Feeling More Than Just the Lazy Days of Summer

In today's society, most of us are living a stressful, go-go-go life. Long hours at work, anxiety over the economy, challenging relationships, not enough sleep, poor diet, all of these stresses can take their toll on our health and our adrenals.
Sitting atop the kidneys are the adrenal glands. One of their most important roles is to secrete cortisol, the main stress hormone in the body. It responds to stress with a fight or flight reaction. Without it we couldn’t survive. But it can also go haywire with too much stress.
For those of us who are constantly under pressure, feeling pushed, and know that stress has a hold on us, your adrenals may be working overtime. Before long, all that stress can lead to Adrenal Fatigue, the most common condition treated at The Golgi Clinic.
A very common symptom of adrenal fatigue is tiredness unrelieved by sleep. Other common symptoms are: weight gain, reduced sex drive, increased symptoms of PMS (for women), and depression. In the beginning stages, there's a strong craving for sweets, salts, and, of course, coffee (or your caffeinated drink of choice) just to keep you going.
Interestingly enough, coffee acts as its own stress to the body. It pushes the adrenal glands to work even harder, and further burdens the system. Coffee stimulates the release of cortisol and a fight or flight response ensues. This triggers, unnecessarily, the release of stored sugars (or signals the brain to find sugar in whatever pastry is handy) for immediate energy. Since there is no imminent danger to run from and the sugar is not truly needed, the excess sugar is stored as...that's right, fat! So, in theory, if you want to lose those pesky pounds that don’t seem to go away, maybe taking a break from coffee will do the trick.
For full details and treatment options schedule a visit today!

Monday, June 1, 2009

the golgi clinic
you’re gonna feel better