OK – true confession – as a gaggle of little 3-year-olds race past me laughing and jumping, what is the first thought that comes to mind right after smiling at how cute they are?
Bet I am not the only one, too – I say inwardly, “Wow, could I just bottle some of that energy?” and picture how great it would be to take a swig of it here and there during my day.
Just check the internet ‘frequent search’ topics:
“10 ways to Boost Your Energy in 10 Minutes”
“30 Foods That Give You All-Day Energy – Eat this not that”
“The 11 Best Vitamins and Supplements to Boost Energy”
“The 10 Best Herbs to Boost Energy and Focus”
“What Would Give Me More Energy?”
…and look at the food markets near the check-out counters. See all the Quick Energy Booster drinks and paks of vitamins, etc.?
According to Dr. Peter Glidden, author of “Attempt A Cure”, the #1 complaint that takes people to their medical personnel is “fatigue” – lack of energy. I watched his full video (again) on this topic, and will just cut to the chase for you – he says everyone battles with fatigue and the solution lies in an understanding of (and assistance to) the adrenal glands.
Now, Glidden is a naturopath, and the wholistic health arena will agree with him about addressing the adrenal glands.
But if you go online looking at M.D. “cause of chronic fatigue”, you will see their answer is that the “…cause of chronic fatigue syndrome is still unknown. Some people may be born with a predisposition for the disorder, which is then triggered by a combination of factors.” They list viral infections, immune system problems, hormonal imbalances and physical or emotional trauma.
Glidden would say that they have some of those parts right as to immune system, hormones, and the physical and emotional trauma, but he goes to the issue of giving the body the raw materials it needs because everything is connected in the adrenal health arena.
And Dr. Joel Wallach, founder of Youngevity, is right alongside him in that assessment and recommendation. If you search YouTube for “Health & Youngevity with Dr. Joel Wallach”, you will find his video addressing low energy and fatigue. What does he say is the biggest cause? Simply a lack of nutrition – and not just what you eat, but what you absorb. He goes to his recommendation in the video – the 90 essential nutrients (Healthy Body Pak), throws in the D-Stress capsules and then says to eat a gluten free diet, no fried foods, no processed meats with nitrates/nitrites, no oils in a bottle.
But look at all the “energy” suggestions surrounding us daily – this nutritional drink, that set of fruits & vegetables, another collection of vitamins. How is one to know which to choose? What is the difference in them?
As for me – I have to rely on my experience. I was not really looking for more energy when I started taking the 90 essential nutrients Wallach referenced – the Health Body Pak. I would have told you I was pretty healthy at age 68 – not really looking for any big result, just following the advice of scrapbooking friends to “try it”. I did – and shortly after that, when I no longer had to take 10-15 ibuprofen daily just to hold a pen without pain, I was sold on the supplements.
But since I was so excited about the disappearing arthritis, I was not paying a lot of attention to the other benefits. I did feel more energetic, but that’s rather hard to measure.
However, it was my son who landed the big “identification” when I asked him what he experienced after I put him on the 90 essential nutrients (post-broken ankle & bones from ski accident). Of course, good healing of the bones was the important result. But he also said “You know, Mom, that morning ‘GROG’ we thought we inherited from you? I don’t have that anymore.” And it hit me – I DIDN”T HAVE IT anymore either. Truly, I had my poor husband trained to not even look at or speak to me in the morning until after I had my morning diet Dr. Pepper!! I shudder remembering how awful my diet and foggy mornings were back then.
So I am sold on the Youngevity Healthy Body Pak, but I also asked the same questions others did as I heard and viewed the many advertisements of other vitamins, nutrients, foods, even exercise. Why did they work so well and what is different about the other options? (People are always looking for a cheaper and easier alternative – and I understand that.)
Back to Glidden and his video – what I so appreciate about his subscription website are the detailed videos that go into the “why” and “how” of our body so I can understand and appreciate what it takes to address our nutritional deficiencies in an effective way. It keeps me faithful in taking the supplements.
Here is the Cliff Notes version of what I gleaned from his video – at least the parts that were helpful to me:
- On top of our kidneys sit the adrenal glands – all part of the endocrine system
- They are responsible for the hormones produced in our body – hormones which affect essentially everything in the body
- Hormones are: adrenalin, cortisol, nor-a-drenalin. We should recognize “cortisol” because it is one of the most prescribed drugs by M.D.’s (in the form of cortisone). The body already makes cortisol so you can appreciate how important it is and some of its major activities:
- Handles carb and fat metabolism
- Converts fat and protein into energy
- Distributes stored fat (you know that accumulated belly fat problem – it is related)
- Regulates blood sugar
- Regulates heart function
- Affects Gastro-Intestinal function (how fast or slow digest food)
- Sex hormone production (especially after mid-life)
- Anti-inflammatory
- Anti-oxidant
- The adrenal glands are part of a bigger system – the endocrine system. In simple language, he showed the dynamic interconnectedness of these.
So – bottom line? – adrenal fatigue is the fatigue or lack of energy that we are experiencing – and there is a strong argument that if you are bothered by fatigue then your adrenal glands are involved. There can be many different causes of fatigue, Glidden says, but in the dynamic cascade you must first consider the most common one…..a breakdown of the adrenal glands.
And we can’t ignore the subject of “stress” in all of this — it is talked about a lot. Glidden pointed to Hans Selye M.D., PhD, D.Sc. F.R.S.C., author of “The Stress of Life”. Before this book, stress was just considered psychological stress. But Selye completely changed that conversation. He developed the General Adaptation Syndrome which is elementary in understanding how the human body deals with stress (not just psychological).
This was a big breakthrough. And Glidden’s explanation is intriguing – but, again, I will abbreviate this to get the point across. When the body experiences stress, these adrenals start working overtime. While there are some diagnostic tests and more info, the basic cause of adrenal fatigue is prolonged exposure to stress.
In working overtime, they are depleted of nutrients – so Glidden emphasizes the 90 essential nutrients that need to be imported into the body every day. Especially since, as he says, “Life is a great big bowl of stress.”
Here’s his descriptive analogy – this constant exposure to stress brings the adrenal glands to collapse because they burn through all the nutrients they have. It is like having only a teaspoon of oil in the crankcase when you are trying to drive your car down the road. So it starts to break down and you become exhausted (the car slows and won’t go further).
He asked the same question we asked above as we looked at all the suggested fixes for “lack of energy” – what do we do? And I appreciated his statement that while stress-reduction would be nice, frankly we are all going to be stressed and our body is going to lose nutrients and it does not matter how many stress-reducing activities you employ, unless you put the nutrition into your body that it needs, you will be in trouble.
He and Wallach agree on what should go in the body – the 90 essential nutrients (found in the Healthy Body Pak). Both say when you are nutrified, you get your energy back. And they both add the eating requirements I recited above.
So here’s my “takeaway” – when assessing all the “fixes” for lack of energy being promoted, ask:
- Does the item provide all the 90 Essential Nutrients (60+ of these are minerals) identified by Drs. Wallach & Glidden?
- If the item does have all 90, is the recipe for the product sufficient to assist the body in absorption of the nutrients?
- If the item is fruits, vegetables, food items – have they been grown in non-depleted soils with all the 90 essential nutrients going into the food?
I know, I know – I can’t do all this ‘investigation’ and assessment, either. So I just trust my experience and those of my friends with regard to the results. And when I get asked by folks who want to have the same experience, I just challenge them to do a 90-day trial of the 90 Essential Nutrients in the Healthy Body Pak. Get in touch with me HERE if you want more info on this.
And if you would like to see the full Adrenal Health video by Dr. Glidden, my subscription allows me to share it with you for a 24-hour period. Just reply to this email and I will send this “timed permission” link to you via the email you provide me. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the “options” out there – pick what you believe is most likely to help and give it a fair trial. Results are what we are all seeking, right? ….along with the bottled “energy of 3-year-olds”?
Food and dietary supplement products sold by Youngevity are intended to contribute to the daily diet and overall health and are not intended for use in the prevention, treatment, mitigation, or cure of any disease or health-related condition. Individuals who have or suspect they have an illness or who wish to commence a diet or exercise program should consult an appropriately licensed health care practitioner for a medical history evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and health recommendations.
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