ADRENAL FATIGUE (BIG BROTHER OF METABOLIC DAMAGE)

A LOW CARB DIET AND PROLONGED HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING CAN SET OFF ADRENAL FATIGUE AND INHIBIT FAT LOSS.

This might just be the most important Blog I ever do so please take the time to read it properly and apply it.

A whole big shift in mindset occurred and everyone wanting to get into shape and lose fat went from a Low Fat High Carb to a High Fat Low Carb mindset.

There is no doubt that decreasing your carb intake is a very effective way to stabilize blood sugar level, improve insulin sensitivity and promote fat loss... it has been proven.
(At this point I would just also like to clear up the fact that all carbs are not bad. It is only the processed man-made simplex carbs which are bad and needs to be cut out of your nutrition completely. Rice and Potatoes are not processed carbs)

People find that a low-carb diet and hard exercise is very effective for fat loss…. AT LEAST for a while. What most people find is that they feel better, have plenty of energy and they can burn off fat or maintain their weight while staying low-carb and eating healthy.

Unfortunately there are several factors which will dictate how long they can stay low-carb and still see the same positive results.

If exercise is generally moderate, they are not overly stressed, get plenty of sleep they may be able to go with this low-carb diet routine indefinitely.

The thing is that the level of carb an individual needs to consume can change due to various reasons. One would be the changes in energy expenditure and physiological stress that accompany high intensity exercise.

A perfect example of this would be the large amount of people out there who set out to do CrossFit and follow a Paleo type diet. I have seen and hear it many many times on Facebook and in the gyms how these people do well for a while, but then get stuck, hit a plateau as they call it.

The reason for this, most often than not, is failing to adjust nutrition and training to accommodate a recovery phases to meet the increased energy demands and stress.

Here is the thing: 

If you are doing CrossFit or other HIIT type training 4-5 times a week you are going to have to start adding some starches like rice, potato or sweet potato to you diet.

If you don’t you WILL find out the hard way that a low-carb diet combined with excessive High Intensity Exercise can tax the adrenal glands and cause them to fatigue.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE TAXING YOUR ADRENALS? 

You will experience the following:

- Difficulty with losing weight, hitting a plateau
- Experiencing weight gain, even with plenty of exercise and a low calorie diet
- Noticing a decrease in body temperature, feeling cold frequently
- Experiencing a lack of energy
- Difficulty going to sleep, or falling asleep but waking up several times during the night
- Noticeable increase in anxiety, nervousness, or generally feeling uneasy
- Wired and tired feeling

Okay, SO what is behind adrenal fatigue and all of the above symptoms???

It is a complex issue involving not just the adrenal glands but also the Thyroid and several other hormonal balances and the root of the problem more than likely is a down-regulated metabolism and decreased thyroid production.

This is what happens:

When carb intake is kept very low (under 50-60 grams per day) for extended periods of time in combination with excessive exercise blood sugar levels drop dramatically.

The adrenal glands then kick in to help the situation by secreting catecholamines (adrenaline and nor-adrenaline) 

This gives you an increased sense of alertness and more energy for a while BUT as is generally the case, you cannot stay in this state indefinitely before you will CRASH.

The increased in circulating adrenaline that accompanies a state of Ketosis is responsible for the initial loss of fat and this can work quite well for a SHORT window of time, but invariably you’ll need to switch things up.

There is a complex relation between Cortisol, the Thyroid, Adrenaline and Insulin.

Cortisol helps regulate blood sugar levels but is also the main stress response hormone. Any stress, be it psychological or physiological as with excessive high-intensity exercise, will call on more cortisol. 

When there it is not enough cortisol to cope with the chronic state of stress the adrenals will produce adrenaline to compensate. The adrenals become fatigued, they can simply not keep up, cortisol levels drop the body cannot convert thyroid hormone very well. The result is a stalled metabolic state.

The feeling of depression, anxiety and fluctuating sleep patterns that comes along with the symptoms is caused an ineffective function of serotonin. It is a neurotransmitter also associated in regulating mood and helps produce a feeling of well-being.

It is believed that serotonin induces sleep. Its precursor is tryptophan, which can be sourced out from carbohydrate based foods.

Tryptophan needs transport molecules to get through the blood-brain barrier (a separation between the circulating blood and the brain fluid) and amino acids can compete for these transport molecules. Insulin can clear out amino acids that compete with tryptophan for these transport molecules to the brain. In order for Tryptophan and Serotonin to do their work properly, you need effective functioning Insulin.

If Serotonin cannot function properly you will find yourself struggling to sleep well, suffering from anxiety and feelings of depression.

That is it for the technical part, which in depth also involves the pituitary, hypothalamus and other regulating glands, it is just too much to get into.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO IS THAT LOW-CARB DIETING CAN BACK-FIRE ON YOU, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE RESTRICTING CALORIES OR CREATING A HUGE DEFICIT BY DOING LOTS OF EXERCISING MAKING ENERGY EXPENDITURE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN ENERGY INTAKE.

Most of you would say, yes but I am eating a lot more calories from proteins and fats and I am getting plenty of carbs from my vegetables like butternut….. that does not always work so well and the fact is that carbs in vegetables are not the same as carbs in root vegetables and other starches.

If you have been going low-carb for very long and are stuck in a plateau and/or experiencing signs of adrenal weakness or metabolic damage you would want to think of doing the following:

INCREASE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF HEALTHY CARBS (RICE, QUINOA, SWEET POTATO, POTATO ETC.)

CUT BACK ON THE HIGH INTENSITY EXERCISE

ELIMINATE CAFFEINE AND ALL OTHER FAT BURNING STIMULANTS

The best way to ensure that you recover from metabolic damage is to have a professional “physique” nutritional guide/adviser assist you. You need to be monitored and your nutrition and training needs to be adjusted throughout the process.
(I am a professional Nutritional guide specializing in changing physiques and can assist you with this)

To prevent yourself from falling into the trap of adrenal fatigue you should structure workouts and nutrition using The Periodization method throughout the year.... 
But that is a whole other discussion which I will get into at a later stage.

For now, all you need to do is check for symptoms of adrenal fatigue and do what you need to do to get out of it. When your body temperature drops, your energy levels and sleeping patterns fluctuate, you get stuck in a plateau where you are not seeing any progress even if you train harder, etc. it is a sign that something is not right….

Trying to further restrict your calories, doing a “reboot” session, adding more HIIT to you workouts will only make things worse and will DEFINITELY not make it better…  THAT IS A SCIENTIFIC FACT!