Have you noticed yourself dragging or on edge lately? Has your energy level been feeling unpredictable or just completely wiped out?
You may be experiencing symptoms of adrenal overload, a condition that can result from chronic stress, illness, and/or insufficient nutrition. When this happens, your adrenal glands, which are like your body’s emergency power generator, begin to wear out. The result is that your body either feels “wired and tired”, or just plain wrecked.
When tired adrenals drop in their capacity to produce hormones like cortisol, it also negatively affects the production of the hormone aldosterone, which regulates sodium levels in the body. With low aldosterone, it’s hard for the body to sustain healthy electrolyte levels needed to power its cells. It becomes a vicious circle—low adrenal output leads to low aldosterone, the resulting low sodium levels also impacts other electrolyte levels necessary for cellular energy, energy levels drop and continue to put a high demand on the already worn our adrenals…
While adrenal recovery is possible through proper rest, diet, targeted nutrient support, and lifestyle modification, in the short term, a little sea salt can go a long way to help with energy in the body. Sea salt contains not only sodium, which helps the body hold water and maintain intercellular communication, but also other vital electrolytes and trace minerals needed to sustain normal functions (like magnesium, calcium, potassium, chloride, iodide).
ENERGY TIP: Find your “just right” amount of sea salt by listening to your body
Find a high quality sea salt, like Celtic Sea Salt, or even a rock sea salt like pink Himalayan (all unrefined natural salt is “sea salt” from one time or another!). The one that your body likes the best will likely have a pleasant or even “sweet” taste.
Take a pinch of the sea salt between your thumb and fingers and feel it carefully. Move your fingers slightly, gently grasping and releasing, while paying close attention to the salt.
When the amount of your pinch feels “just right” (don’t overthink it, or you’ll miss the subtle cues from your body), take the salt and add it to your drinking water—a glass or bottle to carry.
Sip on the water until it’s gone and notice how you are feeling. You may be able to notice a slight boost to your energy right away, or you may need to continue adding a pinch of sea salt to your water for a while.
This is a simple way to support your body on the fly, but remember that it is only a short-term patch.
The real work is to make the daily changes that will allow your adrenals and body to heal.