Alan Christianson

Dr. Alan Christianson, ND. author of Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease and a forthcoming book on adrenal health, was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Adrenals – Master glands of anxiety / tranquility

• Why the adrenals regulate the anxiety response
• Why some are more prone to anxiety than others
• How to know if your adrenals are healthy
• Testing your adrenal function
• The difference between adrenal dysfunction and disease
• How your diet and daily habits stress your adrenals
• The best ways to heal your adrenal glands

Here is short video of Dr. Christianson sharing his story as an unhealthy kid and why he does what he does

Here are some snippets from our interview:

So even if we’re not being chased by the classic tiger if our blood sugar’s crashing, that, by itself, can trigger high amounts of stress hormones to make us feel more anxious, or if our sleep schedules have been thrown off, or if we’re missing some key nutrients that are needed by the adrenal glands, or if we’ve got a high amount of some external toxin in our body. All these separate things – and it can also be thought of that it’s not just a factor, but it’s the collective weight of all of those adrenal stressors. It’s how much we’ve got pushing those glands off at any given point in time that makes us more or less apt to have anxiety symptoms.

So caffeine is a stimulant, and what it does specifically is it causes our body to take all of our stored energy. We make something called glycogen. We take good carbs, and we pack them deep into our muscles. We pack them really tight, and we make glycogen out of that. It’s also in our liver. So caffeine causes us to just dump a whole of glycogen out, and it makes this big burst, this big rise in your blood sugar. The same thing would happen if you just drank a full sugar coke. It’s the same phenomenon, the same rise in blood sugar.

Here is a link to the online Adrenal Quiz we talked about. Let us know your score in the comments below.

In this Huffington Post blog called the Top 3 Myths of Adrenal Fatigue he writes how strategically using sunlight is one of the best-documented ways to help restore daily rhythms and heal the adrenals. We discussed some of this in the interview and here is a nice summary:

1. Within an hour of waking, expose yourself to sunlight or a light box emitting at least 10,000 lux (measure of light intensity). Do not wear sunglasses, do not look directly at the source of light, and get at least a half hour of exposure.
2. Get low wattage (under 40 watts) red-colored light bulbs for your bedroom. For the last 50 minutes of your day, feel free to read a book our journal, but use no other sources of light or electronics.
3. In your bedroom, make sure your windows block all outdoor lights and cover any lights on thermostats, or alarm units. Make sure that any lights used to find your way around are colored red.

Here is a link to Dr. Alan Christianson’s book on thyroid disease:

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease

As we mentioned at the start of the interview, Dr. Christianson has a new book on adrenal health coming out next month! When you register for the free gift he has kindly offered, you’ll also be updated on information about the new book. 

Here is Dr. Christianson’s new book on adrenal health – The Adrenal Reset Diet: Strategically Cycle Carbs and Proteins to Lose Weight, Balance Hormones, and Move from Stressed to Thriving

 

The free gift is 49 Fresh Recipes for a Stronger Body and More Vibrant You