The Adrenal/Ovary Connection

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

So how important is adrenal function to ovary function? Maybe comparable to peanut butter and jelly or cheese on pizza, you get the picture...

We'll take a look at this connection today to help you understand not only the importance of the connection but also provide some incite on balancing this if you find yourself challenged in this area.

The first factor to understand is that approximately 2/3 of estrogen type hormones are created in the ovaries for women, while most of the other 1/3 are actually produced in the adrenal glands. Let's take this one step further to understand that men and post menopausal women are almost completely dependent on adrenal function for estrogen type hormones.

It is important to understand that an array of hormones are necessary for optimal function in the body. These would include all the estrogen type hormones, pregnenolone, progesterone, different forms of testosterone, androstenedione, DHEA, cortisol and cortisone, just to name some of the key players. Interestingly enough, all of the hormones listed above are produced in the adrenal glands. Of course as you have learned earlier, the ovaries will also produce estrogen type hormones in premenopausal women and men will produce the bulk of their testosterone in the testicles until andropause.

So as you can see optimal adrenal function is definitely a key here. 

If you had not heard me mention the likelihood of adrenal insufficiency in the past, here is a simple stat that I have recognized in my career in the health field. Through my years I have reviewed over 4,400 adrenal test kits. Now mind you, people that come into my office have health challenges, so these 4,400 plus people are individuals that are dealing with either diagnosed issues or recognized symptoms. Well, out of those 4,400 adrenal kits, I have seen only 5 come back optimal. Yes, ONLY 5! So basically, this means that if you have a health issue, there is only about a 1/10 of one percent chance that your adrenals are functioning optimally. I don't know about you but those do not sound like good odds to me.

Let's now take this a step further into ovary function. As mentioned earlier, premenopause women will produce about 2/3 of their estrogen type hormones in the ovaries with most of the other 1/3 being produced in the adrenals. So if the adrenals are not working well and the adrenals play a direct role in the function of the ovaries, where the heck does the body produce estrogen hormones? Interestingly enough, I asked a client this today and she guessed correctly. In your FAT! So if you are not producing the optimal amounts of estrogen type hormones from your ovaries and/or adrenals, your body will pack on the weight just to maintain hormone balance. This is why women with poor adrenal/ovary function and post menopause women seem to carry extra weight that they simply cannot lose. This is simply because the body is using the extra fat for a necessary hormonal process.

Sounds like a frightening cycle, right?

Well, it doesn't have to be. It is relatively easy to test adrenal function. Here at Depke Wellness we almost always use a #205 adrenal test kit from a company called BioHealth to assess cortisol, DHEA, estriol, estradiol, progesterone, different forms of testosterone, melatonin and androstenedione. This provides us the necessary information to understand what is going on in your body from a hormonal perspective and there are even a few little clues about digestion here also. Once we have this information we can provide some feedback for supplementation to assist your body in resetting and balancing your adrenal function. 

Depending on your current adrenal hormone production assessed, recommendations will vary for assisting the body in resetting the adrenals but there are some overall adrenal supportive supplements you can starting taking right now. The three key factors on this level is the Prime Adrenal Support which is vitamin B5, zinc and vitamin C. These all have very strong supportive factors for your adrenal function. These are very helpful for those that are focused on maintaining proper adrenal function of for those trying to balance an early 
stage I adrenal insufficiency.

For those in stage II or III we are talking a whole other ball game. While it would still be important here to utilize the adrenal support a further step is need and this is due to the fact that these stages are also reflective of a "blown out" HPA axis, which stands for the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis. The job of this feedback loop is to bring your body into a relaxing state after a stressful event. I am sure that you "get" that we all have stress and honestly, stress is a necessary part of life. When the HPA axis is working properly your stress is balanced on a consistent basis, but when the HPA axis is not longer working instead of stress/balance, stress/balance, stress/balance, you end up with stress, stress, stress, stress....yikes!

You get the picture.

So once the HPA axis is "blown out" this needs to be reset and you can assist your body in resetting this feedback loop by using sublingual forms of natural pregnenolone and DHEA. I do caution you though. DO NOT use these randomly without proper testing and working with a practitioner that truly understands assisting your body in resetting the HPA axis.

Another key factor is too address the triggers that causes the adrenal imbalance in the first place. These would be:

• Chronic mental/emotional stress
• SAD or standard American diet high in sugar and processed food
• Food senstitivities
• Chronic inflammatory states
• Chronic infections (many of which are gut infections)

So in putting this all together to maintain proper hormone production throughout your life please be sure to maintain optimal adrenal function and absolutely stay on top of your triggers. 

If you are not currently a client of Depke Wellness and you would like to understand this deeper, we always offer a complimentary 20 minute phone or in office consult for new clients. Feel free to call our office at (949)954-6226 for this consult.


 



 

Adrenal Summit Q/A

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

First I would like to provide a heartfelt thank you to all of you that participated in The Adrenal Summit. Except for a few technical glitches that as been such a pleasant experience because of all you you. The out pouring of thanks and gratitude has been amazing and leaves me speechless, which is hard to do. LOL!

So to all of you, thank you for being so amazing!

We will now take this opportunity to address some lingering questions about the summit or areas that some of you feel were not addressed for your specific challenges. These are questions from you, our followers, that will not only assist those that proposed the questions but likely most everyone reading this today.

Here we go...

• The number one question that I received from everyone is, how do we get The Adrenal Summit now that this is complete? I am truly honored that so many of you asked this question. If you want your own copy of all these interviews to enjoy at your leisure go to this link provided.

• What were the Dr Daniel Kalish's "big five"? Dan's "big five" was fat, fatigued, depressed, digestive problems and female hormone issues. These are basically the areas that Dr Kalish most often recognizes when individuals have longer term adrenal challenges.

• I am very interested in Dr Osborne's view that foods could take up to 2 weeks to manifest symptoms, which means the presumed 'gold standard' of a 4 day rotation diet for reintroducing foods and monitoring symptoms may not be accurate. This is very true and as we learn more and more about food sensitivity, it is important to adjust our thinking with new information. Here is a response directly from ImmunoLabs:
  
  Potential 2 week delayed reaction for a food sensitivity:
  Length of time for a delayed reactions depend on the individual’s body. We have found that people notice their delayed symptoms within several minutes to a few days. Our physicians work more hands on with patients than we do and we have not heard exact time lines from the patients we work with other than they will feel relief in as quickly as a day to a few days to maybe a week. There are situations where someone feels worse before they feel better and then feel better within a month. As long as they continue to avoid their reactive foods, they will continue to benefit. After 90 days they can reintroduce the reactive foods one at a time to determine if it is still an issue. After all foods have been reintroduced and determined “okay” or not, we then recommend retesting every 6 months as their reactive foods will drop by about 50% from initial test to retest. After their retest we still recommend continuing to test and especially to expand their testing panel to ensure they do not have Candida, Gluten Intolerances, H. Pylori, IgE Allergies (immediate reactions), as well as further exploration into Milk and Egg if that was ever an issue.

• What are the main factors again that trigger adrenal fatigue? The main triggers are as listed below:
• The standard American diet (SAD), high in sugar and processed foods
• Food sensitivity such as gluten, cross reactivity or other food sensitivity
• Chronic stress or suppressed emotions
• Chronic inflammation
• Chronic infection  

• I gave up gluten and I did not feel any different, does this mean it's not an issue? Actually 86% of people that have a gluten sensitivity are actually asymptomatic. I have had clients share in the past that they have been gluten free and they do not feel that this has created an improvement in their health. While many will actually notice an improvement, those that are not seeing this can understand that giving up gluten when gluten sensitive will actually play a role in slowing or stopping the progression of health symptoms.

• He mentions 5 different tests for food reactions (IgG, IgA, IgM, T cell , immune complex). I know Cyrex labs do IgG & IgA for cross reactive foods etc, but where do we get the other 3 please? I am from UK. The two companies that are best suited for these tests are ImmunoLabs and Cyrex Labs. Both companies are available in the UK and I would recommend stating with the Immuno Bloodprint 154 and the Cyrex Array #3. Here is an addition from ImmunoLabs directly:
  
  Several measures for food reactions (IgA, IgE, IgG, IgM, T Cells, Immune Complex):
  We primarily test for IgG (Bloodprint® tests) and IgE (environment, food, mold, etc. panels). We also test for IgA through some of our additional tests (ex: Anti-Gliadin test). We do not test for IgM, T Cell, nor immune complex due to the issues around precision of knowing you have pinpointed the true reactions versus false negatives and positives. There are companies that perform testing on food allergies and sensitivities through those immune pathways and we have several clients that stopped testing with them due to issues around getting the best patient outcomes. If you truly want to know the companies then I will provide their names, but since the results can be inaccurate and won’t lead to improving the patient’s health condition, I hesitate. Let me know if there is something specific other than just food allergies that the person was looking to find through those immune pathways.

• Based on Dr Bowden's interview, is is more important to focus on the adrenals or pancreas? Actually it is important to focus on both but thankfully what you do for one typically assist both. Here are some areas that will assist both adrenal and pancreas function:
• Reduce stress or learn tools to perceive stress in a healthier way
• Lower consumption of sugar and processed carbohydrates
• Get to bed earlier

• Please could someone direct me to reputable up to date resources about protocols for elimination diets and reintroduction of foods (for those foods just suspected to be a reaction developed secondary to intestinal permeability , and not due to immune antibody response). In my opinion one of the best ways to reintroduce food is based on Lyn-Genet's The Plan. Both myself and my wife use her protocols personally and the results are amazing! It actually takes this to a whole other level. You can get this info at:
  Click here to order your copy of The New York Times bestseller The Plan on Amazon!

• What should I do if I have a stage III adrenal insufficiency with burst training? If you have are in stage III adrenal insufficiency I would suggest starting slow with burst training. Perhaps 30 seconds of burst training followed by 60 seconds of casual movement would be a good start. From there you can work on increasing your burst training. If you are in stage III, please be sure to move forward with caution to not create further issues. As a side note, if you have low cortisol in the morning, it would be awesome to do 30 seconds of burst training in the morning within 10 minutes of waking.

• According to the interview with Glen Depke on chronic inflammation is it best to work on adrenal function or inflammation first? In the perfect world, we would address adrenal function just before inflammation. I also want to share that if you address inflammatory states, this will also assist with adrenal function since this is a major trigger for adrenal dysfunction.

• Did I hear it correctly from Linda Clark that as toxins go through a phase I to phase II liver detoxification are actually more toxic, and what does this mean? Yes, you are correct in what you heard. As toxins in your body are converted from a fat soluble toxin to a water soluble toxin, they are now more toxin than they were in the first place. This does not have a significance unless you are not having two or more bowel movements per day. If you are having one bowel movement or less per day

• I think of stress as emotional, yet Sue Ingebretson mentioned other forms of stress. Can you expand on this? Absolutely. While most people think of stress as mental/emotional only, there are actually many forms of stress that are potentially affecting us daily. This could be physical stress tied into inflammation, injury or illness. This could be chemical stress based on toxins in our environment, foods, water and even the toxic expression of negatively perceived emotions. So definitely look at stress from every level and address each and every level that is impacting your health and wellness.

• When listening to Dr Janda, it seems as if infection is a bigger issue than most would think and potentially difficult to recognize. What is the best way to test for infection? Based the interview with Dr Janda, the best way to test for infection in the body is via Applied Kiniseology or A/K. This is a form of muscle testing and there are other forms of muscle testing such as Autonomic Response Testing or ART. In my practice, I often recommend a comprehensive stool collection kit to test for gut infections and I find that the best way to address this is with both. This "best of both worlds" is often the key because muscle testing and stool testing can uncover different yet essential challenges.

• I would have never thought of what Manny described as "fighting gravity" as an issue for my health. Can you expand on this in any way? I did propose this question to Manny and he actually mentioned that he is going to write his newsletter article this week on this subject. Here is the link to Manny's article for you.

• I loved Lynda's talk on the thyroid but I am confused. I have been diagnosed and hypothyroid, I take thyroid medications but I still suffer with all the same symptoms. What gives? As Lynda mentioned in her interview, thyroid issues are most often not even a thyroid problem. Most often this is an adrenal, gut, liver and/or autoimmune issue. Lynda mentioned looking at the adrenals first and moving on from there until you have addressed all the underlying issues.

• Listening to the talk on obesity, it seems as if there is no hope when your weight is out of control. Did I miss something? Help! There is not only hope, but there are answers. I would suggest looking at adrenal function and cross reactive food sensitivities. This in itself can make create a huge shift in regard to weight loss. From there I would suggest looking at the chronic inflammation and the feed back loops that recycle these chronic inflammatory states.

• I have to share that I am in my forties and have never been to a chiropractor. After listening to Dr Fletcher, I feel as if I am missing out on something. Where do you feel chiropractic care fits in an overall wellness program? Actually when I have a new client in my office, I always recommend that they see a chiropractor if they are not already. Far too often individuals do not see a chiropractor unless they have an accident of some sort or noticeable back issues. Waiting for these situations is basically waiting too long to see a chiropractor. We have two chiropractors in our office and personally I have a chiropractic visit very 7 to 10 days.

If anyone else has further questions, feel free post these below and they will be addressed personally. We want to make sure that all your questions are addressed properly.

If you have not grabbed your copy of the Adrenal Summit 2014, catch this here!

 

Adrenal Balance 101

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

So many people are reaching out to understand how to properly balance adrenal function, so here you go. 

I first want to bring up something mentioned by Dr Daniel Kalish in the adrenal summit, Dan mentioned that adrenal function is actually becoming a much more popular subject these days, but unfortunately, many people are being tested with little knowledge behind this as far as what to do. And to add, the big what to do is actually assisting the body in resetting the feedback loop also known as the HPA axis or the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis. Understand that this feedback loop is essential to bring your body into a state of relaxation after a stressful event. If the HPA axis is not functioning properly, you can be focusing on your health and actually live with the frustration of very little or no improvement. Yikes!

So knowing that you have to help the body reset the feedback loop, how do you know if your feedback loop is dysfunctional? Testing of course, and how do you test this properly. Testing adrenals properly requires looking at cortisol throughout the day, which is easily accomplished by saliva testing. Yes, it is as easy as spitting in a tube 4 times per day. While some may not feel that this sounds enjoyable, the value of knowing where your adrenal function is, is completely invaluable and this is all because of the fore mentioned HPA axis. If this is burnt out, you want to know! 

I do not recommend blood testing because this will only provide one cortisol level through the day as opposed to four times within the day. Also the saliva testing provides a DHEA average, four cortisol levels along with a total cortisol and cortisol:DHEA ratio. For those using a comprehensive test kit, which is always my recommendation, you would also get a look at estradiol, estriol, progesterone, testosterone, androstenedione and melatonin. This is often invaluable because I cannot tell you the countless times I see estrogen type hormones either too high or low, elevated and often toxic levels of progesterone due to the use of creams and even men that are converting testosterone into estrogens due to an over production of an enzyme referred to as aromatase. This can be some scary stuff but really, only if you do not look at it. As long as you are living and breathing, there is always hope of balancing your adrenals, but you have to know where they're at.

Now once you have the adrenal function assessed you can work on a protocol to balance. The protocols used at Depke Wellness are to work at the beginning of hormone production. This would include the use of the Prime Adrenal Support (vitamin B5) and the two baseline liquid sublingual hormones pregnenolone and DHEA. The vitamin B5 is needed as one of the raw materials to produce the mother hormone pregnenolone and the DHEA and pregnenolone support will allow the adrenals to find their balance and reset that HPA axis discussed above. This way you can eventually get off the protocols and enjoy normal healthy functioning adrenals in the future.

Notice that I did not mention taking bio-identical hormones, progesterone creams or testosterone creams. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen these toxin in clients when we review their saliva test kits due to the use of the hormone creams. Heck, just today I have a women that was taking progesterone creams for only two months that should have a level of approximately 5 to 95 that is actually living with a level over 2,500. No 2,500 was not a typo! I have even seen men that were working with other practitioners recognizing low testosterone, only to take testosterone without knowing that this is being converted into estrogens and they are now toxic in estrogen type hormones. Again, this can be scary stuff if you do not know what you are doing and that is exactly what Dr Daniel Kalish mentioned in his interview.

Now there is other support I would also offer such as a liquid ionized form of zinc, buffered ascorbic acid powder (not corn derived of course), LiquiNutrients and a liquid DHA/EPA-CoQ10. These are all supportive factors but the nuts and bolts of the protocols are the Prime Adrenal Support (vitamin B5) and the liquid sublinguals of DHEA and pregnenolone.

*Very Important!!!

DO NOT take these on your own without testing and under guidance. Hormones require a delicate balance and while you do not want them too low, you do not want them too high either. Please be careful and work with somebody that uses saliva testing that also knows how to assist your body in resetting that HPA axis.

Another important point to make is that when your adrenals are off, this truly is not an adrenal issue. The deeper issue that absolutely has to be addressed is actually the triggers for the adrenal issues. Here are the main triggers.

• (SAD) standard American diet high in sugar, caffeine and processed food
• Food sensitivities
• Chronic infection
• Chronic stress or suppressed emotions
• Chronic inflammatory states
• Poor fundamentals of health

So you see, if you only use an adrenal protocol and do not get to the triggers, this will be an ongoing problem for you. So in the end, address your adrenal function and get to your triggers with somebody that understands this world.  

If you are new to Depke Wellness and you would like to schedule a complimentary 20 minute phone consultation, call our office at (949)954-6226. We would love to assist you in your journey to health and happiness.

Please feel free to post below if you have any questions.

 

Welcome from the Adrenal Summit

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Most of you have been following the Depke Wellness newsletter for years not but we have some new followers to welcome due to the adrenal summit. With that we would like to extend a huge warm welcome to our new followers. Every Tuesday your day will be welcomed with new information to further your journey toward health and happiness. Each newsletter contains a main article written by me personally, a special guest article, a take action segment, upcoming events, a monthly featured supplement and a motivating quote. Depke Wellness will also interview many other health professionals throughout the year and provide free interviews to your further education and enjoyment. As this are moving and shaking through the year, you will get this information first hand through your connection with Depke Wellness.

With this said, let's talk about the recent excitement, which is the launch of the Adrenal Summit yesterday April 7, 2014. While this summit was a significant undertaking in time, organization, effort and of course money, yet it has surpassed our expectations on every level. That's exciting!!!

First and foremost, the intention of the Adrenal Summit was to expose this essential information to our culture. Unfortunately adrenal function is not widely recognized in mainstream information, yet this is a huge issue for so many. It pains us to see health challenged individual make an attempt at healing their body without even looking at adrenal function. These are the clients that show up in our office every day that have been attempting to create a positive shift in their health via natural health means but to no avail. They've improved their nutrition, exercise and sleep, worked on their gut, immune function, thyroid and more...but still sit frustrated because all their hard work and dedication has not created the healthy shift they were looking for. This level of frustration is much more common than most may realize.

Almost across the board, I find the missing link for these individuals to be adrenal function. As you may already know, I have reviewed over 4,300 adrenal test kits in my career of health challenged individuals and have only seen 5 (it's not a typo) come back healthy and balanced. This basically tells us that if you have a health challenge, there is approximately a 1/10 of one percent chance that your adrenals are healthy. 

DO NOT bet those odds!

If you have yet to register for the Adrenal Summit you can register here.

So this is why we are so excited to reach out to our culture with this information. Even better than that, it's not only me. The Adrenal Summit is composed of 13 experts in their perspective fields and truly, these are the experts experts. Welcome to the opportunity to understand adrenal function and the challenges this causes in your body as listed below.

• Thyroid issues
• Pancreas issues
• Ovary issues
• Poor mucosal surface integrity (1st layer of immune defense)
• Poor metabolism of fat and protein
• Poor weight and fat regulation
• Detoxification challenges
• Immune dysregulation
• Dysfunctional pro and anti-inflammatory response
• Poor cellular energy production
• Blood sugar instability
• Poor muscular/skeletal health
• Lack of sleep
• Poor mood regulation
• Poor memory
• Lack of mental clarity
• Poor neural connectivity

So this is the what happens when the adrenals are not working properly but there's so much more. With our experts you are going to learn what triggers this adrenal dysfunction and what continues the ongoing health crisis as listed below.

• Gluten sensitivity
• Overall food sensitivity
• The cortisol/insulin connection
• Exercise does and don'ts
• Inflammatory states
• Mental/emotional stress
• Toxicity
• Infection
• The structural body
• The thyroid/adrenal connection
• Obesity and food sensitivity
• Importance of a healthy spine and nervous system

Glen Depke of Depke Wellness

Based on the experts that you are going to enjoy and learn from, you will gather some new found knowledge that will change your life or the life of someone you know and love.

If you are already registered for the summit, you have already heard Dr Daniel Kalish's interview as an amazing send off to the Adrenal Summit. If you are not registered, it's not too late to jump in on this life altering event. Register here!

Once again, we welcome the new members of the Depke Wellness family. It is our pleasure to serve you. 

Thank you! 

 

Can't sleep, no energy?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

So many people are dealing with a cycle of poor sleep and lack of energy through the day, to the point that we could almost consider this an epidemic.

The interesting aspect of the sleep is that many individuals are not even aware that they are not sleeping well, so let's define this first. Optimal sleep is going to be somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30PM depending on the time of the year and waking near the time that the sun comes up. You would of course fall asleep very quickly and the sleep is unbroken  and if you happen to wake to use the bathroom, you will quickly fall back into a deep sleep. At the conclusion of the optimal nights sleep, you will wake ready to rock and roll and take on your day. So ask yourself, does your sleep pattern look like this?

If it does not, you have some work to do. We'll chat about that in a bit.

Since most of you are not hitting and optimal sleep cycle what do you think this is going to effect throughout your day? If you guessed energy, you are right on. This is not just physical energy though, this is also mental energy, emotional energy and even what some would consider either vibrational or spiritual energy. I don't know about you, but I want this to be at the most optimal level that I can. Most of us are attempting to play a really big game in life but if we are doing this with poor sleep and energy, the game we're playing is severely limited.

If you are the person we are talking about here, what's the next step? First off I will share that based on my thousands of clients at Depke Wellness, a poor sleep cycle is generally either a digestive issue or a hormone issue. Let's look at hormones first.

When I am testing adrenal panels with my clients, I am not only looking at the typically cortisol and DHEA, I am also looking at other end result hormones, one being melatonin. Let's first understand that melatonin levels and cortisol levels should be an exact opposite. With this said, when melatonin is high, cortisol will be low and likewise. So if we see a low night time melatonin, we would typically recognize an elevated night time cortisol. This would tell us that if we could lower the night time cortisol, we would most likely see the melatonin go up simply due to the natural hormone rhythms of the body. This would then be defined as a sleep issue that has a deeper hormone tie as the core.

With this said, what if the night time cortisol is actually optimal, yet the night time melatonin is actually low? This is when we would look at this as a digestive issue.

My first point to make, it we do not recommend melatonin if melatonin is low. We are not saying that those that make this recommendation are wrong, we'll just say that we are different, and here's why. This is the natural flow from food consumption to melatonin.

• Proper consumption of protein
• Optimal digestion
• Proper breakdown of the amino acid L - tryptophan (essential amino acid)
• Most of this L - tryptophan moves toward assisting B vitamin production and absorption but this also goes down this sleep cycle
• Production of 5 - HTP from L - tryptophan
• Production of serotonin from 5 - HTP
• Finally the production of melatonin from serotonin

So you can see that while taking melatonin may actually help with sleep but it still leaves so many other deficiencies in the body. So if the night time melatonin is low along with a normal night time cortisol, this tells us to work on digestion.

Here are some of the basic levels to understand to enhance digestion.

• Take 3 to 5 deep belly breaths prior to your meal to ease any stress
• Chew your food thouroughly
• Take your Prebiotic/Probiotic Formula daily
• Take your Prime Enzyme Support with each meal
• If stomach acid is low take a Prime Stomach Acid Support after your meal
• You may want to also assess potential food sensitivities 
• If digestion has been a long term chronic issue, you may also want to look at the potential of pathogens

If we go back to the beginning here though, to understand if your sleep and lack of energy issue is either a hormone or digestive issue, assessing adrenal function as well as end result hormones is a must.

If you do not have a deep understanding of adrenal function, it's holistic effect on the body and it's underlying triggers, be sure to take a look at the Adrenal Summit. This is a complimentary event that will answer your questions and provide further information by the industry leaders listed below.

Dr Daniel Kalish, DC

Adrenal Summit Launch 

Dr. Thomas O'Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN
Gluten Sensitivity, Celiac and Adrenal Function

Dr Peter Osborne

Gluten Cross Reactivity and Adrenal Function

Dr Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

The Cortisol/Insulin Connection

Dr Josh Axe
Exercise Effects on Adrenal Function

Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Inflammation Effects on Adrenal Function

Linda Clark, M.A., Certified Nutrition Consultant (CNC)

Detoxification, Toxicity and Adrenal Health

Sue Ingebretson

Stress and the Emotional Impact on Adrenal Health

Dr Robert Janda, DC

Infection and Adrenal Function

Manny Aragon

The Structural Body and Adrenal Health

Lynda Buitrago, MS

The Thyroid/Adrenal Connection

John Lewis and Jeffery Zavik

Obesity, Sensitivity and Adrenal Function

Dr David Fletcher

Chiropractic Care and Adrenal Health

Glen Depke

Adrenal Summit Conclusion

The experts that we have for your enjoyment and education are the leaders in their field and actually the experts "experts". This event is going to create a paradigm shift and the needed education for our culture to understand adrenal fatigue, the impact this has on our health and happiness and more importantly, what we can do about this. Visit the Adrenal Summit for further information and registration for this complimentary event.

Before you exercise...

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

So it's getting close to bathing suit weather and we all know what that means. The bulky sweat shirts come off and expose the ten pounds of belly fat that somehow appeared through the winter that we have been conveniently hiding behind our loose fitting cloths. As we all know, we cannot hide this any more one we throw one the bathing suit that has been sitting there waiting for us all winter.

With this said, what is the one change that so many are people are going to be making soon? 

This change is going to be the countless people heading to the gym in "hope" of eliminating that winter 10 and looking lean and healthy in their swim gear. While I support exercise and movement as a fundamental of health, I would be willing to bet that many of you are going to engage in exercise that will have a detrimental affect on your health and perhaps be counterproductive in your goals of trimming your waistline. 

Here's why...

Here's a common scenario. You gain weight through the winter months and decide it's time to lose that nagging flab around the midsection. From here you may begin address this nutritionally, but still not losing the weight. Due to this you begin working out, perhaps starting with some walking and lifting weights. Still, no weight loss...ugg! So now you talk to a friend that works our regularly and they tell you the key is to push the cardiovascular activity and suggest 45 minutes of intense work on the treadmill or elliptical. Still nothing, and perhaps at this point you're even seeing your weight go up. Really? How frustrating can this be? It almost seems as the more you do, nothing budges.

So how can this be? After all, we have all been taught that it is simply about calories in and calories out right? Yes, this is what we have been taught but if this was true, you would lose weight very quickly with the above scenario.

What is one of the most important factors to define before you exercise. This factor is adrenal function and there are many reasons for this. Here is a list of factors that are directly tied into your adrenal function as tied into weight loss.

• Thyroid function
• Pancreas function
• Ability to regulate body weight and fat
• Metabolism of fat and protein
• Every level of detoxification
• Pro and anti-inflammatory states
• Cellular energy
• Blood sugar balance
• Quality of sleep
• Neural connectivity

Understand that all of these levels tie into weight loss and a significantly affected by adrenal function.

But there's more...

How you exercise is impacted by your adrenal function. First understand that out of 3 stages of adrenal insufficiency that we would recognize at Depke Wellness, most of our clients show up in a stage II or stage III response. So basically, this means that most have already blown out the hypothalamus, adrenal and pituitary axis. The job of this HPA axis is to bring your body into a deep state of relaxation after a stressful event. This state is essential for healing and maintaining a healthy weight.

Remember above we mentioned that you will likely be told that they have to kick up the cardiovascular activity? Well, here's the kicker there. If you are in stage II or stage III adrenal insufficiency and you are exercising in a way that raises your heart rate and maintains this elevated heart rate, you are actually worsening your adrenal function. So yes, the hard work you are doing is not only not helping you lose weight but it is actually worsening your adrenal function.

If you do find yourself in a stage II or stage III adrenal insufficiency you still want to exercise but this should be via anaerobic training. So this would include weight training with heavy weight, low reps and rest in between sets. This would also include a casual walk, casual bike ride, gentle flow yoga, stretching and another huge benefit from burst training. I use burst training myself and recommend this at different times of the day for my clients depending on where there adrenal function is. 

While I cannot say enough about burst training, I am far from an expert with this but thankfully in the upcoming adrenal summit I have interviewed one of our worlds leaders in burst training, Dr Josh Axe. Make sure you register for the complimentary for Adrenal Summit and not only enjoy the interview on burst training and adrenal function with Dr Josh Axe but also the 12 other experts listed below. 

So in the end, before you exercise, properly assess your adrenal function.

Dr Daniel Kalish, DC

Adrenal Summit Launch 

Dr. Thomas O'Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN
Gluten Sensitivity, Celiac and Adrenal Function

Dr Peter Osborne

Gluten Cross Reactivity and Adrenal Function

Dr Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

The Cortisol/Insulin Connection

Dr Josh Axe
Exercise Effects on Adrenal Function

Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Inflammation Effects on Adrenal Function

Linda Clark, M.A., Certified Nutrition Consultant (CNC)

Detoxification, Toxicity and Adrenal Health

Sue Ingebretson

Stress and the Emotional Impact on Adrenal Health

Dr Robert Janda, DC

Infection and Adrenal Function

Manny Aragon

The Structural Body and Adrenal Health

Lynda Buitrago, MS

The Thyroid/Adrenal Connection

John Lewis and Jeffery Zavik

Obesity, Sensitivity and Adrenal Function

Dr David Fletcher

Chiropractic Care and Adrenal Health

Glen Depke

Adrenal Summit Conclusion

The experts that we have for your enjoyment and education are the leaders in their field and actually the experts "experts". This event is going to create a paradigm shift and the needed education for our culture to understand adrenal fatigue, the impact this has on our health and happiness and more importantly, what we can do about this. Visit the Adrenal Summit for further information and registration for this complimentary event.

What you need to know...

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

...about adrenal function.

Adrenal Fatigue

I have to share an immense level of excitement that I have for all of you. The "Adrenal Summit" is being released soon and this is the missing link of understanding in regard to health and happiness in our culture. It seems that the only subjects that get significant attention these days are subjects covered in conventional medicine. Well, conventional medicine does not talk about adrenal function, therefore there is little information available on this subject.

First, you may wonder why conventional medicine does not discuss this significant health issue. The reason is simply because there is not a drug for adrenal fatigue. I am not bashing conventional medicine for this but understand that the model of symptom, diagnosis and prescription does not work if the prescription is not available.

You may also ask, if this does not have a prescription response, is this really a problem? That's an easy answer and actually a big fat YES! I have personally reviewed over 4,300 adrenal test kits in my career and have only seen 5 come back healthy and balanced at the onset of a new client. Yes, ONLY 5! In fairness, people that visit Depke Wellness have health issues, so understand that if you have a health issue, the likelihood that your adrenals are balanced is about 1/10 of one percent. I don't know about you, but those seem like very poor odds to me.

Since so many have not heard of adrenal function let's first look at the symptoms you may feel if your adrenal function is imbalanced.

• Fatigue
• Body aches
• Unexplained weight loss
• Weight gain in your midsection
• Low blood pressure
• Lightheadedness
• Loss of body hair
• Poor mental clarity
• Poor sleep patterns
• Blood sugar instability
• Inflammatory conditions
• Poor immune function
• Toxicity
• Digestive challenges
• Thyroid, pancreas or ovary dysfunction
• and so much more...

The symptoms and health issues are typical for those in a stage II or stage III adrenal insufficiency but phase I is actually quite different. In stage I, you likely feel like you can take on the world. You'll probably say things like "it doesn't matter what life throws at me, I can push through everything" or "stress actually stimulates me and helps my focus and productivity" or even "I can burn the candle at both ends and even in the middle." During this time, your adrenal glands are over producing cortisol to address your chronic stress. Understand though that this is nothing but stimulation of cortisol and can be compared to drinking a pot of coffee or eating sugar for energy. Yes, it's energy but not an optimal production of energy. Staying there long term will eventually push you into later stages of adrenal insufficiency and ultimate the symptoms and health challenges listed about.

With the understandings shared above, I want to get back to why I am so excited for you. Our upcoming adrenal summit is a collection of 13 leaders in their perspective fields as tied directly into adrenal function. The other exciting part is that this summit is going to be free for your enjoyment and education!

Let's take a quick look at who is sharing and what they are sharing.

Dr Daniel Kalish, DC

Adrenal Summit Launch 

Dr. Thomas O'Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN
Gluten Sensitivity, Celiac and Adrenal Function

Dr Peter Osborne

Gluten Cross Reactivity and Adrenal Function

Dr Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

The Cortisol/Insulin Connection

 

Dr Josh Axe
Exercise Effects on Adrenal Function

Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Inflammation Effects on Adrenal Function

Linda Clark, M.A., Certified Nutrition Consultant (CNC)

Detoxification, Toxicity and Adrenal Health

Sue Ingebretson

Stress and the Emotional Impact on Adrenal Health

Dr Robert Janda, DC

Infection and Adrenal Function

Manny Aragon

The Structural Body and Adrenal Health

Lynda Buitrago, MS

The Thyroid/Adrenal Connection

John Lewis and Jeffery Zavik

Obesity, Sensitivity and Adrenal Function

Dr David Fletcher

Chiropractic Care and Adrenal Health

Glen Depke

Adrenal Summit Conclusion

The experts that we have for your enjoyment and education are the leaders in their field and actually the experts experts. This event is going to create a paradigm shift and the needed education for our culture to understand adrenal fatigue, the impact this has on our health and happiness and more importantly, what we can do about this.