Power Through the Holidays

It all starts with Halloween – Sugar buzzes through your body and the night culminates in a candy-induced crash. Suddenly it’s November 1st, the stores are decorated for Christmas, and you are worrying about where the in-laws are going to stay for Thanksgiving and how much you are going to spend on a monstrous grocery list.  Christmas lists, cocktail parties and making New Year’s resolutions; the onslaught has begun.

This year, don’t let the stress boil over.  By supporting one of your most important energy and stress management sources, your adrenal glands, you can help your mind and body plow through the holidays.  Taking care of your adrenal system will help you balance external stresses with internal strengths and start the New Year with health and happiness.

The adrenal glands enable you to deal with all of life’s stresses by secreting hormones that keep major systems in your body balanced. Hormones help regulate nutrients, energy, blood sugar, muscles, stamina, immunity, inflammation and anti-oxidants.  Precise secretion of hormones prevents you from feeling the roller-coaster effect that stressors such as food, environment and emotion may otherwise cause. However, a chaotic lifestyle and periods of prolonged stress can weaken adrenal function, causing hormone imbalances and feelings of fatigue, anxiousness, fuzziness in the head, and decreased productivity.

Over the holidays these stress-induced symptoms are the last thing you need.  Preventing a crash and supporting your body when headed towards exhaustion can be as simple as eating the right foods, getting enough sleep and helping out your system with a few natural tricks:

• As your family and friends bustle around you, take a few minutes each day for yourself.  Even ten minutes of deep breathing in a quiet room will give your adrenal glands a moment of rest and the time they need to catch up with your busy body.
• Get adequate sleep.  Your adrenals need the time to restore efficient function.  If you stay up late, let yourself sleep in; some of the most restorative sleep time for the adrenals is between six and nine am.
• Eat a good meal of whole, unprocessed, foods on a regular schedule and always eat breakfast.  Excess artificial, processed, sugary and caffeinated foods and drinks will just add strain to your already fatigued body.
• Eat as many vegetables as possible.  Organic, nutrient-rich vegetables are the best source of nutrients for healthy and prolonged energy production.
• A few natural aids to give you adrenal system an extra boost this holiday season include; vitamins C and E, magnesium, calcium, licorice root, ginger and ginko.  Healthy whole foods are always the best sources of these nutrients.

This holiday season nurture your body first.  Your adrenal glands are an amazing source of energy and balance for stress.  When nurtured, your adrenals will help you prevail through the buzzing world around you.  Embrace the holidays with a smile and don’t forget to sit back, relax and enjoy the bounty of the season!