Winter Healing: Kidneys and Adrenal Glands
By Margaret Wilcox
Your kidneys, bladder and skin excrete watery wastes from the body. When your liver becomes burdened with too many toxins, toxic substances move through your urinary tract or through your skin. This results in bladder infections, yeast infections, skin rashes and discolorations. A kidney problem can result in a bluish discoloration around the eyes.
Your adrenal glands are your stress glands. They are on top of your kidneys. They respond to pressure that comes into your life and how you respond to that pressure. Currently a majority of our American society is suffering from Adrenal Fatigue. It is said to be the 21st Century Syndrome. Adrenals glands are fatigued when stress is a constant factor, through lack of sleep and/or lack of nutrients. We live in a world of no rest is best and the more you can “do” the better you are. We no longer get support from our families or tribes and try to do it all within our own family unit.
The adrenals manufacture hormones, one of which is cortisol. Cortisol is important because it keeps your blood sugar levels stable while your body undergoes a stressful situation. This could be physical, emotional or psychological.
When adrenal function decreases, it can cause symptoms like allergies, low blood pressure, PMS or menopausal symptoms, salt cravings, hypoglycemia or diabetes and/or sugar cravings. Over exercising may make symptoms worse. Try walking, meditation and Kundalini Yoga which focuses on extending the energy of the breath to all parts of the body and energy field.
Your calves are related to your adrenal glands. If they ache, you may have overworked adrenals. Peri-Menopausal women need their adrenals to be working optimally. When the ovaries stop their main function, the adrenals take over.
Mothers and fathers most often suffer from Adrenal Fatigue as they do a lot of late night parenting and their body begins to run in reverse (awake during night and sleepy during the day). Most often Adrenal Fatigue is a dis-ease that you can self-diagnose and heal through a certain protocol. You may however want to get saliva testing to check further. Remember it took years to deplete your adrenals and it may take time to bring them back. Getting sound, solid sleep is a high priority.
You may suffer from sleeplessness–maybe you wake between 1am and 3am–this could be because your blood sugar levels are low. This is often the case if you have panic attacks, nightmares or sleep fitfully between 1-4am. Eat a high-protein snack before bed. Both too high and too low nighttime cortisol levels can cause sleep disturbances.