i just found out today that my adrenal gland may be 'sluggish.'

does anyone know what raw foods might help support adrenal function?

has anyone had this condition who can offer me any other information?


thanks

If you have adrenal insufficiency as evidenced by low cortisol then most of the resources I have read recommend adequate protein, adequate sodium, and preferring energy sources that cause a slower blood sugar release over energy sources that cause a faster blood sugar release.

Basically, the worst thing you can do is go on a fruitarian diet with no overt sources of sodium. Some people seem to handle such a diet okay but others do not.

There are often symptoms associated with adrenal insufficiency so I would recommend trying the above suggestions and observing whether or not they reduce those symptoms for you. Good luck!

Protein and good fats such as olive oil, flax, coco oil are ESSENTIAL! I do not advise a fruitarian diet for stressed adrenals either. You can do it for a while and feel high - But you are feeding your body false energy from sugar. You need to rebuild. I usually don't speak in such absolutes. But I think a fruitarian diet is a disaster waiting to happen for people with adrenal disorders. I know that I temporarily felt on top of the world when eating all fruit. The moment I ate one gram of fish or fat or anything other than fruit I discovered that I had messed my body up even worse.

Dancer,
What happened to you when you 'ate one gram of fish or fat or anything other than fruit I discovered that I had messed my body up even worse.'?

could you please expand on why the fruitarian diet is a disaster for people with adrenal disorders - I know nothing of this subject.

No.5 what are the symptoms of adrenal deficiency?

Adrenal disorder causes one to be very fatigued. Stimulants raise cortisol levels and stress the adrenals even further. Sugar is a stimulant. The adrenals need nourished with protein and fats to level out your hormones and such. When I was eating all fruit, I had a temporary clearing of my debilitating brainfog. Upon ingestion of one thing with protein or fat, one thing other than fruit, my brain fog returned much worse than ever. I felt like I was on drugs and could not drive or think or talk sometimes. I also was more fatigued than I had been before I ate all the fruit. I do have a long history of sugar addiction in the form of processed foods (nonfoods). So my case is a little bit different. But I firmly believe that the adrenals need protein and fat and little sugar to heal. Google adrenal fatigue and diet. Aside from this forum and DG you will find very few who think eating all fruit is a wise idea.

orangeflame,

Adrenal fatigue is caused by overuse of your adrenal glands. The adrenal glands go into production when you are under stress. Many people in our modern industrial society are always under stress because of the requirements of their jobs, their debt, and their minds response to these stressors.

Before considering any dietary program for your adrenal fatigue, first remove the causes of the adrenal fatigue, which is the stress and the stressors. What also helps is having a spiritual practice in place, which could be meditation, yoga, or some kind of breath practice, or all of the above.

As far as dietary concerns, many people with adrenal fatigue have blook sugar related problems: hypoglycemia, or perhaps insulin resistance. For a dietary perspective, this is caused by too much fat in the diet (30% or more fat). Ideally, your fat intake is 20% or less (under 10% is great).

As well as the good advice given here, it might be a good idea to do moderate exercise a few times week, if you don't do so already, since apart from being a good way to relieve stress, it also gets the juices flowing helping to eliminate toxins.

Cheers,
J

Quote

Posted by: Jose (IP Logged)
Date: May 16, 2008 04:55AM

As well as the good advice given here, it might be a good idea to do moderate exercise a few times week, if you don't do so already, since apart from being a good way to relieve stress, it also gets the juices flowing helping to eliminate toxins.

I agree. I find exercise to be the synergism that brings the raw food lifestyle together. The right amount and intensity of exercise helps mind and body work together for health & wellness.

I bought this book called "Living Beauty Detox Program" and after I got it, I was so dissapointed in it that I almost threw it away, because it is nowhere near raw or even vegan, but I kept it, and I'm glad I did, because it has a lot of great info in it even if it isn't raw.

The book talks a lot about copper overload and how that depresses the adrenal glands. Copper overload would come from water pipes and vitamins.

Halfway down this page it starts talking about depressed adrenal glands
[www.google.com]
This talks about how she solved her acne by fixing the copper-zinc balance
[www.google.com]

I'm not exactly sure how to detoxify copper. Protein and sulfer (from onions garlic and maybe MSM) seem to be high on the list of things I've seen mentioned. The right type of protein to detox copper is Metallothionein and I don't know what foods that protein is in.

Thanks for this thread!! Also looking for more info on this. I am diagnosed with adrenal fatigue adn have strict Doctors orders to eat protein with every meal. It's frustrating, because i dont quite know how to make this work with raw.


Dancer, can you tell us more about how things proceeded for you? What kind of protein were you eating, and how much? How are you doing now in that regard?

Thanks for the helpful links, lilian

my understanding is that this is related to iodine... as well as the lymphatic system. Get the lymph flowing... using dry brushing, eating raw juicy fruit/veggies, and what ever else you like. Its an easy subject to read up on.

Get natural organic sourced iodine, not mineral sourced. Mineral sourced anything hurts the body.

Context Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> my understanding is that this is related to
> iodine...

"Iodine is an essential trace element, the heaviest-known element needed by living organisms. Its only known roles in animal biology are as constituents of the thyroid hormones, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3)." - Wikipedia

Where did you get your information concerning iodine's role in adrenal function?

I had a massive stroke in March 2007 because of my adrenals! I am still unable to walk without my walker and/or cane. I spent 2 1/2 months is 4 hospitals! I ate what was considered to be a very healthy diet, walked through the stores for over an hour at a time at least 4 times a week, practiced EFT (emotional freedom techniques) and even though I was constantly watching every bite I ate and documenting it, I still had gained over 100 pounds! I had also developed sleep apnea and that is probably what did me in. I had just started eating a raw vegan diet when I had the stroke.

Since I got out of the hospitals last June, I have started eating raw vegan foods again and have finally lost 40 pounds or something near that amount! I know that stress was the primary factor that caused the cotisol which caused the triglycerides to rise. My doctor had said I was eating too much sugar 20 years ago because my triglycerides were too high, but I knew then that I was NOT eating excess sugar and could not figure out how my triglycerides managed to get so high until I learned about cortisol and the effects from stress and put it all together!

I had never been one to overeat and was really frustrated with my weight gain! I had also been diagnosed as prediabetic! I am just reading a book called the 14 Day Stress Cure. It is giving me some insight into ways to keep my stress down and controllable. I am taking some pills I got from Future Formulations and designed to assist in the adrenal healing. Now, I think I am getting my body under control and doing it on my own because I also realize that the doctors just know how to prescribe medications and that is NOT where the healing comes from. At least I feel that I am heading forward now!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2008 07:05PM by northernstars.

No5, a healthy iodine balance is essential for the thyroid. Thyroid and adrenals work together. So, yes, there is a link.

[www.stopthethyroidmadness.com]

The idea that you shouldn't or can't be a raw vegan or a mostly fruitarian while having a sluggish adrenal is patently ridiculous, as that is probably the best possible thing that you could do to restore your full adrenal functioning. I have Addison's disease, which means that my adrenals are over 90% destroyed (and it's really not from, um, iodine - most people nowadays have slow adrenals from overstimulation and dietary stress, though I personally have a rare autoimmune condition.) I've also been a raw vegan since the time of my diagnosis (about 80% calories from fruit) and I have never felt better! I really don't think you need any extra oil or protein than any one else just because of your adrenals.

Since being 100% raw my exercise endurance is off-the-charts amazing, and my test results keep coming back with more positive news when I go to the doctor. Don't listen to the haters - you can totally go raw and do amazingly well. In fact, check out Brendan Brazier's book "The Thrive Diet" which specifically discusses and emphasizes healthy adrenal functioning. Dr. Fuhrman's "Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease" was super helpful to me as well.

My mainstream doc is fully supportive of my diet (even though he initially thought it was crazy) because the proof is in the (raw) pudding! Get lots of sleep, avoid caffeine and other adrenal stimulants like the plague, be gentle with your body, and follow a raw vegan diet - those are the best things you can do to help your tired adrenal glands. Be well!

I have a congenital condition that affects my adrenals which means I need to take supplementary medicine daily. I don't know how having a (mostly) raw diet would affect this but since being vegan (near 3 years) my blood test results have been getting better every 6 months their done (with a subsequent lowering of the needed amount of medicine each time). One interesting thing I did notice though was for just over a month before seeing my consultant late last year I had a primarily raw diet and stayed of most caffeine (with the ocassional organic green or white tea) and a hormonal imbalance that had been a bother for over a year basically dropped (on the first blood test were this issue was noted my levels of this hormone were over 10 times the normal amount, and now they are just bang in the middle of the normal range, my consultant had a hard time believeing it had happened so quick and with such an effect!). I only see my consultant 2-3 times a year so it could of been other factors influencing this decrease but considering I had been actually looking after my body and removed all sorts of artificial and stress inducing foods (heavily cooked/fried foods, foods high in sugar and salt and lots of caffeine and alchol) maybe my body had time to focus on other things??

I don't see how eating all fruit and feeling great then eating oil and non vegan food would prove that 100% fruit is bad. To me it shows the opposite- that the body was thriving on fruit and had adapted to it and was sensitive to foods that shouldn't have been eaten.

Lunakolarova Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since being 100% raw my exercise endurance is
> off-the-charts amazing, and my test results keep
> coming back with more positive news when I go to
> the doctor.

How long have you been 100% raw? What do you eat on an average day? Are you getting night-time cortisol tests or just morning cortisol tests?

> Don't listen to the haters...

I can't speak for anyone else but I can tell you for certain that I don't hate raw veganism or fruitarianism. I've been 100% raw for 6 years and am continuing to do so. I tried fruitarianism for an entire year and did not stop because I hated it but because it did not work for me. Why did you use the word hate here?

Rawtastic - You have a good point.