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Sarah Teeple: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Beautifully Balanced Health and Happiness aren't found in a bottle of prescription pills or with any fad diet. Instead, we can activate your body's natural ability to heal itself, and that is exactly what we're gonna do together here. I'm Sarah Teeple, a women's integrative health practitioner, and I blend the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda with the modern science of functional medicine to help you heal your gut, rebalance your hormones, and calm anxiety naturally.
Here I'll teach you the smart, sustainable, personalized, and fun way to use nutrition, herbs, and healthy lifestyle to feel vibrant, energized, and beautiful inside and out. Are you ready? Let's dive [00:01:00] in.
Speaker: Hello and welcome. Today's episode is all about an alarming but common trend I'm seeing on so many clients' hormone tests. This is stress hormone exhaustion,
So today is gonna be all about how to tell if you are in stress hormone exhaustion. And then my top. Three tips for what you can do about that. I want to give you the power back to inhabit your woman's body in a strong, compassionate, healthy way so that you can show up and feel good in your life. Show up for your family, show up for work, show up for yourself.
Just enjoy these lives that we've created and it's. Impossible to do literally if you're living every day in stress hormone exhaustion.
let's get started. What is stress hormone exhaustion? When I [00:02:00] run the Dutch test on my clients, Dutch stands for dried urine test for comprehensive hormones. We measure lots of different hormones. A lot of people think it's only about estrogen and progesterone, but what I'm really looking at for so many clients are a class of hormones called the glucocorticoids. Your glucocorticoids are also known as your stress hormones, and usually when we think of stress hormones, we think only of cortisol and maybe adrenaline, but there are several. There are about 15 different stress hormones, glucocorticoids and mineral corticoids.
When we think about stress hormones, most of us think about being super stressed out. We think about a state called stress hormone overdrive, and while that is very common, it's actually not as common.
And not quite as problematic as the other side of that stress hormone coin, which is stress hormone exhaustion. So I've been seeing so many [00:03:00] clients that have low, bottomed out stress hormones. This is also referred to as adrenal. Fatigue
are you ready to find out if you are in stress hormone exhaustion? Alright, here we go. I'm going to ask you a series of questions and either just in your mind or if you happen to have a notebook or a piece of paper.
You can put check marks next to every symptom that you experience. I'm gonna list off several symptoms, and if you experience that symptom on a regular basis, you would be a yes or a check for that symptom. So here are the common symptoms and signs of stress hormone exhaustion.
The first thing to ask yourself is, do I often feel really exhausted? Sometimes we'll be describing ourselves as burnt out or fried, or a lot of clients tell me they just feel really fatigued all the time. So this is your first very common sign. Another [00:04:00] sign of stress hormone exhaustion is waking up around three or 4:00 AM having a hard time falling back asleep or waking up tired even when you've gotten a full night's sleep.
Feeling anxious a lot is another sign of potential stress hormone exhaustion. This is also a sign of stress hormone overdrive, and we can actually simultaneously be in overdrive and exhaustion. This is sometimes known as stress hormone dysregulation. If you feel really so overwhelmed, so overwhelmed that it's hard to even get started.
So this lack of motivation to do anything, 'cause you just feel like your to-do list is a mile long and there's no way you could possibly conquer it all. So you wanna avoid it. If you're having immune issues getting sick more often than you think you should, if you're getting cold sores herpes outbreaks, yeast infections, or frequent UTIs if you're craving a lot of sugar and caffeine.[00:05:00]
Also some saltier carby foods sometimes, but these really strong. Food cravings. This is a sign that your body's saying, I need something to get me through. So sometimes we're looking for those quick fixes, but really what's gonna be beneficial in the long run is fixing the stress hormone exhaustion, which don't worry, we're gonna get to that.
Motivation and drive are really low. Your hormones feel all over the place. Maybe your cycles are irregular. Having zero sex drive is a big and very common sign of stress hormone exhaustion, and this is really the body's intelligence kicking in because. Evolutionarily speaking, why do we need to have a libido and a sex drive and , that drive to procreate when we're just sort of eeking by almost, , barely able to get through our own day.
Our body prioritizes creating sufficient stress and energy hormones in order to get us through our day over [00:06:00] having. Sufficient sex hormones.
Being diagnosed with an autoimmune condition. This often correlates and corresponds with having. High adrenal overdrive and then plummeting into adrenal exhaustion.
If you have low blood pressure or get dizzy when going from laying down to standing up. If your heart races, sometimes if your memory is just really suffering, you feel mentally foggy or unable to make decisions, you've been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia, and if your wounds take a long time to heal.
So these have been many, many different symptoms of stress hormone exhaustion, and we would really. Clinically say that you might be in stress hormone exhaustion if you have, five, six or more of these symptoms. So you don't have to score yourself overall, , you don't have to have written this down, but if you did, you can count it out.
And if not, if you [00:07:00] just were really raising your hand or , giving the big nod of affirmation that, yeah, these things happen in my life, all the time.
Then you might be in stress hormone exhaustion. So the risks of being and staying in stress hormone exhaustion are the risk of all chronic diseases. So higher risk for diabetes when we're exhausted and depleted. Our blood sugar has a hard time regulating, so it can really put us at a much higher, , risk for type two diabetes.
We also can have lots of other downstream hormonal issues like issues with estrogen and progesterone. All the other symptoms of low estrogen, hot flashes, night sweats, trouble sleeping. . It can also just really impact your quality of life. , You can't show up and live your life and be who you wanna be in your day-to-day life when you're completely exhausted.
So we really want to address the stress hormone exhaustion [00:08:00] head on. And the way I do it with my clients is by first giving them great nutrition according to their unique body type, but to help. Fill in any phytonutrient gaps, any, , nutritional deficiencies., so we give you a comprehensive plan to address this stress hormone exhaustion, a holistic plan, because we don't just wanna slap on another pill for an ill, another pharmaceutical medication, or even a ton of supplements.
And this is something that I see some practitioners doing that can end up being detrimental if we put too many supplements in our system, especially a system that is under functioning. So when you're in stress hormone exhaustion, you're not digesting as well. Your body's not detoxifying. And cleansing itself as well.
So dumping too many supplements down your gullet is something that your body is just not going to be able to digest and metabolize [00:09:00] sufficiently, and it can actually cause more digestive issues. So we want to give you maybe two or. Three tops, herbs and supplements that are going to address this adrenal exhaustion.
Depending , on your constitution and your unique data that came up in your Dutch test. We look not only at the stress hormones, but at relationships between hormones. How's your thyroid doing? What was going on with your inflammation markers? How is your methylation, that's your body's natural.
Cellular detoxification process, what's going on there? So before I recommend herbs and supplements, we wanna really get the full picture, but there are wonderful. Herbs that can relax the nervous system, but also give us this grounded energy, A class of herbs called adaptogens, and various things that would fall into the adaptogens category would be Astragalus, ashwagandha, Shiri, maa, Rho.
And many more.
[00:10:00] Some of those are Ayurvedic herbs, some of those are Western herbs. And again, I don't recommend you just start taking a bunch of herbs. I do recommend working with an experienced practitioner to make sure those herbs are appropriate for you and that they're not contraindicated with any medications that you're taking.
But adaptogenic herbs can certainly play a really. Helpful role. When you work with me one-on-one, I guide you through a 12 week program where we're walking you step by step down your holistic healing path based on your unique data that came up in your Dutch test. So if you wanna explore this further, working with me one-on-one is the way to do it.
This is. Amazing, effective, and it can be a lot of fun to get to know your body in this way instead of continuing to chase your tail, try all the wellness trends, read all the blogs, or look at TikTok and get completely confused about what actually applies to you. We need to find out your [00:11:00] data, your dosha, and then walk you step by step down your personalized healing path, and that's what we'll do.
So for now here is what you can do to get you out of stress hormone exhaustion. Here are my top three tips. The first is rest to recuperate. It sounds so simple, but it can be challenging to do. With the pace of many of our lives, the demands in our lives, it can be really challenging to get this sufficient deep rest.
But this. Ladies is what your body is begging for. So some simple ways to get the most bang out of your buck when you're resting to get the most rejuvenation from resting.
So we wanna not just get good and sufficient sleep, but we wanna get that sufficient sleep during the right times of day. Be early to bed and early to rise. So in bed between nine and 10:00 PM up between six [00:12:00] and 7:00 AM And the reason for this is because our body and our hormones work. In a rhythm.
I teach my one-on-one clients and the clients in my group program, the Radiant Reset, all about instating rhythm for healthy hormones. Your hormones and metabolism work in a rhythm.
You are going to deeply rejuvenate and rest more deeply if you are in bed getting sufficient sleep between the hours. Of 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM and then of course we want you sleeping later in the morning. But there's this magical time between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM When your liver is really active, your body's repairing itself, your liver is detoxifying your entire body, and it's just this massively reparative, rejuvenating time of night.
But we don't receive the benefits of that unless we're in deep sleep during that time. So instate that healthy daily rhythm, early to bed, early to rise, and make sure that you're in bed during liver cleansing [00:13:00] time. It's also known as Pitta Time and Ayurveda, that's one of the doshas that's associated with the liver.
Tip number two, getting deep nourishment, and this means nourishment That is. Nutrient dense, but also easy to digest. So the mistake a lot of us make when we're trying to eat healthier is eating tons of salads, tons of smoothies and protein powders and super foods.
And , we really think we're giving , ourselves this big bang for our buck choosing these kind of trendy designer super foods. The trouble is many of those are really hard to digest, and if you don't know about this already, go back and listen to my podcast episode, how your digestion actually works, and that is going to change your life and transform your metabolism.
But I teach my one-on-one clients what I call a four step metabolic [00:14:00] refresh, and it's all about eating in a way that will enhance your metabolism. So not just for the purpose of burning calories, but when our digestion's moving smoothly, our metabolism is smooth and burning brightly. And Ayurveda, this is called your Agni or your digestive Fire.
When that's happening, when that process is working efficiently, we're absorbing and assimilating all of the nutrition from our food, but we're not able to absorb and assimilate if we're eating a lot of things that are hard to digest. So cold, raw, dense, so things like salads, lots of nuts. Protein bars lots of raw veggies, a smoothie with 20 different ingredients.
I call 'em everything but the kitchen sink smoothies. These are things that are actually really hard for our body to digest. So instead to get out of the stress hormone overdrive, get your body absorbing your nutrition again, and get you that deep nourishment. We want you eating more warm. [00:15:00] Cooked foods, soups and stews, cooked vegetables, cooked whole grains.
If healthy weight is one of your goals, then quinoa is your best friend. Number one choice for a healthy whole grain. Do make sure to rinse that quinoa because it has a bloat inducing. Pesticide on it. , It's a naturally occurring pesticide called saponin, so it's not something that people spray on it, but the quinoa plant naturally makes these saponins to deter bugs from eating the plant.
But that also is, , causes some bloat in humans. So rinse that quinoa. But easy to digest foods . Cooked grains, cooked vegetables, soups, and stews. If you're gonna do meat, I recommend cooking it into a soup or stew because that liquid, that long slow cooking process is almost like a predigestion.
Bone broth is wonderful. Adding in some mild digestive spices like cumin, fennel, a little [00:16:00] bit of black pepper, maybe even a little acidity, a little lemon juice. To help with your stomach acids and digestive enzymes. Those will help you digest this food and give you that deeper nourishment that your body has been needing and craving.
So, last but not least, our third tip to reset your hormones, get you out of that adrenal exhaustion, that stress hormone exhaustion. We want you to mind and manage your self talk. Manage your mind. So many of us suffer from this chronic negative self-talk, this worry, this self-judgment, the self-criticism and the stress of that can literally just deplete you.
And if you've been in this cycle. You know how this feels, your own inner monologue, your own self-talk, if it's negative and toxic, . It can put you into stress hormone [00:17:00] overdrive.
And then remember, when you've been in stress hormone overdrive for so long, you've got nowhere to go but down into stress hormone exhaustion.
I teach my clients a method that I call neutralizing your self-talk. And the core concept of this is that first we wanna increase our awareness around our self-talk.
So notice if your self-talk has been really negative, if you're saying mean things about your body, if you're criticizing your own every move, your every food choice, you're not smart enough. You don't do a good enough job. You're laundry listing all the things that you've done wrong.
That is gonna just completely exhaust you. And my heart goes out to you. 'cause I have been here. That is something that all of us deal with sometimes. But if you're in that trap, I just wanna empower you that those negative thoughts are not the truth about you. Those are just thoughts.
It's almost like an old tape that keeps playing in your mind that is not at all the truth. You've just [00:18:00] deepened your neural pathways, those brain pathways, around that old toxic story.
So we wanna get you out of that. But the way to get you out of that is not necessarily to jump you from a negative thought to a super positive thought.
'cause your brain's not gonna believe that, right? You're gonna say, come on. No, that's not true. So instead of jumping from a negative thought. To a positive thought. We wanna get you to at least a neutral thought. And this is a common example that I use with clients and that I see in clients.
So one of my clients might think, I hate my body, and she's been thinking this thought over and over and over again and she just has a very long. List of evidence of all the reasons that she hates her body, all the clothes, she doesn't look good in all the , events where she hasn't had fun because she's been self-conscious.
A long laundry list of the evidence why she hates her body. So we're not gonna jump that client from, I hate my body to, I love my body and I'm a supermodel and everything's roses and rainbows. Her brain's gonna say, no, no, no, I [00:19:00] don't believe that, but we can take that client.
Or you from, I hate my body to something neutral like I have a woman's body. This is what I call a stair step up from the toxic thought that is keeping you stuck and exhausted up to eventually that joyous, loving thought of, I love my body and I'm whole and healthy and complete. But maybe we're not there just yet.
So we can get to that neutral thought of, I have a woman's body. I have a woman's body. I want you to put your hand on your heart and listen to me. Say this. Maybe mentally repeat it after me, or even say it aloud after me. I have a woman's body. I have a woman's body.
When you think this thought or say this out loud, instead of creating those toxic negative feelings of shame and self-judgment and despair that I hate my body, that thought creates, we feel [00:20:00] more neutral. Feelings like acceptance, neutrality, just this matter of fact feeling, right? Like I have a woman's body. Yep. That's just a fact. And when I think that factual statement. I just feel neutral. Not bad, not super good, but just Okay. And hey, moving from toxic negative to, okay, is a great thing for your mind, your heart, your emotions, and your stress hormones.
So these have been your top three tips to help you get out of stress hormone exhaustion. Number one was rest to repair and recuperate. And remember getting that circadian rhythm, those early bed and wake times in
number two, was deep nourishment with easy to digest foods to boost your metabolism, your absorption and assimilation of nutrition.
And number three was minding yourself. Talk and neutralizing yourself. Talk. I [00:21:00] hope that these tips have felt supportive, encouraging and hopeful for you, and if you think you could be stuck in stress hormone over exhaustion and it is worsening all of your symptoms and really making your quality of life suffer if you would like some support.
I'm here to support you all the way. Thank you for being here, and I'll see you again soon.
Sarah Teeple: Thank you for being here with me today. Remember, you can feel your best naturally. Just try one new thing a week that you learn here and watch your body and life transform. And if you're ready to take this to the next level, learn your dosha. Get your personalized, holistic plan, and live beautifully balanced.
You've gotta come see me at [00:22:00] sarahteeple.com. That's S-A-R-A-H-T-E-E-P-L E.com. There you can learn about how to work with me one-on-one or book a free holistic chat and just tell me what you're working on. I love to hear from you and help you live your best life. So until next time, be well. Oh, and if you love this conversation, please rate and review our podcast That really helps more people find natural healthcare options.
Thanks again and see you soon.
