Adrenal fatigue - how many meals/day?

[Quint]

Hi guys,

So I'm hoping to start the Whole30 in the next couple of days.

 

Quick question - the protocol recommends 3 meals/day. For someone with moderate adrenal fatigue, does it make more sense to have 5 meals/day instead of 3? 

 

Apparently with AF you need to keep blood sugar up and not eating can lead to cortisol surges which are best avoided.

 

Also, any other modifications I should consider?

 

Thanks!

[jmcbn]

Hey there - good to see some representation from God's Country!

The recommendations around cortisol/blood sugar would be based on a typical SAD diet, where a lot of the foods eaten will greatly impact blood sugar. Protein & fat both give a nice slow, steady release of energy which is much less likely to cause the spikes & troughs experienced with refined sugars & grains. You might need to stick with say three template meals and a mini meal until your body becomes adjusted to the change, but if you're composing your meals as per the template (with at least a palm sized piece of protein, filling your plate with veg, and adding a genereous serving of a healthy fat the adjustment should happen fairly quickly.

With AF you might want to limit your strachy veg intake to every other day until you see how you go, and you'll definitely want to eat breakfast within an hour of wakening to help bring the cortisol levels down.

Hope this helps.

[Quint]

2 hours ago, jmcbn said:

 

With AF you might want to limit your strachy veg intake to every other day until you see how you go, and you'll definitely want to eat breakfast within an hour of wakening to help bring the cortisol levels down.

2 hours ago, jmcbn said:

 

With AF you might want to limit your strachy veg intake to every other day until you see how you go, and you'll definitely want to eat breakfast within an hour of wakening to help bring the cortisol levels down.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! But why limit starchy veg with AF? I have thyroid issues as well (at least if my low morning temps of ~95-96 are to be believed) and believe a reasonable carb level is quite important.

 

 

[jmcbn]

12 minutes ago, Quint said:

Thanks! But why limit starchy veg with AF? I have thyroid issues as well (at least if my low morning temps of ~95-96 are to be believed) and believe a reasonable carb level is quite important.

I'm not suggesting you omit them completely, or that you aim for ketosis - more that you'll need to keep your starch intake in check. I'm not medically trained, but as I understand it from a nutritional perspective AF is often treated in the same way as T2 Diabetes because the abnormal adrenal function can effect how the body responds to or tolerates sugars. I certainly wouldn't recommend you eat starches or fruit in the morning as this is when they will have the most impact on your blood sugar (AF or not) having fasted overnight.

The recommendation here is for at least a fist sized serving every day, unless you have blood sugar issues or lead a very sedentary lifestyle in which case we recommend they be limited to every other day. Of course if your Dr has suggested otherwise then please do as he has suggested, but just be aware that this may be something that you need to play around with for your optimal health once you've removed any refined sugars, grains & complex carbs from your diet.

 

[Quint]

2 minutes ago, jmcbn said:

Of course if your Dr has suggested otherwise then please do as he has suggested, but just be aware that this may be something that you need to play around with for your optimal health once you've removed any refined sugars, grains & complex carbs from your diet.

 

Thanks.

My anticipated Dr's response..."Adrenal fatigue was never in my med school book, so it obviously doesn't exist. Here take that get yourself a few pills from Boots down the road and you'll be right as rain". ;-)

 

[Bonblis]

@Quint the doctor's attitudes are ridiculous aren't they? I've started referring to my AF as HPA axis disregulation with the medical fraternity - they find it harder to dismiss. We had an endocrinologist refuse to test my hubby (who has Hashimoto's) because he didn't LOOK like he had Addison's disease.

I have multiple issues along with adrenal fatigue and a valuable source of patient-to-patient and medical information for me has been the website (and facebook pages) for Stop The Thyroid Madness. Let me know if you want any web addresses.  A good integrative doctor also helps....

Feel better, soon! (we live in hope )