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Essential Oils to Balance Adrenal Hormones

By Jodi Cohen

If you are experiencing chronic stress, insomnia, anxiety, fatigue or having trouble losing weight, your adrenal glands – and the hormones they impact  – may be the root of the problem

Your adrenal glands produce hormones that regulate the immune system, blood pressure, metabolism, and the stress response. In addition, they also help:

  • Support a healthy response to stress
  • Promote energy and alleviate fatigue
  • Alleviate anxiety and depression
  • Reduce irritability or mood swings
  • Dispels insomnia, sleep disturbances or difficulty waking
  • Promotes weight loss and loss of stored fat in your body
  • Improve memory and enhances your ability to retain information
  • Reduces muscle and joint pain and increases strength
  • Lessens bruising and stretch marks
  • Promotes healthy cardiovascular function
  • Enhances healthy digestive function

What are Adrenal Hormones?

Your adrenal glands – the small, triangular-shaped glands located on top of your kidneys — produce and release certain hormones directly into the bloodstream that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and body weight.

There are two parts of your adrenal glands  — the adrenal cortex and the adrenal medulla — that perform distinct and separate functions.  The adrenal medulla, located in the center of an adrenal gland, produces “stress hormones,” including adrenaline.

The key hormones produced by the adrenal cortex include:

Cortisol is released during times of stress to help your body get an energy boost and better handle an emergency situation.

Many  of your cells have cortisol receptors, allowing the hormone to influence numerous functions including supporting healthy blood sugar levels, regulating blood pressure and metabolism, reducing inflammation, and assisting with memory formulation.  Cortisol also plays a role in the sleep/wake cycle.

Aldosterone plays a key role in regulating blood pressure and balancing electrolytes, like sodium and potassium. More specifically, aldosterone helps regulate the blood pH and control the levels of electrolytes in the blood by sending signals to the kidneys, which prompts the kidneys to absorb more sodium into the bloodstream (to increase blood volume) and release potassium into the urine.  This helps maintain healthy pH and electrolyte levels in your blood.

DHEA and Androgenic Steroids are precursor hormones that are converted in the ovaries into female hormones (estrogens) and in the testes into male hormones (androgens).  DHEA is also believed to increase energy and muscle strength, boost immunity, and decrease body weight.

Epinephrine (Adrenaline) triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response. To ensure survival, your air passages dilate, providing your muscles with oxygen to either fight danger or flee. Adrenaline also triggers your blood vessels to contract to re-direct blood toward major muscle groups, including the heart and lungs. The body’s ability to feel pain also decreases as a result of adrenaline, which is why you can continue running from or fighting danger even when injured. Adrenaline can cause an increase in strength and performance, as well as heightened awareness, during times of stress or danger.

Excess adrenaline can create feelings of dizziness, light-headedness, and vision changes. Adrenaline also causes a release of glucose which impacts blood sugar levels and mood as it can leave you feeling restless and irritable.

Norepinephrine (Noradrenaline) helps initiate the flight or fight response. In addition to helping ensure survival, Norepinephrine plays a role in your mood, emotions and ability to concentrate.  Norepinephrine plays a role in the sleep-wake cycle, helping you to wake up, increase attention and memory storage, as well as focus on performing tasks.

Low levels of norepinephrine have been associated with depression, anxiety, lethargy (lack of energy), lack of concentration, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.

Some anti-depressant medications affect norepinephrine levels in the brain. In stressful situations, norepinephrine increases as part of the fight or flight response to mobilize the brain and body for action.  Bursts of norepinephrine can lead to euphoria along with panic attacks, elevated blood pressure, and hyperactivity.

 

Essential Oils to Support Adrenal Hormones

Essential Oils with their unique ability to return different organ systems to balance can help return your adrenal glands to balance to help support the healthy production of adrenal hormones.

Adrenal™: Our adrenal glands help determine and regulate the body’s stress response by secreting key hormones that regulate energy production and storage. Prolonged periods of stress can deplete our reserves of these hormones.  Much like adaptogenic herbs, Vibrant Blue Oils Adrenal™ blend helps increase the body’s ability to adapt to stress and maintain healthy adrenal function.

Adrenal™ proprietary formulations includes very specific ratios of the following organic and/or wild crafted, therapeutic oils in a base of fractionated coconut oil:

Cinnamon is known to strengthen the endocrine system (our adrenals are part of this system), the nervous system, and helps balance blood sugar levels. It is an immuno-stimulant and may promote physical energy and enhance the action and activity of other oils. Emotionally and spiritually, cinnamon is said to increase our self-love, improve our body image and acceptance, and allows us to feel free to be ourselves.

Galbanum helps combat stress, nervous tension as well as anti-inflame and reprogram emotions. Galbanum reduces inflammation and supports the strength of the body as a whole.  It aids in centering and grounding the mind which helps balance the adrenals, which in turn, strengthens and supports the whole body.

Manuka from New Zealand is said to have a relaxing and sleep enhancing effect which helps the body repair itself from chronic stress, nervous exhaustion, and anxiety. It is also known to reduce systemic inflammation. It is beneficial for people with over sensitive nervous systems and those who suffer from stress and anxiety.

Rosemary is known to support adrenal function, Rosemary essential oil naturally relieves stress and nervous exhaustion and stimulates the immune system. A 2007 study found that Rosemary oil rapidly reduced cortisol levels in saliva in minutes just by smelling it. This is one of the best ways to help alleviate and control stress in the body.

Thyme balances hormones that help support adrenal glands, which helps you overcome physical and emotional fatigue and mental exhaustion. It helps strengthen your nerves, and helps you feel a sense of calm and relaxation.

You can topically apply 1- 2 drops of Adrenal™ on the adrenal glands (on the lower mid-back, one fist above the 12th rib on each side). Dilute to start or if any redness occurs.

 

Additional Essential Oils to Support Adrenal Health

Hypothalamus™: The hypothalamus is pearl size region of the brain that serves as control center for neural and hormonal messages received from/sent to body.  It is constantly reading blood the levels of cortisol, and adjusting signals sent to the adrenal glands for optimal internal balance (homeostasis) of the body.  Chronic and prolonged stress can damage the hypothalamus’s ability to receive clear messages from the body which then impacts all outgoing endocrine and neural signals. Just as you might reboot a computer, you can reset the hypothalamus with Vibrant Blue Hypothalamus™ blend to encourage the natural ability of the hypothalamus to receive clear messages from the body.

Circadian Rhythm™: A critical component to supporting adrenal health is the quality of your sleep.  Ideally, you should fall asleep easily and stay asleep through the night.  The hormone that helps you fall asleep is melatonin, secreted by the Pineal Gland.  Chronic and prolonged stress and the resulting cortisol release can undermine the body’s ability to release melatonin because melatonin has an antagonist relationship to the stress hormone, cortisol.  More specifically, when cortisol levels are high, melatonin levels stay low.  In theory, this makes total sense because if you need to escape a dangerous situation, it would not serve you to fall asleep.  But in practice, it really throws our body’s natural sleep/wake cycle, known as the Circadian Rhythms out of balance.  To return the circadian rhythm to balance, apply Vibrant Blue Oils Circadian Rhythm™ blend, which triggers the natural  release of melatonin before bed.

All of these oils are included in the Vibrant Blue Oils Stress Support Kit™.

 

Featured Oils:

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References:

About The Author

Jodi Cohen

Jodi Sternoff Cohen is the founder of Vibrant Blue Oils. An author, speaker, nutritional therapist, and a leading international authority on essential oils, Jodi has helped over 50,000 individuals support their health with essential oils.