Burnout is linked to low adrenal output. One of the major dietary mistakes made by people with low adrenal output is
not eating soon enough after waking. It is extremely important to eat BEFORE
10am. You need to replenish your waning glycogen (stored blood sugar) supply
after the previous night’s energy requirements. Even a small nutritious snack is
better than having nothing at all.
However there are two factors that tend to diminish your appetite during the
early morning hours. Between 6 and 8am cortisol levels typically rise rapidly,
peaking at around 8am and while your cortisol levels are higher you may not feel
like eating. In addition, the low liver function that often accompanies low
adrenal function also suppresses early morning hunger. If your liver is very
congested, you may sometimes even feel an aversion to food in the morning.
Nevertheless, this does not change your need for energy intake and so you must
eat some nutritious food before 10am to keep your body from having to play
catch-up during the rest of the day.
A nutritious snack between 11-11.30am is also needed, as well as another one
between 2-3pm to take you through the dip in cortisol levels that typically
occurs between 3-4pm in most hypoadrenics. When cortisol levels drop, you do not
as readily manufacture or mobilize stored energy from proteins and fats as you
do when your levels are normal. Therefore, taking in food between 2-3pm allows
you to coast through the low energy time much more smoothly.
Another snack around 5-6pm is also necessary. If you are like most people
suffering from adrenal fatigue, you will feel your best after your evening meal
(unless you also have ME/CFS or are eating the wrong foods).
Later in the evening, before bed, just a couple of bites of a high quality
snack is often the key to successfully getting through the night with no (or
fewer) sleep disturbances or feeling wrecked in the morning.
If you feel too hungry or feel the symptoms of hypoglycemia creeping up on
you during the day, then you have waited too long to eat and you should eat
something nutritious (not sweet) right away. However, it is much less taxing on
your body to eat before you get to the point of being over-hungry or have blood
sugar signs and symptoms, especially when your adrenals are weak. The quantity
can be small as long as the food provides good quality protein, fat, and complex
carbohydrates.
