Adrenal glands are vital to your daily functioning and play an essential role in your overall health. Hence, it’s critical to keep them in tip-top shape and properly diagnosed through adrenal tests that measure how well they function. You can also use the results to make positive changes in your life. But what are the specific benefits of evaluating your adrenal levels through adrenal tests? Read on to find out!
1. Helps Diagnose Adrenal Insufficiency,
One of the main benefits of evaluating your adrenal levels through adrenal tests is that it can help diagnose whether you have too little or too much cortisol production. If you experience fatigue more often, it may not just be from your long work hours. Chronic fatigue can be a sign that your adrenal glands are out of whack, and a simple adrenal test can reveal whether or not your adrenals are functioning properly.
Standard tests to evaluate an individual’s adrenal function include salivary cortisol measurements, serum cortisol levels, 24-hour urinary free cortisol levels, and ACTH stimulation testing. These tests allow doctors to assess hormone production in response to different stimuli such as exercise or cold temperatures. If your doctor thinks you might have some endocrine disorder, often due to chronic stress, they may order one or more of these tests.
We all have some level of stress every day. Yet, if you’re constantly dealing with intense pressure at work or home, it could mean that your body is having trouble managing it all. Therefore, you should order your adrenal tests online at the comfort of your home.
2. Helps Treat Underlying Causes
Undertaking adrenal tests can help you, and your doctor develops a better treatment plan, pinpointing root causes and treating them as needed. For example, hypothyroidism may be due to insufficient levels of cortisol. If you’re experiencing low energy, weight gain, or slow metabolism—which may seem unrelated to a thyroid problem—treating them with thyroid medication may not be effective until you bring your cortisol levels up to par.
Similarly, if an underactive thyroid leads to increased blood pressure, normalizing your level might reduce your hypertension without needing additional treatment. These treatments aren’t specific to hypothyroidism and hypertension. They could apply just as easily to other conditions and associated symptoms: depression, obesity, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and autoimmunity problems like Hashimoto’s disease.
3. Helps in Weight Management
Adrenal imbalances due to high cortisol levels can significantly affect weight management. When your adrenals are overworked, weight loss can become much more difficult. Cortisol also raises blood sugar levels, which leads to an increase in blood insulin levels. Consequently, you might end up with more energy than your body can utilize.
As a result, the body stores excess energy as body fats, leading to overweight or obesity. In short, if you’re trying to lose weight and find yourself doing lots of exercises but not getting anywhere with it, your low adrenal function may be holding you back! It’s, therefore, crucial to undertake an adrenal test for a precise diagnosis of the status of your adrenal glands.
4. Helps Adopt a Long-Term Nutritional Approach to Support Endocrine System
The endocrine system produces hormones to regulate our metabolism, growth, development, and behavior. When something goes wrong with the endocrine system, as can happen when a person has an underactive or overactive thyroid gland, it can lead to health problems. Adrenal tests help identify whether you may be struggling with adrenal insufficiency or some other condition that impacts your endocrine system.
Your endocrine system requires nutritional support through diet and supplements, exercise, and stress management to keep it functioning at its best. Adrenal tests can help shed light on levels of essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium, magnesium, vitamin D3, and essential fatty acids. Adrenal tests will enable you to target your dietary interventions towards supporting your specific needs based on what’s happening in your body. Remember also Omega-3, 6, and 9 oils from fish will directly help your endocrine system.
5. Helps Improve Your Lifestyle
An adrenal test gives you valuable insight into how your body is reacting to factors such as food, stress, and exercise. Once you know what’s going on, you can make alterations to your lifestyle so that you feel better than ever. Once you start working on your diet, eating habits, exercises, and sleep schedule, you’ll likely be in a much better place.
Consequently, you will feel better and more energetic about everyday life. Plus, knowing all of these factors helps you take responsibility for your health and live a happy life. Take responsibility and fix your health by undertaking an adrenal test!
Conclusion
If you’re diagnosed with low cortisol levels through adrenal tests, you may need to talk to your doctor about your treatment and management options. Also, if you’re diagnosed with high cortisol levels, you may have a few options for treatment as well—even something as simple as exercise! Talk to your doctor first before making any changes to your lifestyle. But keep in mind that finding out how healthy your adrenals are can benefit you in many ways—and save you from serious health problems down the road. You can contact Forrest Health for accurate and straightforward adrenal tests to help you keep healthy and fit.
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