The Benefits of Red Light Therapy for Adrenal Fatigue

This week we released a podcast all about the benefits of red light therapy and it was such an amazing conversation!

On the podcast, we discuss how it can help if you struggle with chronic fatigue, sleep issues, gut imbalances, and pain.

We were so impressed that today we wanted to give you a quick rundown of some of the incredible benefits because, for our tired community, this is such a relaxing therapy that just requires you to just chill and enjoy the healing benefits of the light. What could be more lovely?

Get $60 USD OFF the Flexbeam Red Light Therapy Device

WHAT IS RED LIGHT THERAPY?

Red light, comprising both red and near-infrared wavelengths, is a unique healing part of the electromagnetic spectrum and it is one of the most natural ways to charge the body. It is now used as a new form of therapy under the umbrella term Photobiomodulation (PBM).

READ MORE ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF HOW IT WORKS HERE

HERE ARE SOME OF THE KNOWN BENEFITS OF RED LIGHT THERAPY:

• Pain Relief: PBM has shown promise in reducing both acute and chronic pain by modulating inflammatory responses, improving blood circulation, and promoting tissue repair. It may be particularly effective for conditions like arthritis, musculoskeletal pain, and neuropathic pain.

• Reduced Inflammation: PBM can help to suppress inflammatory cytokines and promote anti-inflammatory responses, which can contribute to decreased pain and improved overall comfort.

• Improved Blood Circulation: The application of PBM can enhance blood flow to the treated area, delivering oxygen and nutrients to tissues and aiding in the removal of waste products. Improved circulation can contribute to pain reduction and tissue healing.

• Faster Healing: Photobiomodulation can stimulate cellular activity and promote tissue repair by enhancing collagen production, accelerating cell proliferation, and encouraging wound healing. This can be especially beneficial for individuals recovering from injuries or surgeries.

• Enhanced Energy Production: PBM can boost mitochondrial function within cells, leading to increased production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the primary energy source for cellular activities. This improved energy production may help combat fatigue.

• Neuroprotection: PBM has shown potential in protecting neurons from damage and promoting their survival. This could be relevant for conditions involving nerve pain or neuropathies.

• Improved Mood and Mental Clarity: Some studies suggest that PBM may have a positive impact on mood and cognitive function. By promoting cellular health and reducing inflammation, it could contribute to a better mental state

• Non-Invasive and Low Risk: PBM is a non-invasive therapy that typically involves minimal to no discomfort or side effects. It's considered a low-risk treatment option, especially when compared to more invasive medical interventions.

• Convenience: PBM can be administered in various settings, including clinical environments and even at home using portable devices. This convenience makes it accessible to a wide range of individuals seeking relief from pain and fatigue.

• Complementary Therapy: PBM can be used alongside other conventional treatments, such as medications or physical therapy, to enhance their effectiveness and potentially reduce the need for higher doses of pain-relieving medications.

• Minimal Downtime: Unlike certain surgical procedures, PBM typically requires no downtime or recovery period. Patients can often resume their regular activities shortly after a session.

• Long-Lasting Effects: PBM sessions can lead to cumulative benefits over time. With regular treatments, individuals may experience more sustained pain relief and improved energy levels.

Dr. Zulia, our amazing podcast guest, and our friends at Recharge Health have so generously offered our listeners $60 USD OFF the FlexBeam Red Light Therapy Device, but this week only!!

To access the deal just click the button below and it will be automatically applied.

Supplement Hacks for Common Adrenal Fatigue Complaints

Adrenal Fatigue is complicated, many of us know this to be true all to well.

The effects of HPA (hypothalmus-piuitary-adrenal) Axis Dysfunction can be vast and varied— so many different symptoms that affect so many different areas of our life. This is part of the reason it can be hard to pinpoint adrenal issues as a root cause and address them properly.

Some of the symptoms are often so common that we come to see them as normal— fatigue, feeling tired in the morning, anxiety, sleep disturbancess etc. While others are less common and a bit more worrying— the heart palpitations, excessive urination, restless legs and on going insomnia.

Today, we want to address some of the most common complaints we hear about in our Adrenal Fatigue Community on Facebook and give you a few supplement tips that you can use to help with them.

Before I dive in, I want to remind you that supplements are just one piece of the puzzle. Without taking holistic action on the dietary, lifestyle and mindset part of things, your supplement efforts may be undermined. For best results, you need to address this from ALL angles.

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT MEDICAL DOCTORS AND NONE OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS BLOG SHOULD BE TAKEN AS MEDICAL ADVICE.
These are basic examples of common supplements known to help support adrenal issues caused by mineral imbalances. Before you start taking any new supplements we strongly encourage you to discuss with your doctor and ideally, work with one of our adrenal recovery coaches to ensure you are taking appropriate steps for the unique needs of your body. Click here to read full website disclaimer.

Supplement Support for Four Common Adrenal Fatigue Complaints

SLEEP

Sleep is one of the main complaints we hear about in our community.
Unfortunately, the irregular hormonal fluctuations that go along with adrenal fatigue can make sleep a real challenge for many of us. Our number one recommendation for addressing this head on is getting advanced hormone testing. Honestly, it’s an investment but the clarity you will receive from understanding exactly what is going on with your hormones and how they fluctuate throughout the day is invaluable. From there you can target your symptoms head on with specific lifestyle and supplements and a good practitioner can help you fine tune a plan for your needs.

Testing a side, when it comes to supportive supplements for sleep here are our top 3 recommendations:

• 200-600mg of Magnesium Glycinate or Threonate before bed to help support deeper sleeps and relaxation.

• .5mg-3mg of Melatonin taken after dinner when it starts to get dark out for those who wake up frequently throughout the night or early morning.

• some sort of nervine tonic— something to calm down your nervous system— you can follow the dosing on the bottle based on what you get, here are some of our favorites: CBD oil, lemon balm, milky oat straw, magnolia bark, passion flower, chamomile, and valerian.

You can try one of the above or a combination of all three.

HEART PALPITATIONS

There can be many causes behind heart palpitations and if you are experiencing this symptom, we highly encourage you to discuss with your doctor. Many adrenal fatigue sufferers experience this symptom and it can be caused by low blood pressure, low blood sugar, anxiety, thyroid issues, diet and caffeine.

These are some supplements you can consider to help support:

• 400-600mg of Magnesium Glycinate or Magnesium Malate to help relax the body and help to stabilize the electrical activity of the heart.

• A daily dose of a quality B-Complex to provide nutrients needed for a healthy nervous system and healthy heart function

• 200mg of CoQ10 (Ubiquinone or Ubiquinol), an important nutrient for heart health and potent antixoidant— great for energy.

FREQUENT URINATION

Frequent urination can go along with having depleted adrenals. One of the hormones implicated with a fatigued endocrine system is aldosterone which controls the amounts of sodium and water in the body, along with our blood pressure. Imbalanced levels of this hormone can contribute to frequent urination.

When it comes to supplements, things like this can help:

• a glass of coconut water daily

• an electrolyte supplement

RESTLESS LEG/ EYE TWITCHES/Leg cramps

When we are stressed, our nutrient need increases. We use up minerals and vitamins more quickly— sometimes we eat foods like sugar and caffeine that also further deplete our minerals and when we are low in certain minerals it can show itself in the form of leg cramps, eye twitches or restless legs at night— all of which are uncomfortable in their own way. Thankfully, rebalancing our minerals can really help calm these symptoms. Here’s where you can start:

• A daily dose of a quality B-Complex to support the nervous

• A daily glass of coconut water

• an electrolyte supplement

• 200-600mg of Magnesium Glycinate or Threonate

You will notice that many of these supplement recommendations are similar across the board for many of these symptoms. Sometimes, just taking something a simple as magnesium can have far reaching effects on different levels of your health in one fell swoop, however, these suggestions will work much better when you combined with a nice clean diet, good self-care and stress management.

Click here to read our post about tailoring your supplement plan based on your stage of adrenal fatigue. 

Do you struggle with these symptoms? If so, let us know what has helped you in the comments below!

All our best,
Danielle + the HYAF Team

Got Sleep Issues? Stop Doing This.

Sleep issues and insomnia are prominent issues for those with adrenal dysfunction or HPA dysregulation.

Waking up throughout the night is common and it can be hard to fall back asleep.
It’s easy in those moments to feel frustrated..especially because we often know how difficult these sleep disruptions can make the following morning.

When it comes to improving our sleep, it’s obvious we want to notice results quickly (overnight if you will), but sometimes when we are addressing our hormones and correcting imbalances with the hormone fluctuations in our sleep/wake cycle, the results don’t present themselves this way… especially when using natural supplements and when shifting our habits.

For this reason, I recommend tracking things in an objective way— so that you can actually SEE and CELEBRATE the small improvements. So often, I see people jumping ship on supplements or bedtime habits they are trying because they aren’t seeing results fast enough. When you check in regularly and take note of the subtle changes, it can help encourage you to press on with the natural solutions.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE RECOVERY STARTER GUIDE

The success and results we get are often the cumulative sum of our habits, but I often see this one bad habit sabotaging our efforts on all levels.

.. can you guess what it is?
**hint — it has to do with your phone

Yes, friend. Oogling your phone before bed and in the night if you can’t sleep is sabotaging your sleep (and your health).

Our brains need time to relax and wind down to prepare our body for sleep. Our brains need to distinguish the difference between day time and night time, unfortunately— the light from our phones can trick our brains into thinking it’s still day time and we need to remain alert.

Whether you’re reading e-mails, scrolling through social media or watching videos, I want to ask you if what you if it’s worth it? ESPECIALLY, if you struggle with insomnia.

For many of us, it’s an addiction we need to break.

I find a helpful way to start is setting a firm boundary.
“I use my phone as an alarm clock” — this is the number one reason I hear people using justifying why they keep their phones beside their bed. If this is the case for you, I recommend buying an “old school” alarm clock and keeping your phone in a completely separate room after a certain hour in the night can be a good way to start.

If you have work to do late into the evening, I recommend investing in some blue glasses to help protect your eyes and support a regular sleep/wake cycle—- because as we know—when we have adrenal issues, this cycle is often times already dealing with some irregularities.

Sorry for tough love, but I SEE how impactful this can be… and I just want the best for you. :)

Let me know in the comments below if this is an issue for you— what are you going to about it, starting tonight!?

xo
Danielle

A Quick Morning Routine for Burnt-Out People

We see all this talk about the perfect morning routine and how to super fuel are mornings to super charge our day.

What an awesome concept, right?

Wait.

If you have adrenal fatigue, mornings can be really difficult.
It is really common to struggle with insomnia through the night, waking up and then feeling too wired to fall back asleep. When you finally do fall back asleep (usually in the early morning hours) it’s often just in time for your alarm to jostle you out of a sleep that feels as deep as the deepest sea.

Trust me, I know how hard it can be to shake yourself out of that when your alarm starts going off.

When I was struggling with stage 3 adrenal fatigue, I used to think not even an icy bucket of water thrown on me would have helped. In those days, I’d grumble to my boyfriend to “ START THE ENGINE” (coffee machine) and you can imagine how the morning went from there.

The experts on social media kept telling me to do stuff like this:

• Get up an hour before my alarm and meditate

• Get some exercise in

• Do something for you

• Spend time in quiet, journaling and feeling gratitude

HECK, I’m pretty sure we even tell you to do this sort of stuff from time to time.
I KNOW in theory a morning filled with self-care would be incredible and soul nourishing and that it would totally make me a more calm and happy person. I totally get it the concept.

But guys, if a bucket of ice water wasn’t going to get me out of bed, neither was the potential idea of feeling more blissed out in my day if it meant sacrificing an hour of sweet, sweet morning sleep (which according to Dr. James Wilson has been said to be some of the most adrenal nourishing sleep for burnt-out people).

Nowadays, things are different and I have become a morning person once again, but I remember the struggle. When I speak to clients, they can relate to this too.

Today, I want to share my 5 minute morning adrenal care routine— it’s the same routine I use these days if I have to be up really early for coaching calls or don’t have a lot of time or space to myself.

It’s the way I capitalized on sleep while STILL taking measures to implement some self-care into my morning.

Check out my walk-through video of my 10 Minute Morning Routine for Burnt-out People here.

15 Rituals for Getting Great Sleep with Adrenal Fatigue

If you're struggling with adrenal fatigue and hormonal imbalance, you may be all to familiar with the unfortunate struggle of getting a good night's sleep.

It's funny (not really), but you feel exhausted all day.. and then when it comes time to finally settling down and resting, you feel wired and when you finally fall asleep, your sleep is restless. When you wake up, you DON'T feel rejuvenated and this sets you up to move through another day, feeling exhausted. 

the struggle is real! SLEEP issues are among the number one complaints of ADRENAL FATIGUE SUFFERERS in our community. 

Our sleep/wake cycle is a hormonal cycle and cortisol is directly involved in this. Depending on the stage of adrenal fatigue you are in,  this sleep/wake cycle can get disturbed in different ways. 

The biggest problem of this disturbance is that your hormonal imbalances can be making you feel exhausted during the day and preventing you from getting rejuvenating sleep a night. 

Honestly, there is nothing better for your adrenals than quality sleep, so this issue becomes a double edge sword-- in that we need to sleep to heal, but we can't seem to get the type of sleep that will finally allow for healing and rejuvenation. 

Good sleep helps balance cortisol to optimal curve, reduces nervous tension, helps control blood sugar and metabolism and so much more - but what if you can’t get it???

Today, we're sharing 15 rituals to help re-establish a balanced sleep/wake cycle and help promote deeper, more restorative sleeps. 

Watch me chat more about this in the video below or keep reading! 

But before we go further, I have to warn you of something.... 

DON't EXPECT RESULTS OVERNIGHT

Many of us want a quick fix to getting 8 hours of quality sleep, but unfortunately there isn’t one.

Okay, there might be a pharmaceutical drug out there that can, but that will most likely come with crazy, negative side effects.

In order to teach your body how to get good sleep, you need to be willing to make some lifestyle changes. Because there's a chance that some bad habits got you here in the first place. 

Like chronic stress, burning the candle at both ends, staying up too late, poor diet all without proper rest, self-care and relaxation. 

So, we can’t expect our sleep to change overnight, but if you’re willing to do the work - if you’re willing to implement several of these sleep rituals starting this week - you will begin to see improvements, and these will begin to set the stage for better hormonal balance and a regulated sleep cycle, once again. 

And the most important thing you must understand is this -  in order to get great sleep, you need to work on cultivating a relaxed mind, every evening.

That brings us to this week’s tweetable...

A relaxed mind is a relaxed body  

So, although we share several supplements below to support sleep, we beg you to not just buy the supplements and nothing else and expect everything to change.

Instead, use these tips to cultivate that relaxed mind and body needed to get the sleep of your dreams and heal your sweet adrenals…

15 RITUALS TO GETTING GREAT SLEEP

1.  AVOID EATING HIGH SUGAR FOOD/SIMPLE CARBS CLOSE TO BEDTIME

Choose healthy snacks that will last throughout the night - like a handful of almonds, brazil nuts or have a green apple with nut butter.

2.   LIMIT ALCOHOL INTAKE

Though it may seem calming, alcohol affect the quality and depth of sleep you have-- and not in a good way. If you drink wine nightly, try limiting wine to weekends only. Find a replacement that will fill this void - especially at first - like sparkling water with lemon (in a wine class) or enjoy a nice hot cup of bedtime tea. 

3.   DIM THE LIGHTS

Dim the lights in your home and room once it becomes dark outside to help your body stay connected to your natural, circadian rhythms.

4.   AVOID CAFFEINE

If avoiding caffeine seems impossible right now, limit your intake and don’t drink caffeine after noon.

5.   DO A DIGITAL DETOX 1 HOUR BEFORE BED

Time escapes you when you’re browsing social media or watching TV. Also, the blue light from electronics interferes with natural melatonin production, a hormone that allows you to fall asleep.

Instead, fill that time with yin or restorative yoga or stretching, read a book that calms you, listen to classical or chill music, take a bath, journal to release troubles of the day, practice deep breathing or listen to guided meditations.

If you’re going to be on technology use Apps like F.lux or different phone setting to tone down the blue light on your devices in the evening time.

6.   MAKE YOUR BEDROOM A SANCTUARY

Remove clutter from your bedside table and your room. Physical clutter in the environment leads to mental clutter in our minds. Make your space supportive of calming and relaxing you. 

7.   SLEEP IN COMPLETE DARKNESS

Get a sleep mask as even the light from your alarm clock can influence the quality of sleep you get. If you wake up in the night and have to go to the bathroom, try to avoid turning on lights. Get a dim nightlight for your bathroom or hallway.

8.   GO TO BED BEFORE 10:30 PM

Ever wonder why you get a second wind around 11? We have a cortisol surge around that time that has the tendency to keep us up for hours after, making it hard to fall asleep. Going to bed earlier will really help support your adrenal health and promote hormonal balance.   

9.  TRY MAGNESIUM

Take an Epsom salt bath to help promote relaxation. Alternatively, you could supplement some Magnesium citrate or glycinate before bed. This will help promote relaxation and a restful, repairing sleep. 

10. KEEP A SLEEP JOURNAL

This will help you recognize the patterns that are keeping you from getting great sleep. Then you will know what areas to focus on first. 

11. RELAX YOUR MIND

Practice meditation or simple breathing exercises in the evening. This can help calm your mind and reduce tension in the body. 

We want to help you make these last 2 rituals EASY - so we're giving you these free tools...

12. USE CALMING ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential oils such as lavender, geranium, bergamot, ylang-ylang, neroli, jasmine or lemon oils will help calm your body and help you prepare for sleep. 

13. TRY TAKING MELATONIN BEFORE BED

Melatonin can help increase your total sleep time. Consider this supplement if you tend to wake up too early or several times throughout the night. 

14. START AN EVENING TEA RITUAL

Try calming herbs in tea, some nice ones are chamomile, lemon balm, oat straw, valerian. passion flower, California poppy, magnolia bark. You can also find these in tincture or capsule form. 

15. OPT FOR NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS FIRST

Before jumping to intense pharmaceuticals, we recommend trying natural sleep aids or calming supplements first (always talk to your doctor first). Finding a formula that either helps calm ruminating thoughts, relax the body or promote longer sleep times can be sought out based on what you need most. Pop into your local health food store or talk to your integrative health provider to help determine what type of formula would be best for you and your hormonal + emotional needs. 

There you have it - 15 rituals for getting great, quality sleep. You can start using these right away and practice them every day.

You can’t expect to get good sleep if you’re not creating healthy sleep rituals, and you can do so by beginning to integrate some of these tips and habits into your routine. 

Remember: a relaxed mind is a relaxed body.

As you create these health sleep rituals, pay attention to what else changes, let us know by posting below!

Sweet dreams,
Danielle + Angela