on including a protein source in all your meals and snacks to keep your blood sugar stable, and eat nutritious snacks between meals so you never get overly hungry (going long periods without eating makes your adrenal glands work harder).

3. Cut out sugar, caffeine and artificial stimulants.When you’re tired, you may be tempted to reach for coffee, candy, doughnuts, and other refined carbs for a quick pick-me-up. But while these stimulants will give you a quick boost, they’ll be followed by an even bigger crash. Coffee can also over-stimulate your adrenals, which you want to avoid.

Instead, if you’re craving sugar or caffeine, it could be because your body is actually tired, and you’d be better off resting than trying to get artificially “energized.” You can also substitute healthier alternatives for sweets and coffee, such as fresh fruit or a cup of herbal tea.

4. Consider supplements for adrenal health: You may benefit from a whole-food supplement to help your adrenals stay healthy and return to optimal function if they’re distressed. When choosing a supplement for your adrenal health, look for one that supports both your immediate energy needs and long-term immune system function, and contains:
   
   

   Stress Melts Dr. Whitaker's solution for melting away stress and tension FAST!

   
   
5. Reduce stress: You simply must have adequate outlets for stress if you want your adrenals to be healthy. First, identify the source of your stress, and if possible make changes to eliminate it (for instance, cutting back your work hours or personal obligations). Also be certain to take into account emotional stress from guilt, arguments, relationship problems, unhealthy habits, etc., and work out ways to resolve these issues.

At the same time, be generous with stress relieving activities such as long walks, hot baths, or sitting down with a good book. Your body and mind know how to relax -- you just need to give them "permission" to do so. This is easier said than done, of course, so for those of you who need a little help, we highly recommend the Pure Relaxation: Guided Meditations for Body, Mind & Spirit CD by respected meditation expert Mary Maddux.

After making positive lifestyle changes, most people can expect to feel improvement in four to six months. For best results, make an appointment with a knowledgeable health care provider who can work with you on an individualized course of lifestyle modification and other treatment.

Valentines Special : The Truth about your heart

What's your risk of having a heart attack or stroke?

Your answers to the following questions can help determine your risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years. Based on your answers, we've also included recommendations to help keep you healthy.

Click HERE to take the test.

1. Stop smoking. Quitting smoking is the single most important thing a person can do to live longer. If you are a smoker, you are twice as likely to have a heart attack than a non-smoker. But from the moment you stop smoking, the risk of heart attack starts to reduce. With public smoking bans recently introduced, there has never been a better time to give up.

2. Cut down on salt. Too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Avoid foods like crisps, salted nuts, canned and packet soups and sauces, baked beans and canned vegetables, pork pies, pizzas and ready meals. Many breakfast cereals and breads that appear healthy also contain high levels of salt, so keep your eye on these too.

3. Watch your diet. A healthy diet can help to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, and can also help increase the chances of survival after a heart attack. You should try to have a balanced diet, containing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, oily fish, starchy foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta and rice. Avoid foods like biscuits, cakes, pastries and dairy products that are high in saturated fats and sugar.

4. Monitor your alcohol. Too much alcohol can damage the heart muscle, increase blood pressure and also lead to weight gain. Binge drinking will increase your risk of having a heart attack, so you should aim to limit your intake to one to two units a day.

5. Get active.The heart is a muscle and it needs exercise to keep fit so that it can pump blood efficiently round your body with each heart beat. You should aim for 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a day. If this seems too daunting, start off gently and build up gradually. Keeping fit not only benefits your physical health - it improves your mental health and wellbeing too.

6. Manage your weight. The number of people who are overweight in Britain is rising fast - already more than half of the adult population is overweight or obese. Carrying a lot of extra weight as fat can greatly affect your health and increases the risk of life-threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. If you are overweight or obese, start by making small, but healthy changes to what you eat, and try to become more active.

7. Get your blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked by your GP. The higher your blood pressure, the shorter your life expectancy. People with high blood pressure run a higher risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. High levels of cholesterol in the blood - produced by the liver from saturated fats - can lead to fatty deposits in your coronary arteries that increase your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and diseases that affect the circulation. You can help lower your cholesterol level by exercising and eating high-fibre foods such as porridge, beans, pulses, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

8. Learn to manage your stress levels. If you find things are getting on top of you, you may fail to eat properly, smoke and drink too much and this may increase your risk of a heart attack.

9. Check your family history . If a close relative is at risk of developing coronary heart disease from smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of physical activity, obesity and diabetes, then you could be at risk too.

10. Make sure you can recognise the early signs of coronary heart disease . Tightness or discomfort in the chest, neck, arm or stomach which comes on when you exert yourself but goes away with rest may be the first sign of angina, which can lead to a heart attack if left untreated.

15 yr old teen hospitalized after 15 years of Chicken Nuggets and no fruits or vegies

From Natural News>From Natural News
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

If you ate only McDonald's chicken McNuggets every day for practically every meal, what do you think your health condition would be like in 15 years? One British girl, 17-year-old Stacey Irvine, recently found out the hard way that such a diet severely destroyed her health when she was rushed to the hospital after collapsing and having severe difficulty breathing.

Yahoo! Newsreports that the young factory worker had been eating practically nothing else besides McDonald's chicken McNuggets since she was about two years old. Shockingly, Stacey has also never once eaten a single fruit or vegetable, according to the same report, which has left her grossly deficient in practically every single vitamin and mineral in existence.

This horrific diet finally caught up with Stacey, however, when she fell over at work and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Doctors discovered severely-swelled veins on the young girl's tongue, and quickly diagnosed her with anemia. They subsequently put her on an "emergency vitamin regimen," according to reports, and warned her that if she does not change her dietary habits, she will soon die.

But Stacey's addiction to fast food nuggets is so severe that she still apparently refuses to eat anything else besides them, except for the occasional piece of toast or potato chips. And Stacey's mom, Evonne, has apparently tried everything to get her daughter to eat other foods, including starving the girl at one point, but to no avail.

"She's been told in no uncertain terms that she'll die if she carries on like this," Evonne is quoted as saying byCBS News. "But she says she can't eat anything else. I'm at my wit's end. I'm praying she can be helped before it's too late."

McDonald's chicken McNuggets, of course, are made from a so-called food product called "mechanically separated chicken," which is created from chickens that have been "stripped down to the bone, and then 'ground up' into a chicken mash, then combined with a variety of stabilizers and preservatives, pressed into familiar shapes, breaded and deep fried, freeze dried, and then shipped to a McDonald's near you."

Here are some horrifying picture of mechanically separated chicken

McDonald's chicken McNuggets also contain dimethylpolysiloxane, an antifoaming agent composed of the same silicone chemicals used in cosmetic products (http://www.naturalnews.com/032820_Chicken_McNuggets_ingredients.html). A federal judge put it well back in 2003 when he called McNuggets a "McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook."

Its "Go Red for Women" Day, wear your Red and promote awareness of deadly heart disease

From:  Women's Health Blog

Mind-numbing fact: More women die of cardiovascular disease than from all forms of cancer combined, according to the American Heart Association.

Eye-opening fact: 80 percent of cardiac events in women—which include heart attacks and strokes—could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking, according to the AHA. And nearly half of American women have no idea that heart disease is their number 1 killer.

The American Heart Association wants to change that. Its Go Red For Women campaign educates women about their heart disease risk, how they can reduce their risk, and how to identify the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke (check out the info below). Today, February 3, is National Wear Red Day and women are encouraged to don something red to raise awareness that heart disease is not an “old man’s disease.”

Women’s Health staffers are going to get decked out in red and we invite all of you to join us. But simply wearing crimson won’t accomplish much—you’ve got to tell other women why you’re doing it. Our suggestion? Post a picture of yourself wearing red to your blog or Facebook or Twitter profile, along with a link to this story. (Twitter-ers: The hashtag is #GoRedForWomen.) Who knows? One of your friends might learn something that could save her life.

How to Protect Your Ticker
“It’s important to take care of your heart even before you have any symptoms,” says Arthur Agatston, M.D., a Miami cardiologist and author of The South Beach Heart Program. “Quite simply, the earlier you start, the easier it is to prevent heart disease.” The best ways to reduce your risk for heart disease:

1. Eat More Plants and Fish: Certain fruits and vegetables are good sources of heart-protecting antioxidants and potassium, which regulates blood pressure. Omega-3 fatty acids in fish decreasing your blood pressure and triglycerides.
2. Cut the Fat: Reduce your intake of saturated fat and trans fat; the latter can raise levels of bad cholesterol and also lower levels of good cholesterol.
3. Know Your Risk: have your physician to check for high cholesterol, elevated blood sugar, and signs of diabetes. Know your family’s medical history.
4. Be Active: The AHA recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week
5. Quit Smoking: Besides the fact that cigarettes cause cancer, are expensive, and just plain smell bad, they could very well kill you.

Warning Signs
What exactly does a heart attack look like? Actress Elizabeth Banks, who graces the March cover of Women’s Health, teamed up with Go Red For Women on a 3-minute video in which she plays a mom having a heart attack. “This little film is about a super mom who takes care of everyone except herself and learns the lesson that she better look at herself as well,” Banks says.

Heart attacks are no laughing matter, but Banks manages to make viewers smile when her son in the video looks up heart attack symptoms on her iPhone and hands it to his chest-clutching mom, who previously insisted that she was fine. Banks finally calls 911. Study up on the signs of heart attack and stroke from the AHA so you know when to make that important call. Read more about Signs of a Heart Attack and Signs of a Stroke