The Adrenal Stress Profile

The purpose of the Adrenal Stress profile is to determine how stress has been taxing your body (adrenal glands). The more stress you tax the adrenal glands with, the more exhausted they become. This affects your immune system, your ability to lose weight, your energy levels, your ability to regulate your blood sugar, hormonal imbalances, digestive difficulties, chemical imbalances, insomnia, high blood pressure, allergies and more. 

The best way to measure stress and how well your adrenal glands are functioning is with a 24 hour saliva test which measures cortisol, DHEA and insulin levels. 

Stress is more than worry, fear and anxiety.  It is anything that causes the adrenal glands to produce more cortisol and adrenaline.

• Is it too much mental worry, fear and anxiety?

  • Always on the go, hurry, hurry, hurry?

  • Worried about finances, career, family, etc?

• Is it too much physical stress?

  • Too much exercise?

  • Not enough sleep?

  • Being overweight?

• Is it too much chemical stress?

  • Air and water pollution?

  • Pesticides, hormones or antibiotics in our food?

  • Too much prescription or over-the-counter medications?

• Is it dietary stress?

  • Skipping meals, missing breakfast?

  • Blood sugar imbalances due to eating the wrong foods?

  • Indigestion, heartburn, reflux, etc?

Stress is also cumulative!  The human body is designed to handle short term stress – NOT long term, constant stress!  The constant demand on the adrenal glands to produce more cortisol and adrenaline can eventually reach a point where the adrenals are unable to meet that demand.  This is known as adrenal exhaustion and can be devastating to one’s health. 

Cortisol, adrenaline, DHEA and the many other hormones produced by the adrenal glands are critical in activating/regulating our metabolism, immune and digestive system, blood pressure, blood sugar, reproductive hormones, neurotransmitters (brain messengers), growth hormones and inflammatory hormones. 

The Adrenal Stress Profile will measure how well your adrenal glands are functioning.  Are they producing adequate levels of hormones to maintain good health?  Or are they exhausted and overworked due to all of the stress you have placed on them?

The Adrenal Stress Profile will measure cortisol, DHEA, insulin (blood sugar imbalances), Secretory IgA (immune response) and gluten (wheat) sensitivity.

Increased or decreased levels of cortisol contribute to:

• Fatigue

• Weight gain

• Cravings, low blood sugar

• Digestive difficulties

• Insomnia, irritability

• PMS, hot flashes

• Depression, anxiety

• Allergies, weakened immune system

• Decreased libido

Mainstream medicine fails to recognize that the adrenal glands can be functioning as either “hypo” (depressed) or hyper (elevated) which can explain why so many people are frustrated that their doctor can’t help them. 

The adrenal glands are part of the same autonomic nervous system that includes our thyroid and reproductive hormones.  Why is it that our thyroid can be under-or-over active.  Why do ovaries and testes make too little or too much progesterone, estrogen or testosterone? But our adrenal glands can only be thought of as either broken or working with no in-between?  It could be that there isn’t a medication to prescribe for someone whose adrenal glands are a little overworked.  But there is a medication to give for sluggish thyroid, ovaries or testes.

It doesn’t make sense! But mainstream medicine doesn’t routinely measure the adrenal glands as they do thyroid and reproductive hormones, yet NASA understands the importance of this test and routinely performs it.

Cortisol is not a good or bad hormone

If you are constantly in that “fight or flight” mode your body will always make more cortisol and adrenaline instead of the other downstream hormones that are needed to regulate the body.  It’s simply a matter of priorities and survival is the priority.  It’s more important to run from the proverbial ‘saber tooth tiger’ than it is too have a baby, digest your food or relax and fall asleep.  This is why adrenal exhaustion has so much impact on one’s overall health. It is a major underlying problem for many of today’s degenerative and chronic health issues such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, heart disease, allergies, arthritis, diabetes and depression.

The diagram below shows a simple pathway for many of the hormones produced by the adrenal glands.  When stress is constant the adrenal glands will direct more of their resources to produce additional cortisol and adrenaline.  As this continues to occur, the adrenals will easily begin to ‘steal’ pregnenolone and progesterone in order to make adequate levels of cortisol and adrenaline.  This causes a decreased production and imbalance of DHEA, testosterone, estrogen, progesterone and aldosterone, a hormone that regulates sodium and potassium.

As you manage your stress appropriately, their stress hormones you allow your adrenal glands to produce ALL the hormones needed to properly regulate your metabolism, mood, sleep, reproductive hormones, etc. It is important to realize that the constant demand on the adrenal glands can diminish the production of DHEA, estrogen,  progesterone, testosterone, etc. This is why nourishing your adrenal glands with Adrenal Fuel can be so important during times of stress.

A 24 hour saliva test is the most accurate way to determine how stress has been impacting your body.  Not everyone’s cortisol levels are too high as some infomercial want you to believe. This is why taking a supplement that is designed to only lower cortisol could be taking your down the wrong path. Adrenal Fuel is specially formulated to balance those hormones rather than just lowering cortisol.

Click to read article on Saliva vs. Blood test...

The test is done in the comfort of your own home and then shipped to the laboratory for processing.  Four (4) saliva samples will be taken throughout the day (morning, noon, dinner, and bedtime).  The reason for the four samples is that cortisol, like many of your hormones, fluctuate throughout the day (a one time blood tests will not pick up the fluctuations).  Also, the anxiety created by just going to the doctor and having blood drawn is enough to cause an increase in cortisol - which would give us a false positive. 

The results of the saliva test will let us know if you are overtaxing your adrenal glands, which could be an underlying cause for your health concerns.

If you've been struggling with various health conditions and aren't getting any answers – it could be adrenal exhaustion. Measuring adrenal function to determine the impact stress is having on your body by measuring cortisol, DHEA, blood sugar and immune status is a step in the right direction. 

Functional Adrenal Stress Profile

• The Functional Adrenal Stress Profile measures the adrenal rhythm and the DHEA-to-Cortisol ratio.

• 4 Cortisol and 2 DHEA measurements are taken in a 24-hour period.

• An abnormal adrenal rhythm can negatively influence energy production, immune system health, skin regeneration, muscle and joint function, bone health, sleep quality, liver, pancreas and thyroid function.

Adrenal dysfunction may be associated with the following symptoms: excessive fatigue, weight gain, chronic stress and related health problems; dizziness upon standing; weakness; hypoglycemia; nervousness; irritability; depression; inability to concentrate; confusion; poor memory; abnormal blood pressure; insomnia; premenstrual tension; sweet cravings; headaches; poor resistance to infection; food and / or inhalant allergies; digestive difficulties; migraine headaches; low body temperature; and diminished sex drive.

     
      Functional Adrenal Stress Profile
     
      Price: $150.00 per kit