Instead of focusing on the scale, try a different approach that addresses the possible underlying cause of your weight struggles: your adrenals. When your adrenal system is overloaded due to constant stress, your body chemistry changes. Those changes signal your body to eat more and shift your metabolism, promoting weight gain and making weight loss next to impossible. Unless, that is, you take proactive steps to support your adrenal system and get your stress hormones under control.
The Obesity Epidemic
You may feel alone in your battle to lose weight, but you aren’t. According to the CDC, 41.9 percent of American adults struggle with obesity. Worldwide, it affects more than a billion people. And those numbers are increasing every year, even as more and more people fight to keep their weight in check.
But controlling your weight isn’t just about looking good. Being overweight or obese increases the risk for several serious health issues, including:
- Cancer
- Depression
- Fatty liver disease
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Sleep apnea
- Stroke
- Type 2 diabetes
Unfortunately, getting your weight under control may not be as simple as diet “experts” like to make it sound. Even if you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly, you still may not be able to lose weight. That’s because there’s something blocking your weight-loss progress, something many doctors think doesn’t exist: adrenal fatigue.
How Stress Sabotages Your Weight-Loss Goals
Every time you feel stressed, your adrenal glands respond. Those two tiny glands that sit right over your kidneys pump out hormones to help you survive danger, whether it’s caused by a fender bender, overdue bills, or a physical threat like being attacked by a mugger.
When you’re stressed, your adrenal glands supply adrenaline to energize you and cortisol to keep you sharp and alert. These two hormones set off a chain of physical reactions, known as “fight or flight,” that are intended to protect you from whatever is threatening your survival. Once the threat passes, calming hormones are released to help your body settle down. The problem is, you are exposed to stress all day, every day, and this keeps you constantly on alert. Over time, your adrenal glands just can’t keep up with the sheer volume of stress, and this can lead to adrenal fatigue.
When your adrenal glands are worn out, you’ll notice it. Signs of adrenal fatigue can include:
- Craving sugar and salt
- Difficulty losing weight
- Feeling sluggish
- Fluctuating blood sugar
- Irritability when hungry (“hangry”)
- Steady weight gain
- Weight gain around the abdomen
Since these symptoms may have other causes, doctors typically overlook the adrenal connection. But addressing adrenal fatigue could resolve your frustrating battle with weight. And you can do that by giving your adrenal glands targeted support to help them get back on track.
6 Natural Ways to Support Optimal Adrenal Function
When your adrenal glands are properly nourished and supported, they can get back to working the way they’re supposed to without being overloaded. Your adrenal glands may be small, but their effects on your health are seismic. With an adrenal assist from these six natural compounds, you’ll notice a positive shift in your weight loss efforts, as well as increased energy, decreased cravings, and overall feelings of wellness.
- Pregnenolone is a building-block hormone produced by your adrenal glands. It’s needed to create other hormones like cortisol and DHEA. In cases of adrenal fatigue, production can drop off sharply, leading to symptoms like weight gain and fatigue. A 2023 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that low pregnenolone levels were linked to overweight and obesity in shift workers. Supplying your system with supplemental pregnenolone gives your adrenal glands a break.
- DHEA also works as a foundational hormone. It’s needed to produce more than 100 different critical compounds, including estrogen and testosterone. DHEA can be used in its original form or be easily converted into whatever your body needs at the moment. Your body also counts on DHEA to balance its stress responses and to keep cortisol under control. When your adrenal glands are too fatigued to produce enough DHEA, your metabolism and blood sugar levels can be affected-—both of which can lead to weight gain. Taking a micronized DHEA supplement restores this crucial hormone to help your body manage stress and weight more effectively.
- Adrenal extract supplies targeted support when your adrenal glands are too overworked to do their job. This specialized bovine adrenal extract can function as a stand-in for your adrenal glands until they’re able to perform at optimal levels. Traditional healers have relied on pure bovine adrenal extract for decades to address adrenal fatigue and chronic stress.
- L-tyrosine is a nonessential amino acid and a key component of stress neurotransmitters, including adrenaline and norepinephrine. L-tyrosine also supports your adrenal glands and their ability to produce and regulate hormones. When you’re under constant stress, L-tyrosine gets depleted, which can magnify adrenal fatigue. Boosting low levels with L-tyrosine supplements can help turn things around. One large review of 37 clinical trials published in Nutrients found that L-tyrosine helped minimize the effects of stressors such as sleep deprivation and cumulative stress in healthy military personnel and other adults.
- Licorice offers a double helping of benefits for weight loss and adrenal fatigue. This powerful botanical suppresses adipogenesis, the process of forming and accumulating fat cells. It also delivers anti-inflammatory action, a key factor for weight loss as inflammation can drive obesity, especially around the abdomen. A meta-analysis, published in Phytomedicine, of 26 clinical trials that included 985 patients found that licorice consumption significantly reduced body weight and body mass index. For adrenal support, licorice keeps hormones like DHEA and cortisol from breaking down too quickly during the stress response, so the adrenal glands don’t need to produce more.
- Rehmannia is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a balancing, restorative tonic. It applies those activities to the adrenal glands, gently nudging them to perform as needed. This herb can help calm nervous system hyperactivity brought on by stress. Rehmannia also helps manage blood sugar, inflammation, and oxidative stress, all of which are closely linked with obesity. It’s also known to inhibit the formation of fat cells and is often included in TCM formulas to promote healthy weight management.