HOW TO CRUISE THROUGH THE YEAR WITH LESS STRESS!

Yes please! Think adrenals. Our adrenal glands are the powerhouse that help us cope, or not, with stress. This is why it is essential to prioritise adrenal health to ensure we can effectively duck and weave all the curve balls that life throws us. And, let's face it, curve balls are a daily event!

Our adrenal glands are situated above the kidneys and produce a hormone called cortisol in response to stress and anxiety. You may have heard of the "fight or flight" response, well this is what it's all about. If our adrenals are pumping out loads of cortisol due to high stress stimulus we start feeling anxious. If this is sustained over a long period of time we experience adrenal fatigue, at this point our adrenals struggle to produce cortisol and we end up feeling exhausted all the time.

Healthy adrenals naturally produce more cortisol in the morning, giving us that get and go that we need to start the day. As the day progresses, this cortisol level gradually decreases until bedtime, when the levels are low enough for us to have a good nights sleep. Then it starts all over again. This fluctuating pattern is normal and is part of the natural daily cycle.

When we experience long periods of high level stress our poor adrenals don't get the restorative break they require to keep functioning effectively. This results in poor quality sleep, insomnia, anxiety, low energy or, in the later stages of adrenal fatigue, exhaustion. Ever had the feeling your dragging yourself around or can't get out of bed in the morning? This is your adrenals crying out for help.

Here are my 5 top tips to keep your adrenals in ship shape condition so you can hit the ground running in 2018: