Adrenal Transformation Protocol is Dr Izabella Wentz, The Thyroid Pharmacist’s, fourth book. Whereas all her other books thus far have been specifically about thyroid issues, namely Hashimoto’s, her latest book is solely about the adrenal glands.
How is this relevant to thyroid patients? Because a lot of us also have adrenal dysfunction and benefit from supporting these tiny glands too.
I talk about living well with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s as piecing together a big jigsaw puzzle made of various pieces. One of these most common pieces is adrenal health or adrenal dysfunction. Many thyroid patients take their medication, such as Levothyroxine or Synthroid, everyday yet still feel unwell, and they’re often not aware that adrenal dysfcuntion could be why.
Dr. Wentz agrees with this and decided to write a whole book about the protocol she uses with patients experiencing adrenal dysfunction.
As well as it including a 4-week plan you may wish to follow, she also has chapters explaining what the adrenal glands are and what dysfunction of these means, as well as explaining where the old term ‘adrenal fatigue’ came from and why we don’t use it anymore. She references to James Wilson’s book, and although I don’t subscribe to adrenal dysfunction in the form of the adrenals burning themselves out, she does state that some information has changed since the original conception of this condition.
Symptoms of adrenal dysfunction include:
- Feeling burnt out
- Struggling to fall asleep at night, or waking up a few hours after you do
- Feeling extremely tired in the morning, despite a lot of sleep
- Experiencing a mid-afternoon ‘slump’
- Feeling more emotional than usual
- Depression or anxiety
- Ongoing fatigue that affects your day to day life
- Feeling unable to tolerate stress
- Hot flashes or sweats
- Intensely craving salty or sugary food
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Dizziness
- Mental fog
- Weight gain
- Low libido
- Extreme tiredness after exercise
- Unable to fall asleep despite being tired
- Heart palpitations
- Feelings of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) though test results are normal
- Hair loss
- Irregular Menstrual Cycles
Her four pillars for supporting the adrenals are: Replenish, Reenergise, Revitalise and Resilience.
Based on what I know about adrenal dysfunction, these four titles sum up how to reduce adrenal stress very well.
Replenish what our bodies need – Often nutrients, vitamins, rest and sleep. She targets these with food and supplement suggestions. Recipes are also included.
Reenergise – With electrolytes, considering caffeine, mitochondria and your circadian rhythm.
Revitalise – Looking at how to teach our bodies they are safe, with positive mantras, making time for hobbies and things that spark joy and working on self-compassion.
Resilience – Looking at how to move out of our comfort zone in small steps, swap harmful coping mechanisms for healthy ones and move away from the people and practises harming us. This was the most interesting chapter to me.
I liked that each chapter begins with a list of goals for it, so you know what to expect from that chapter. They also ended with actionable steps which reinforced learning.
The book is peppered with case studies and ‘success stories’ which can be reassuring to read.
Dr. Wentz also tries to make the suggestions as accessible as possible by giving low-cost or free ideas where possible.
Overall, this book didn’t contain any new information for me, but for those who are fairly new to or overwhelmed about adrenal health, it’s a very useful tool which aims to empower you without overwhelming you. You do not have to follow the 4-week plan to get something out of this book which will better your health.
You can get a copy of this book from Amazon.
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