The Real Reason Why You Are Tired All the Time
May 19, 2017
Derek P. was 63 but he always acted way younger than his years. He had a ton of energy, a quick mind and in general was "Mr. Enthusiasm." Nothing ever got him down.
But now, Derek was tired every day. He couldn't get through the afternoon without taking a nap and hardly plays golf anymore. The other thing was Derek's memory — it wasn't nearly as sharp as it used to be. And he quickly became depressed over things that never would have bothered him a few years ago.
Derek's regular doctor thought his symptoms were due to his age. But Derek passed his physical with flying colors and all of his blood tests were normal. His doctor was stumped.
By the time Derek came to see me, he had been this way for several months — with no relief in sight. First, I gave him a complete physical. Then, I ordered a blood test that checked for specific levels of stress hormones.
Derek also had a positive "tilt test". This is a test where Derek was put on a table that lies flat, and then gradually rises as I monitor his heart rate and blood pressure.
After evaluating the results, I placed Derek on a very simple, all-natural program. How well did the treatment work? When Derek returned two weeks later he was "Mr. Enthusiasm" again. He felt great, his depression was gone and his memory was back. He had enough energy to play his weekly golf game again, too.
And it was all due to a new breakthrough I'm going to tell you about in just a moment.
But first, let me introduce myself. My name is Dr. Frank Shallenberger. I've been a practicing M.D. for over 35 years. I'm also Editor-in-Chief of Second Opinion Newsletter.
While I'm a conventionally-trained doctor, I always advocate effective natural solutions whenever possible, because that's what is best for my patients.
The Real Reason Why You Have No Energy Even Though Your Doctor Says You're Fine
You see, what Derek did not know is that he had all the classic symptoms of one of the most overlooked health problems facing Americans today.
It's a condition that's largely ignored by mainstream medicine. Even worse, the few doctors who do recognize it don't do nearly enough to treat it!
Meanwhile, this condition causes millions of people to suffer from unexplained fatigue …brain fog … depression… food cravings … and low immune function. Headaches, allergies, and difficulty bouncing back from stress are common signs, too.
So what is this problem? Well, it's not your heart, your blood sugar, or your brain. And it's not the aging process, either.
It's Your Adrenal Glands!
Your adrenals are triangular-shaped glands that sit right on top of your kidneys. They may not look important—but ignore them at your peril!
These walnut-sized glands produce more than 50 different hormones, many of which are essential for energy and stamina, a sharp mind, a strong immune system, and a healthy libido. But the #1 function of your adrenal glands is to help your body deal with stress.
When your body faces any kind of danger, your defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the "fight-or-flight" reaction. Your adrenals respond by pumping out adrenaline, cortisol, and DHEA. Your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your digestion slows, and your body becomes ready to face a potential challenge. This helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert so you can handle the situation.
Once your stressful event is over, your adrenaline level drops pretty quickly. Other stress hormones like cortisol and DHEA help refuel your body and bring it back to balance. This process is fine if the stress you're dealing with is sudden and short-lived, like maybe getting in a fender-bender or taking an important test.
But here's the problem…
Modern Life is Devastating to Your Adrenal Health!
Today, you're faced with stress 24/7. The demands of career and family pull you in a million different directions. You worry about your kids and grandkids. You struggle to make ends meet. You're under the gun with work deadlines. Your finances hit a snag and you feel anxious about your future.
Even simple things like traffic jams, long checkout lines, and a difficult commute all jolt your adrenal glands. Factor in environmental toxins, processed foods, infections, pain, insomnia, and allergies, and it's no wonder why your adrenal glands are crying out for help!
Basically, the more stress you experience, the harder your adrenals must work to protect you. So how do your adrenals react to all this stimuli month after month, year after year? Eventually they run out of juice and before you know it, you're running on empty.
When your adrenal glands stop working, the first thing you notice is that your symptoms start to intensify. You can't sleep at night, you become forgetful, you feel irritable or depressed without knowing why.
Other signs of adrenal fatigue include headaches, especially in the afternoon, elevated blood sugar levels, weight gain, and slow recovery from a cold or flu — to name just a few.
But more than anything, adrenal failure makes you feel exhausted. And it's a fatigue that isn't just about feeling tired or sleepy. It's a form of fatigue that causes you to feel completely drained — and usually hits around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
Do You Have Burned Out Adrenals?
These Simple Tests Can Help You Find Out
Test #1: Ragland Test
This is a very simple blood pressure test you can do at home or even at your local drug store. Lie down and relax for about 10 minutes, and take your blood pressure. Then, stand up and immediately take your blood pressure again.
Normally, your blood pressure will rise 10-20mmHg when standing up. But if your blood pressure falls, you may have adrenal fatigue.
Test #2: Flashlight Test
Stand in front of a mirror in a dark room. Hold a flashlight towards the side of your face, so the beam is shining across your eye.
When the light hits your eye, your pupils should immediately contract. But if you have adrenal fatigue, the pupil will contract at first, and then slowly start to dilate. This dilation will last about 30-40 seconds before your pupils contract again.
Test #3: The White Line Test
Using a fork or the end of a ballpoint pen, lightly stroke the skin on your abdomen or the inside of your forearm, making a mark about 4" long. In a normal reaction, the mark is initially white but quickly turns to red. If you have adrenal fatigue the line will stay white for about 2 minutes before turning to red.
Let me tell you about my own experience with adrenal failure. I had been working too hard, sleeping too little, drinking too much coffee, and exercising too hard for a few weeks. It was also that time of year when the sage was in bloom, and I am very allergic to sage. I remember sitting on the couch just feeling exhausted. But it was a different kind of feeling than I had ever felt before.
The TV was on a program that I did not want to watch. I couldn't stand the program. The channel changer was right on the coffee table before me. Not a problem right? But it was a problem. I was too tired to pick it up and change the channel.
So I just sat there and stared out the window. I wasn't sleepy. I was just feeling too drained to even push a button. I'll never forget that feeling. And when I tell my patients that story, they always say, "That's just how I feel." That kind of fatigue is diagnostic of adrenal exhaustion.
Little wonder why more than half of my patients who complain of allergies, chronic fatigue, depression, or other health problems actually suffer from overworked adrenals.
Your Resiliency, Energy, Endurance and Your Very Life All Depend on Healthy Adrenal Glands
You might think that adrenal failure is something that affects only a small number of people. But when you consider our insatiable addiction to coffee and energy drinks, the scale of the problem is actually huge. Believe it or not an estimated 80% of people experience adrenal fatigue at some point in their lives. Yet mainstream medicine barely knows it exists!
But here's the good news: adrenal fatigue does not have to be permanent. In fact, you can restore your adrenals to perfect health within a few months. All you have to do is nourish and strengthen your adrenals while giving them a chance to rest and rebuild.
First, I recommend four particular nutrients that directly support adrenal function. They work together to help restore and repair your adrenals to get them back on line.
Let me tell you about the first one now. It's one of the most important nutrients for anyone with adrenal failure and also known as…
The "Anti-Stress Vitamin"
While you know about B-complex vitamins like B6 and B12, you're probably less familiar with Vitamin B5—also known as Pantothenic Acid.
People with adrenal failure are nearly always deficient in this key nutrient. According to studies, this member of the "B" family helps increase levels of important stress hormones like cortisol and progesterone.
Another thing pantothenic acid does is relieve that extra anxiety you feel when you're "stressed out". The reason? It helps boost dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine is the feel good hormone that improves your state of mind.
Pantothenic acid is also one of the best nutrients for cellular energy production. So it can help your heart and your brain get the fuel they need to do their job every day—while keeping your entire body energized, too.
While pantothenic acid is my first recommendation for supporting adrenal health, you should also know about this additional re-energizing "partner."
Keep Stress Hormones in Healthy Balance — Naturally
Licorice root is a rich source of a compound called glycyrrhizin, which gets converted to glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) in the intestine. GA helps slow down the body's breakdown of cortisol, giving your adrenals extra support.
What's more, Licorice root also balances levels of aldosterone, an adrenal hormone that helps keep your blood pressure, fluid levels and electrolytes in balance.
When aldosterone gets too high, your blood pressure skyrockets and your potassium levels decline. This causes muscle aches and numbness in your hands and feet.
But when aldosterone gets too low — which is common in many people with adrenal problems — your blood pressure plummets. This leads to palpitations, dizziness when you stand up, and overall fatigue. So licorice root keeps you more in balance and better able to cope during times of stress. It soothes nervous stomachs, too.
As you can see, pantothenic acid and licorice root can have a profound impact on your adrenal health and energy levels. Now, I'd like to tell you about a third nutrient that's crucial for keeping adrenals in top-notch form. Yet you'll rarely find it in any adrenal formula!
Did You Know That Overworked Adrenals Affect Liver Function as Well?
It's true. When you protect your liver, you boost the health of your entire body but especially your adrenal glands.
Constant exposure to pesticides, heavy metals, food chemicals and air pollution means your liver and adrenals are constantly fighting off toxins. That's why I added Liver Concentrate to my short list. Liver concentrate is a natural detoxifier, as well as a great source of B vitamins, protein, iron and enzymes.
In one study conducted at the University of Southern California, subjects eating a standard diet plus B vitamins could swim only 13 minutes. Meanwhile, subjects eating a standard diet plus liver concentrate could swim for over an hour — and some were still swimming at the end of the 2-hour mark!
The fourth nutrient I always recommend may sound unusual — but it's one of the most effective for helping tired adrenals rest and recover even faster. Here's why:
The Natural Adrenal "Strengthener" That Delivers Essential Trace Minerals, Too
Believe it or not, one of the best ways to strengthen your adrenals is with substances similar to the adrenal gland itself. They are called glandular extracts, and they contain trace amounts of the same hormones that human adrenals contain along with essential trace minerals, proteins and vitamins. That's why you should also take Adrenal Cortex Extract to help restore your adrenal glands to top-notch form.
Glandular therapy — also known as live cell therapy — has a history that goes back as far as the Ancient Greeks, and it's still used in Traditional Chinese medicine. But it became popular in modern medicine about 100 years ago, when Swiss doctor Paul Niehands found that dried thyroid gland could help underactive thyroid and dried adrenal gland likewise could relieve Addison's Disease.
Researchers concluded that glandular extracts improve the function of the unhealthy organ — and the practice was quite effective. So if glandular therapy has been around so long, why haven't you heard about it before? Because the practice got swept away by the tidal wave of pharmaceuticals that dominated medicine by the mid-20th century. As a result, research in glandular therapy came to a screeching halt.
However, some research centers have once again started studying the effects of glandular extracts, and especially their effects on the immune system. When your adrenals aren't producing enough hormones, supplementing with adrenal cortex extract gives your glands the basic raw materials needed to jumpstart adrenal function.
Pantothenic acid, Liver Concentrate, Adrenal Cortex and Licorice Root are my four top nutrients for helping repair and restore overworked adrenals. And I recommend them to every one of my patients with adrenal failure.
But I Wouldn't Quit There….
You see, your everyday stress probably won't disappear any time soon. More often than not, it will be impossible to avoid.
So in order for the adrenals to really improve, you have to protect yourself against the onslaught of stress that caused them to become exhausted in the first place. This means eating a healthy diet with no sugars or stimulants. It also means getting enough sleep, reducing pain, and doing some light exercise.
And that's why I also recommend you take adaptogens — herbal compounds that can help your body weather the daily storm of stress. Adaptogens can be both energizing and calming; they protect the immune system and fight off infections. Basically, adaptogens function according to what your body needs at the moment. So they are ideal nutrients for reducing the impact of stress on your body.
The first adaptogen on my short list is an age-old herb that Traditional Chinese doctors called…
"The Most Effective Nutrient to Use in Time of Challenges."
Used for centuries as a revitalizing tonic for lung, kidney and heart problems, Cordyceps became big news in the Western world when Chinese athletes set new track and field world records in 1993. Their coach attributed their success to high altitude training and a diet containing Cordyceps.
When the word got out, interest in cordyceps skyrocketed. Trainers around the world wanted to try it on their athletes. And scientists began studying it to see if it really works.
What the scientists discovered is that cordyceps increases energy, stamina and physical performance. Some of these studies measured the body's levels of an energy chemical called ATP. ATP is the molecule your body uses to store energy. The more ATP in your cells, the more energy you'll have.
Well, several studies have found that cordyceps can increase ATP in the cells. One study found that cordyceps increased the ATP ratio by a whopping 55%.
But that's not all. Cordyceps has also been found to improve the way your body utilizes oxygen. One study found that cordyceps increases oxygen absorption by 40%. Another study found that rats given Cordyceps increased their swimming time from 75 minutes to 90 minutes.
Cordyceps also strengthens the immune system by increasing the amount of the body's natural killer cells, which defend against bacteria and viruses. If you tend to catch colds easily or if they hang around for a long time when you do, Cordyceps can deliver the extra protection you need.
In another study, researchers fed cordyceps extract to a group of rats. The scientists were surprised to see that Cordyceps caused a significant increase in hydrocortisone. Hydrocortisone is an essential adrenal hormone that your body uses to deal with all of the negative effects of stress.
The next step is to keep you relaxed and focused during tough situations—which leads me to the second adaptogen I'd like to tell you about…
Stay Focused and Energized in Any Situation
Also known as Siberian Ginseng, Eleuthero helps protect against stress by helping your adrenal glands produce stress hormones more effectively. Here's how.
When you face a "flight or fight" situation, your adrenal glands pump out cortisol and adrenaline. But once these hormones are depleted, your body can no longer fight and becomes exhausted. What eleuthero does is allow a slower, more efficient release of stress hormones — so your body doesn't become as tired.
How well does eleuthero work? In one recent study, scientists decided to measure the effects of eleuthero on stress response in 45 men and women. First, all the volunteers were asked to take a very difficult memory test, while scientists measured their blood pressure. Sure enough, the stress of taking the test caused both heart rate and blood pressure to dramatically increase in every volunteer.
Then, half the group was asked to take eleuthero, and half took a placebo. After 30 days, the entire group took the test again.
To the surprise of the scientists, the heart rate and blood pressure levels of the eleuthero group stayed normal. Meanwhile, placebo group experienced the same increase in blood pressure and heart rate as they did on the previous test.
Research also shows that eleuthero can increase alertness, boost immunity, and improve athletic performance. In fact, Soviet athletes and cosmonauts used eleuthero to keep up their energy and stamina.
It also regulates certain neurotransmitters in the brain. These neurotransmitters are important in decreasing anxiety, improving sleep and reducing irritability.
A remarkable herb, eleuthero. But that's not all. I also want to tell you about another remarkable adaptogen—that's also very powerful—especially when it comes to adrenal health.
The Centuries-Old Nutrient That Relieves Grinding Fatigue, Anxiety and More…
Ashwagandha is an East Indian herb that has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for more than 2,000 years. Traditional healers used it as a whole-body energy tonic. And modern clinical trials show that ashwaganda can also ease tension and fatigue…increase concentration…and boost overall endurance.
According to researchers, ashwagandha is so effective because it helps the body process stress, rather than just masking it. As a result, your adrenals don't have to work as hard. Here's how.
For one thing, ashwagandha increases DHEA. DHEA is the "feel good" hormone that's critical for jumpstarting hormone balance. It's also the precursor to sex hormones like testosterone, estrogen and progesterone which are important for libido and for keeping your muscles strong.
In one clinical trial, people taking ashwagandha reported higher energy levels, better sleep and increased feelings of well being. What's more, blood sugar levels decreased — and cortisol plunged by 26%!
Ashwagandha also reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol. That's important, since high levels of cortisol trigger many stress-related health problems. These include elevated blood pressure, weight gain and memory problems.
And as far as that nervous stomach you get when you're under stress, ashwagandha can help there, too. In some studies, it's shown to be as effective as some conventional remedies for relieving anxiety.
This is why I consider ashwagandha to be an essential part of any adrenal-health program, along with the 6 other nutrients I mentioned.
Listen: Adrenal fatigue is running rampant in today's society. It's a root cause of fatigue, memory loss, weight gain and even blood sugar problems.
In order to keep your adrenals in top working form — and help your body deal with stress over the long run — try to decrease as much of the stress in your life that you can. Eat better. Stay away from coffee and energy drinks. Go to bed earlier.
But make no mistake: you need the full support of all 7 of these powerful nutrients.
Announcing the Dual-Action Solution to Complete Adrenal Support
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The result is a unique 2-prong approach to supporting total adrenal health that you won't find anywhere else!
How Long Will It Take Before You See Results?
Of course everyone is different, but many people notice a boost in their energy and concentration in as little as two weeks. Within a month or two you may find you're sleeping better, have more stamina, and feel sharper, calmer and stronger than ever before.
Best of all, Advanced Adrenal Factor helps restore adrenal health on multiple levels. And it continues to protect your adrenals for as long as you keep on taking it.
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To your transformed health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD
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