by Ashley Wells 

An all too common complaint today is that people are fatigued, burnt out and sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Cue Diane Kazer, health detective, who brings in a hefty shovel to dig deeper into potential root causes of her clients health issues, which almost always stems from a hormonal imbalance.

There are 5 facets of wellness when dealing with a whole body approach; Diet, Rest, Exercise, Supplementation and Stress Management, Diane likes to say, DRESSing for Success. If any one of these isn’t properly nurtured, the endocrine system will become stressed and begin to take down the body’s delicate hormonal balance.

The endocrine system is a system of glands throughout the body that regulates hormones and metabolism. The adrenals are the ‘captain of the endocrines’, and are walnut sized glands that sit atop the kidneys. Their job is to release hormones to regulate metabolism and stress in the body. Simply put, adrenals make stress, sex and sleep hormones. Cortisol is a hormone that is released by the adrenals to cope with stress. Diane has worked with hundreds of clients whose stress results in cortisol deficiency and progressive levels of adrenal fatigue. The most common symptoms of adrenal fatigue are low libido, feeling tired but wired, irritability, depression, mid section weight gain and brain fog.    

Because a typical American lifestyle is one of non-stop deadlines, busy family life and improper diet, the adrenals are unable to keep up with the frenetic pace of life. Diane estimates that 95% of Americans are suffering from adrenal fatigue. She’s able to spot it by interpreting the trends of simple saliva testing that her clients do from home, which is much more valuable than traditional blood testing.

1) Experiencing an emotionally turbulent event such as a divorce, loss of loved one or job loss.

2) Chronic digestion inflammation - IBS, heartburn and more.

3) Improper diet high in processed foods, sugar, dairy or gluten.

Fat, B vitamins and cholesterol are the 3 amigos that come together to form the Master Hormone pregnenolone, which is the raw material used to create stress, sleep and sex hormones.   

Pregnenolone has 2 key roles:

1) Convert into cortisol to create stress hormones.

2) Convert into Master Sex Hormone, DHEA which makes estrogen and testosterone.

Pregnenolone is the fork in the road and lifestyle is the steering wheel that decides to venture left or right. The body has an innate mechanism to place a priority on coping with stress above all else. This is an important function when facing imminent danger (run from the tiger), however, the dangers of modern day are less imminent and more all-consuming (think of that endless stream of emails that only seems to grow longer after a 12 hour coffee fueled work day). The adrenals were designed to be sprinters, not endurance runners. However, an average American has ‘never-ending emails’ in front of them 24-7 causing the adrenals to pump out cortisol at marathon levels daily. Creating these elevated levels of cortisol in the body becomes top priority, while creating sex and sleep hormones get the backseat. The more stress you encounter, the more cortisol you produce while perpetuating this groove in the cortisol path.  

High cortisol also depletes secretory IgA, which is like the HR department of our immune system. It’s role is to dispatch the troops to fight off the bad guys in our gut when we’re exposed to pathogens. When our system is constantly bombarded with cortisol, Diane typically observes a shut down immune system and bad bacteria that inspire internal stress, further perpetuating adrenal fatigue. Chronic illness inevitably ensues and cases of people getting sick 5 to 6 times a year is common, but even once per year is not normal. It’s all a result of excess stress taxing our systems and causing burn out on so many levels.

The good news is these imbalances can be fixed using Diane’s DRESS for Success lifestyle formula and by introducing customized combinations of bio-identical plant based hormones to retrain the body how to thrive in its intended state of balanced wellness, without all the undesirable side effects of synthetic hormones like birth control pills, prescription testosterone and estrogen. Simultaneously eating healthy, getting adequate rest, exercising moderately, proper supplementation and focusing on stress management techniques like yoga, meditation and community based activities will go a long way in bringing your body into optimal balance. b 

Diane Kazer is a functional diagnostic nutritionist who teaches her whole body healing principles in Southern California, from menopause to andropause, fertility to auto immunity. Check out Diane’s weekly radio show on itunes: Wellness Warrior Radio. Also, visit her website to schedule a complimentary consultation to le arn how to achieve your most effective and sustainable hormone happiness! www.dianekazer.com