Some things are best to be avoided when recovering from adrenal fatigue.
This is a short but important list of things I avoided to recover from adrenal fatigue. And what I did instead. It helped me a lot to follow these suggestions. For additional tips, check out Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Plan.
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I AM NOT A DOCTOR.
Consult your healthcare provider before starting any treatments.
Avoid Intensive Exercise
In general, exercise is good for you but when you have adrenal fatigue, you should avoid intensive exercise. Exercise is a stressor to your body. Over exercising can make your adrenal fatigue worse and trigger adrenal crashes.
It is important to slow down and listen to your body. The more you listen to your body the better you get at it.
What kind of exercise you can do depends on your adrenal fatigue stage. I was silly enough to waste the tiny amount of energy I had to exercise way harder than I should have. And it did me more harm than good. Besides depleting my adrenals, my heart was not happy with the intensive exercise. It started doing flips whenever I exercised… and sometimes for no apparent reason at all.
When I was in the later stages of adrenal fatigue I had to be really careful. In addition to dry skin brushing which boosts the circulation, I tried gentle yoga, and walking.
My favorite is walking. Walking is relaxing and it is easy to adjust to your energy level at that very moment. Sometimes I only did a few minutes of very slow walking. It can be discouraging but I learned to congratulate myself for that five-minute walk.
It was good for me to keep moving as long as it is beneficial to my healing.
Avoid Pesticides and Toxic Household Cleaners
I definitely didn’t need the extra stress caused by pesticides and other toxins. The liver needs to work hard to detox your body from those. Many adrenal fatigue sufferers have a sluggish liver and putting extra stress on it can make the symptoms worse.
I bought as much organic food as possible.
I used more natural cleaning products. Finding completely safe products at prices one can afford can be hard. Vinegar is handy to have around. It can be used diluted in water as all-purpose cleaner.
I had a severe multiple chemical sensitivity. Just a sniff of perfume, bleach etc. put me in bed for days. Here are some of the products I use (I know they are not perfect but they work for me):
- vinegar and water all-purpose cleaner
- Seventh Generation Dishwashing Liquid
- Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent
- Method Hand Soap
- Method Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- Oxi-Clean Stain Treatment
- Ecos Laundry Detergent
Avoid Toxic Personal Care Products
What goes on your body goes in your body. These are some of the products I have been able to use in spite of the multiple chemical sensitivity I had:
- Earth Science Shampoo (I use it as body wash)
- Acure Organics Shampoo and Conditioner
- Phycisian’s Formula Make Up
- Bare Minerals
- Cleure Sunscreen
- Cleure Shampoo and Conditioner
- Coconut Oil as makeup remover, face cream and lotion. I also use it as a deep conditioner for my hair.
- Avocado Oil for hair to protect it from heat
- Argan Oil for face
- Green Tea Exfoliator (diy) by LiveSimply.me
Avoid Emotional Stress
Stress is hard on you whether it is too much exercise, toxic products or emotional stress. If possible I avoided highly emotional situations… good or bad. Sometimes even the good kind of emotional stuff is too much for your adrenals. It does get really boring to maintain a life that does not have too many upbeat moments but it is only for a season.
Well, life happens and causes your adrenals to work extra. I practiced stress relief breathing exercises and other stress relief techniques to support my adrenals.
Avoid Sugar
I’m not convinced that all sugar is bad for you but I do agree that we should avoid processed white sugar. I started using raw honey, it has many health benefits. It functions as a prebiotic feeding the good bacteria in your gut. It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant.
Honey has many benefits and I have used it also as a beauty product for face, body and hair
You might have heard of Manuka honey. It’s nutrition content is higher and it has more enzymes than the regular honey. I’ve heard that it too is good for healing ulcers, treating acne, boosting immune system, and relieving allergies.
Maple syrup is not only delicious but good for you. It is anti-inflammatory, it contains zinc that boosts your immune system, and it also is good for you skin.
I do use some regular sugar. When I do, I use organic sugar (from Costco) for making kombucha and for baking. I have not mastered baking with honey. Whenever I have a new recipe I cut down the sugar amount sometimes with a good success sometimes not.
Avoid Foods You Are Sensitive To
It is best to avoid foods that you’re allergic or sensitive to. Eating them keeps your body in a constant state of inflammation which is not good. Cortisol is anti-inflammatory. So when you eat something that causes you to have inflammation, your adrenals start producing cortisol. If your adrenal glands are fatigued it is hard for them to produce it. They will tire out even more and make your symptoms even worse.
As my health, especially my gut health, improved I was able to enjoy foods I had to avoid before.
I was allergic to bananas, tomatoes and other nightshade vegetables. I had trouble digesting any raw vegetables. Digestive enzymes helped.
I also went through allergy treatments. My doctor has performed a modified NAET (Nambutripad’s Allergy Elimination Treatment) on me successfully.
As I’ve mentioned before and as you already know, it takes time and effort to heal the adrenals. I gave my adrenals a break by avoiding things that further deplete them.