8 Tips for Better Sleep & Adrenal Fatigue

Waking up every morning feeling tired and foggy has become something most people think of as ‘normal’ - but it doesn’t have to be that way. We shouldn’t need 3 cups of coffee throughout the day to keep our energy levels up or pre-workout, Redbull and other stimulants to be able to exercise, study and perform at the level we desire. And we shouldn’t have to feel tired every day - whether that’s having trouble getting out of bed in the morning, or struggling to stay energized and motivated throughout the afternoon. These are all signs that our bodies are not functioning optimally and that something needs to change internally in order to get us back to our ideal health.

If you find yourself feeling exhausted most days, even with 7-8 hours of sleep, or if you can’t fall asleep easily at night even when you know you’re tired you may be experiencing the effects of adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is a common condition among adults, especially mothers and caregivers, and although traditional doctors have claimed that it’s not a real condition, many naturopathic doctors and holistic practitioners have gone as far to say that every adult will experience it at some point in their lives. This is mainly due to our fast-paced, high-stress lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits, and caffeine dependency.

So how do you know if you have adrenal fatigue? Other than talking to a functional medicine professional or performing something called a Ragland’s test on yourself (measuring blood pressure laying down and then standing up) here are some of the symptoms that may signal your adrenal glands are out of whack and experiencing burnout:

• tired all the time even with sufficient sleep

• trouble falling asleep easily

• waking up during the night, sometimes multiple times

• high stress

• feeling overwhelmed

• brain fog - lose train of thought, forget why you entered a room etc.

• difficulty focusing on tasks

• thyroid conditions

• lack of motivation

• carb, sugar, salt cravings

• irritability

• sinus congestion/allergies

• puffy under-eyes

• achy/ inflammation in the body

• energy crash in the afternoon, feeling the need to nap

Whether you suspect that you have adrenal weakness or not the tips I’m going to provide are some of the best techniques that I’ve learned and tested out myself for getting better sleep and increasing my energy levels throughout the day.

*Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional (although most of these tips I did learn through naturopathic doctors’ advice) I’m just simply sharing what I know and what has worked for me. Please be aware of your own body and state of health before adopting new lifestyle/dietary changes and be sure to consult a professional.

1. GET TO SLEEP BEFORE 10:30 PM

Research suggests that going to sleep late, even if you end up sleeping for the same amount of time, can limit the quality and effectiveness of your sleep. This is why it’s so important to establish a night time routine and do your best to wind down and fall asleep several hours before midnight.

If you’re a night owl you’re probably thinking that getting to bed before 10:30 is absolutely impossible - and I agree with you, it is hard work. I’ve been making a point to try to be in bed by 10:30 every night for the last few months and even though I normally end up in bed somewhere around 11:00 it’s still earlier than I would have gone to bed if I hadn’t been aiming for 10:30. Evening time is so busy in our house because that’s when we go to the gym and then we have to cook dinner, clean up, shower, take the dog outside - it’s really a long process before we can wind down, so if you’re someone who struggles getting to bed early I feel you.

Set a goal for yourself and aim to hit it every night. Even when you don’t make it to bed on time, if you’re there earlier than you would have been consider it a win. Eventually you’ll establish a routine that works and it will get easier for you to get to bed earlier, even if it takes several weeks or months.

2. SWAP COFFEE FOR GREEN TEA

I was going to make this tip to eliminate caffeine altogether, which if you have the willpower I highly recommend doing, but I figured that you might want to punch me in the face or just stop reading this post if my first two tips were to go to bed at 10:30 and stop drinking all forms of caffeine. That doesn’t sound like fun does it?

It’s not that coffee is bad for you or that you should never drink it - but it is a very harsh form of caffeine and has been known to disrupt adrenal function and stress hormones so if you’re a person who’s experiencing adrenal fatigue, stress or anxiety eliminating coffee from your diet until you recover is one of the most important tips I can offer as it will give your adrenals a chance to rest and help the body repair and reset itself. If you suspect that you’re addicted to coffee and need multiple cups throughout the day to function then this tip is definitely for you!

Not everyone will be able to quit caffeine cold turkey, so if that’s you at least try reducing the amount you drink each day little by little and swapping out coffee for green tea because it will still give you a little energy boost but will be gentler on your adrenals. My absolute favorite is the Japanese superfood green tea, matcha, because you can make it with almond or oat milk to get a creamy latte feel, and it’s one of the richest sources of antioxidants (even more so than blueberries, acai berries or goji berries). It is relatively high in caffeine, equal to about half a cup of black coffee, so try to limit yourself to one cup per day. If you want to learn about more of the health benefits of matcha and get my super simple 3 ingredient matcha latte recipe you can find it here.

3. DON’T GO TO BED WITH YOUR PHONE

When you finally make it into bed after a long day you probably want to curl up with your phone or tablet and scroll through Facebook or Instagram, watch some funny snapchats or Youtube videos, read an Ebook or turn on a Netflix series. But this little ‘wind down’ ritual is actually doing the exact opposite for you because the blue light emitted from our phones, tablets and laptops actually messes with the levels of our sleep inducing hormone, melatonin. Research from Harvard University neuroscientists suggest that blue light exposure before bed can shift the bodies circadian rhythm or ‘natural body clock’ and can in turn have harmful effects on not only your wakefulness the next day but also on the functioning of internal organs.

If you are going to use your phone or another electronic device within several hours before sleeping at least be sure to wear blue blocker glasses, and if you’re someone who works all day in front of a screen you should definitely invest in a pair. You can get cute ones that don’t have those heinous yellow tinted lenses so don’t worry, you won’t look ridiculous. I got mine for less than $50 here.

My best tips for establishing healthy bedtime practices with your phone are to put it in airplane mode when you sleep (alarms will still go off I promise), keep it off the charger and away from your pillow, and stop using it completely at least 30 minutes before getting into bed.

4. TAKE POWERFUL NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS

There are so many natural supplements out there that can help regulate your adrenal glands and sympathetic nervous system, also known as your ‘fight or flight’ hormones, like adrenaline, cortisol, and dopamine. I’m going to share with you just a small collection of the ones I’ve learned about through my own research and naturopath’s advice but if you want to discover more ways to treat adrenal weakness or burnout I highly suggest seeing a professional in alternative/functional medicine or conducting your own research online for your personal symptoms.

• Collagen - helps with gut health (which we know is highly related to brain function and almost everything else in the body) skin health, and sleep. Can be found in pill or powder form to mix in with smoothies or protein shakes. I would try to get an advanced formula with types 1, 2, and 3 in it like this one that I take from Youtheory. I’ve also heard really good things about Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides powder (not vegan) but I haven’t tried them myself so I can’t vouch for them.

• Probiotics - literally ESSENTIAL to your gut health and overall wellbeing. If you’re not taking a quality probiotic every day then get on it girl. I take one by Garden of Life called Raw Probiotics for Women with 85 billion live cultures per capsule and 32 different strains of probiotics. You can find it on Amazon here.

• Vitamins - a vitamin B complex will help boost energy levels and support adrenals, specifically B12 and B5. Vitamin D is another good one to supplement to help with sleep, mood and hormone balance. You may want to consider Magnesium if you struggle a lot with sleep/insomnia.

• Superfood Mushrooms - Reishi and cordyceps are powerful adaptogens that have hundreds of health benefits including boosting the immune system, reducing stress and preventing fatigue which makes them a great supplement for someone experiencing adrenal weakness. You may have heard of the recent trend of mushroom coffee, which is an amazing way to integrate these healing mushrooms into your diet. Four Sigmatic is a popular brand that has recently blown up with their wide selection of superfood mushroom coffees, teas, and hot chocolates for every occasion from waking up to working out to falling asleep.

• Ashwagandha - this healing herb has been used in eastern cultures and Ayurvedic medicine for centuries to treat wounds, inflammation, mental health disorders, insomnia and chronic illness. It’s also an adaptogen meaning it can help the body cope with daily stress which is great for adrenal fatigue. The natural chemicals contained in the plant help calm the brain, reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, and aid the immune system. Other benefits include reducing cortisol levels, stress and cravings, improving skin and sleep quality.

5. USE ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential oils are honestly one of the best things to happen to my night time routine. I also use them often throughout the day, but diffusing lavender oil next to my bed at night is my favorite way to feel relaxed and ready for a good night’s sleep. There are hundreds of different oils out there and they all have different uses and healing properties but I’m just going to cover a few that are great for adrenal fatigue specifically. You can diffuse them in an essential oil diffuser - here’s the one I got for pretty cheap on Amazon - or dilute them in coconut oil and apply them directly to your wrists, head, feet, or lower back area near your kidneys (where the adrenal glands are located).

• Holy Basil - amazing for brain health, blood sugar, and improving mood.

• Lavender - soothing, calming, helps to sleep better.

• Rosemary - antioxidant properties, energizing, boosts resistance to stress.

• Peppermint - helps increase energy and alertness. It’s cooling effect and minty smell are also great if you have sinus congestion or allergies.

6. WORKOUT IN 45 MIN. OR LESS

Working out can be a great way to release endorphins and blow off steam for a lot of people, but it’s also a physical stressor and can be taxing on the adrenals, so if you’re battling adrenal fatigue you want to be very mindful of how you choose to exercise while you recover. Doing long, strenuous workouts is not a good idea if you’re experiencing symptoms of adrenal fatigue but some form of movement can certainly still be healing for the body.

My best advice is to workout in 45 minutes or less - if you’re focused and have a plan no workout should really take longer than that anyway, but you especially want to avoid spending hours in the gym or running long distances when you’re trying to get your adrenals back to optimal health. Be sure to check out my tips for getting a more effective workout in less time. and check out my “Workouts” highlight on my Instagram for some easy gym and at home circuits in 45 minutes or less.

If you have more severe symptoms and feel like you might be experiencing burnout from stresses at work or in your personal life, be extra gentle on yourself and only practice low-impact workouts like walking, gentle cycling, yoga, or swimming until you feel better. These types of workouts will be much less stress-inducing and help the body heal itself while still moving regularly. If you’ve been thinking about practicing yoga at home but don’t really know how to get started you can find my best tips and favorite Youtube yoga teachers in this blog post.

7. MEDITATE REGULARLY

This tip may sound like a broken record to you since everyone and their mother is preaching about meditation these days, but there’s a good reason why. Psychologists, neuroscientists, and medical professionals are publishing extensive research demonstrating the powerful effects of meditation on the health of both the mind and the body, and it’s about time we listen up and start jumping on the bandwagon.

If you’ve never meditated before it might sound a bit hippie or ‘woo woo’ to you - but that’s just because of the stigma we’ve built around the term as a society. One of the biggest reasons more and more people are adopting a daily meditation practice is to help reduce stress - something that we ALL struggle with as humans - but other powerful benefits include:

• Reduced anxiety & depression

• Improved memory and attention span

• Increased emotional health and self-awareness

• Better sleep

• Helps control pain

• Lowers blood pressure

• Generates more kindness

• Can help fight addiction and mental health disorders

If you’re struggling to get quality sleep at night finding several minutes to be ‘restful’ during the day can actually help condition the body into being able to enter a relaxed state more quickly and easily when it’s time to go to bed. Meditation gives the brain a rest and allows everything to slow down and come back to center for 10-20 minutes. Meditating in the morning before you begin your day is one of the most beneficial times to do it because it gives you a clean slate and sets you up to be mindful for the rest of the day, but if you can’t find time in the morning you can get equally as awesome results by squeezing it in whenever you can.

8. EAT A HEALTHY DIET

This could be a tip for improving nearly every part of your life because your health truly is your wealth - and it effects every area of your life from your job to your relationships to your emotions, behaviours, desires, sleep, mindset, mood and energy levels.

Something I learned from a doctor of functional medicine specifically related to adrenal fatigue is that when you’re experiencing these symptoms of exhaustion or chronic tiredness it’s especially important to eat a diet low in starches, so limiting all grains and sugars. The optimal diet for someone trying to recover from adrenal fatigue would be very low in carbohydrates, moderate in protein and high in healthy fats - because unlike carbs and protein, fats don’t adversely affect the hormones. Some other recommendations are to consume food products that help stabilize blood sugar and energy levels like coconut products (coconut milk, oil, and meat - the white chewy part) dark coloured foods like berries, leafy greens, olives, seaweed and spirulina and foods that support gut health like a quality bone broth and fermented foods such as kombucha or sauerkraut.