We have been running adrenal profiles for many years and have seen many types of dysfunction along with the symptom problems to go with them.

Why Cortisol Levels Matter

Cortisol is one of the primary adrenal markers and is easily tested in the saliva. Cortisol ideally is higher in the morning when you wake up and gradually decreases as the day goes on to a low level at night when it is time to sleep. Some people have the reverse pattern and you can imagine that they would have trouble getting up and trouble going to sleep at night. Some just have a low flat line and they just can’t get going no matter what time of day.

Typically health care practitioners recognize the problem and try to fix it directly with adrenal support.In some cases this can be helpful but it is important to have an understanding of how the adrenal gland works.

Integrative Therapeutics Cortisol Manager

Pure Encapsulations Cortisol Calm

External Controls of the Adrenals

The adrenal gland has external controls over the quantity and rhythm.The quantity is controlled by what is called the HPA axis or hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal axis.That means that the action of each of these is influenced strongly by the other components of the axis.

The HPA axis isn’t the primary control of the rhythm of the release of adrenal products like cortisol. For that we look to a part of the brain called the hippocampus. If the rhythm of the cortisol is not right we have to look at stress patterns because the hippocampus is very involved in stress management. Stress eventually begins to destroy the hippocampus and then we gradually lose control of the entire adrenal rhythm. A couple or products to aid the function of the HPA axis are:

CardioVascular Research Meganephrine

Priority One Pituitary Plus

Phosphatidylserine Help for the Hippocampus

The only nutrient that seems to be able to help the hippocampus regenerate is phosphatidyl serine (PS).PS is a key component of the neuron cell membrane.Several quality companies have PS formulas as a stand-alone product or as part of a combination formula. Some examples as of May 2022 are:

InterPlexus Seriphos

Lidtke MemoEase

Jarrow PS100

To support the adrenals directly, we often recommend products like:

BetterGenix AdrenalGenix

NeuroScience AdreCor

Lab Testing Will Help

Again, lab testing can be helpful to determine which of these products might be helpful. We look at those cortisol levels as mentioned above, a good thyroid panel and electrolyte levels from a routine blood test.

Lower Stress With Lifestyle Changes

Of course, making lifestyle changes as much as possible to lower stress in general will be a help. Life is often complicated and I don’t mean to tell you that you can do that today but you should make it a goal to make a plan to head in the lower stress direction.

One factor that we use here is to ask if this decision will raise or lower stress over time. For example, we were looking at putting solar panels on our roof. Over the short term, this will increase stress because of the cash outlay but over time this should lower stress.

Will buying that new or newer car raise or lower stress. If you are having reliability problems, then maybe the cash from your savings account or a car loan might be the lower stress move.

I think you get the idea. Each person will have to analyze each situation and apply the rule the best you can.

So work to lower stress, get some testing to see what will help your adrenals and HPA axis and push forward in life.

(May 2022)