Is Adrenal Fatigue Causing Your Weight Gain?

If you wake up tired, desperately want a nap mid-afternoon, or feel “wired but tired” in the evenings, and at the same time you can’t lose a single pound no matter what you’ve tried, you may be suffering like millions of others are – with adrenal fatigue.

Our modern, busy lives are saturated with stress, and stress is the root of adrenal fatigue. Whether it’s weight gain, toxins, technology, illness, relationships, school, work, money, or whatever else is on your list, all that stress can add up and lead to worn out adrenals. Today, people of all ages and stages are affected – students, pregnant women, athletes, men and women with high-pressure jobs, women going through menopause, busy parents with demanding schedules – no one is immune. Read on to find out if adrenal fatigue causes weight gain.

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is caused by chronic, unrelenting stress. It’s one of those conditions where you feel bad, but look good on most medical tests, so it tends to get written off by mainstream medicine as “all in your head.” In reality, it is in your head – as brain fog, forgetfulness, impatience and anxiety; and it’s in your body – as weight gain, exhaustion, exercise intolerance, lowered immunity, high blood pressure, high heart rate, shallow breathing, and an inability to get a good night’s sleep.

Your constant exposure to stress is exhausting your adrenals, and it’s because your body can’t tell the difference between emotional, physical, mental, social, or toxic stress. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you’ve had a bad day at work or have been chased by a hungry bear – your body reacts to it all the same. So every time you sleep through your alarm clock, rush around getting everyone ready, run out the door, and slide into work just under the wire, your body reacts the same as it would if you were in DANGER.

How Stress –and Adrenals – Cause Weight Gain

Your adrenals are small, walnut-sized glands sitting on top of your kidneys, and their main function is to produce stress hormones, including cortisol. Once your adrenals are tired, you pump out cortisol, your energy drops through the floor, and your weight starts to creep up – especially in your belly.

The hard truth is, your body is more concerning with staying alive than it is with how it looks. Your body creates a fat cushion around your abdominal organs to protect them during times of stress and attack. This fat pad also acts as fuel storage your body can live off of in case your current stress leads to famine.

This is why diet and exercise don’t work when you have adrenal fatigue. Your body is fighting you every step of the way to keep its belly fat stores for survival. And you’re already tired; your body doesn’t want vigorous exercise – it wants restorative sleep.

Find Out If You Have Adrenal Fatigue – Take Our At-Home Test

Your adrenals are part of the HPA Axis, and that’s the mastermind behind it all – it controls your stress response, your thyroid health, and even your estrogen/sex hormone balance. A problem in the HPA Axis is like a string of Christmas lights – when one part is stressed out, they all get stressed out, and it can take some detective work to find the solution that gets your metabolism fired up and energy production turned backed on. This is where functional testing shines.

UNI KEY Health offers a Salivary Hormone Test, which measures cortisol in your saliva at targeted points throughout the day and night. This Adrenal Stress Panel gives a clear picture of the health of your adrenals, and which supplements are helpful for your specific situation. The goal here is to normalize cortisol levels and change your relationship with stress. Because let’s face it – stress will always be a part of our busy lifestyles, we simply need to change our response to it – on all levels.

Jump Start Your Weight Loss and Create Your Own Health

One of the best supplements for triggering fat burning instead of fat storage is GLA, gamma linolenic acid. Our Gamma Linolenic Acid Supplement gets your abdominal fat – known as brown fat – to wake up and become more metabolically active. This fat loss triggers your body to burn more calories for increased energy and even generate body heat. GLA also helps suppress appetite by raising your body’s serotonin levels and increasing feelings of fullness and satiety.

When you are feeling overwhelmed by stress, you need to support your adrenals with a good Adrenal Formula with nutrients including Vitamin C, pantothenic acid, Vitamin B6, zinc, and glandular extracts or time-released buffered Vitamin C formula  like our Time-C Release Vitamin C Dietary Supplement. That low energy you are experiencing is a warning sign that your adrenals need nourishment and rest, and a good quality supplement is a must-have for creating optimal health.

If you are looking for the right diet plan, Ann Louise Gittleman just released her Fat Flush QuickStart, a revolutionary new plan that includes healing foods and supplements for your adrenals, which rev up your metabolism and increase your fat-burning metabolism. Her 2-week challenge starts on January 8, 2018, and is only available for this limited time. For long-term health maintenance, her New Fat Flush Plan contains tried-and-true wisdom for weight loss with detox, and maintaining for life.