***Note: This is completely unscientific and based solely on my own personal experience. I will try to update with more menu plan ideas and recipes

Many people on message boards and mailing lists are asking questions about what foods to eat on SCD/GAPS to help with Adrenal Fatigue. So here I am documenting the foods I found helped my energy levels and some example menu plans. See my first post on Adrenal Fatigue for a brief overview of my symptoms and lifestyle management. I found the book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Syndrome to be a worthwhile read and explained all aspects of Adrenal Fatigue including lifestyle factors, however a lot of the foods listed did not fit SCD/GAPS. The book Rebuild from Depression was my main motivation for turning to organ meats, oysters, eggs and saturated fats for energy. I may not suffer from depression or postpartum depression, but the same dietary advice applies to adrenal fatigue.

These foods are listed in order of what I found to be best to least helpful for me. Yes I have eaten all these foods and consume most of them pretty regularly. Yes eggs & liver are THE best foods!

Eggs
One of the absolute best foods for adrenal fatigue. I eat 2-3 per day usually cooked in a way that leaves the yolk runny (soft poached, soft boiled, over-easy). Very important to get eggs from a good source. Look for a local farmer or buy organic, free-range, omega-3 eggs from a health food store. Duck eggs are also very good if you can find them. I get both chicken and duck eggs.

Meat
Eat red meat more often than poultry or fish. Eat organ meats as often as possible. Choose fattier cuts and slow-cook them, making sure to eat the fats. Don’t be afraid to try new meats, this will help get some variety into your diet! Always use a bit of sea salt on your meats.
*liver, bone marrow, bone broths, fish eggs (roe), heart, tongue
*lamb, pork (including bacon), beef, bison, elk, goat, venison
*duck, turkey, chicken
*oysters, muscles, scallops, wild salmon, wild fish

Fat
Eat lots of saturated fat. I mean lots. If you think you’re eating too much saturated fat, eat about 2 tbsp more per day and then that might be enough. Be careful not to eat too much Omega-6 in the form of vegetable oils and nuts. It is best to cut down on Omega-6 fats than to have to increase Omega-3. You actually do not need that much Omega-3. If you are not able to get grass-fed pastured meats/fats and you eat nuts, then supplement with a small amount of fish oil. Don’t cook with olive oil, just drizzle it over food after cooking it in another fat.
*ghee, butter, coconut oil
*lard, tallow
*olive oil

Yogurt & Cheese
Some adrenal diet advice says to cut out all dairy even yogurt and cheese. I found them quite helpful although you may want to test out your own tolerance for the SCD yogurt and cheddar cheese by doing an elimination stage and slowly introducing them while checking for symptoms. One very important thing is to always buy organic milk products. If you can find raw milk & cheese that would be best. I currently (as of 2010) use whole pasteurized non-homogenized milk, and raw milk cheddar. I suggest eating dairy products as snacks during the day rather than as breakfast or late night snacks. Eggs and meats are better for stabilizing blood sugars, sodium levels and energy. Always add sea salt to your yogurt!
*24-hour SCD yogurt
*cheddar, monterey jack, swiss cheeses

Vegetables
When I started SCD I actually did not eat much in the way of vegetables as I didn’t seem to tolerate anything fibrous. Don’t worry if you can’t have too much, just eat what you can tolerate. Focus more on fats, broths & organ meats for vitamins and minerals. If on SCD, you may not want to try sauerkraut right away, but I wish I had!
*avocado (raw), sauerkraut
*zucchini, beets, green beans, red peppers, onions, garlic, spinach, kale, collards, chard, arugula, artichoke hearts
*squash, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower,

Fruit & Honey
Be careful with fruit. With adrenal fatigue it’s important to keep blood sugar levels and sodium steady. Eating high-sugar and potassium filled fruit on its own can be problematic. Use honey only if necessary to sweeten yogurt a little bit. Don’t eat dried fruit until you are well.
*blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries
*lemons, limes
*apples (including applesauce), pears, papayas, pineapple
*bananas, melons, mango, oranges

Nuts and Seeds
Don’t overdo nuts. It’s the #1 mistake people do on SCD. I have done it many times! I also find I do better with properly soaked and dehydrated raw organic nuts.
*walnuts
*almonds, hazelnuts, macademia nuts, pecans
*pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds

Supplements
If you have a known deficiency found by a blood test or other medical tests, then definitely take a supplement until you reach normal levels.
If you take cod liver oil, fish oil, butter oil, etc, and you are doing ok with them then by all means continue them. Treat these as foods, you do not necessarily need to take them every day nor at the same time every day.
I find when dealing with supplements it’s best to have the help of a naturopath to guide you. I have repeatedly tried many vitamin and mineral supplements that really did nothing but frustrate me in having me try to remember to take them. I have never had any vitamin/mineral/oil/gland supplement help as much as eating liver, eggs, roe, and bone marrow have. Those foods give me energy!

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Adrenal Fatigue Menu #1
Breakfast: 2 eggs soft-poached (or any preparation), 1 cup broth, sea salt, pickled beets, sauerkraut
Snack: 1 cup whole milk yogurt, 2 tsp honey, 1/4 cup blueberries
Lunch: Leftover Slow-cooker Basic Lamb Stew, add 1 tbsp butter/ghee after heated
Snack: 2 slices cheese, 1 apple with 1 tbsp almond butter (or applesauce with 1 tbsp butter/ghee), 1/2 cup broth with sea salt
Dinner: Beef Heart, Bacon, Butter and Onions, baked squash with 1 tbsp butter/ghee, sauerkraut
Pre-bed snack: 1 soft-boiled egg, sea salt

Adrenal Fatigue Menu #2 (egg-free)
Breakfast: Meatballs (any ground meat) with 1/4 cup Tzatziki sauce, sauerkraut, Roe on Roasted Golden Beets
Snack: 1/2 avocado, 1/2 cup broth with sea salt
Lunch: Liver Pâté with Cranberries served on thin slices of cheddar cheese, cauliflower mashed potatoes
Snack: 1 cup whole milk yogurt, 2 tsp honey, 1/4 cup raspberries
Dinner: Beef roast with mushroom sauce, asparagus sauteed in coconut oil & garlic
Pre-bed snack: 1/2 cup broth with sea salt; 1 tsp coconut oil mixed with 1 tsp honey

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Not much lately.. With my kitchen in the garage I have been pretty limited in what I can make. We’re waiting for new cupboards and countertops to be delivered, so in the meantime our old kitchen cupboards along with new appliances are in the garage. It’s functional except for no stove and no water. I have been using an electric wok to poach or hardboil eggs (as shown in picture). Our microwave also works as an oven so I have baked some salmon. I used the crockpot to make some chicken soup. Other than that, I’m living off dinners and meatballs I have frozen, my yogurt, cheese, and bananas.

I have always been one to believe in moderation. Don’t eat too much of one thing type of deal. But lately I’ve been eating way more cheese and I have been feeling great. I have stopped with worrying about overdoing one food, and started listening to my body. I never ‘crave’ cheese and always feel good after eating it. It’s great to bring along in my purse since it travels well. I think the salt in it helps too. Usually if I’m feeling weak and hungry, a piece of cheese keeps me going until I can cook something up. I also have a piece of cheese before bed so I don’t feel weak in the middle of the night. I would even go so far as to call cheddar cheese an adrenal fatigue superfood. Eggs too maybe.

My cheese of choice is an organic cheddar goat milk cheese that tastes fabulous. It’s not colored orange like regular cheddar cheese and has a nice pure taste. I’m going through about 2-3 ounces per day. I need to start buying more than one block at a time. I’m also going through 1.5-2 cups of cream yogurt per day, need to start making more of that too..

I’m out of my house for about 4 or 5 days while we do some kitchen renovations. In a couple weeks I’ll be out again for a day or two because of the floors being redone. I’m staying at my boyfriend’s house and watching them eat wonderfully delicious homemade Chinese food while I eat my plain meats and veggies Yogurt is running low and I may have actually underestimated how much I need. Sunday and Monday I may have to go without it. The yogurt maker is at home, and I don’t have it in me to try making it in the oven at my boyfriend’s house.

A new thing I have started doing lately is meditation. I’ve always heard meditation can help relieve stress, but I never thought it would work for me. My mind goes crazy thinking too much and I can’t clear it out long enough to get any benefit. Then I came across a post on another blog about meditation, saying all you have to do is sit, focus on a spot on the wall, and count your breathing. You don’t have to not think about anything, just think about the breathing and focus on that. If your mind wanders, realize it did and then again come back to the breathing. Well I tried this and it is really relaxing. I always thought meditation had to be some complicated ‘clear your mind and achieve enlightenment’ sorta deal. This was really nice, and I have continued to do it every now and then. I’m only doing about 5-10 mins per day, but it’s worth it.

The breathing I do is ‘belly breathing’ where your belly rises and falls with each breath while your chest remains fairly stable. I do this breathing through my nose, 4 counts in, 6 counts holding, 6 counts out. This type of breathing is also supposed to help circulation and dark circles under the eyes. Over the course of a couple days I did a lot of belly breathing, probably a few hours of it each day, and noticed my eyes looked brighter the next few days. It’s a lot of work though, I need to constantly remind myself to do it.

I also read “When Panic Attacks” by David Burns and that has helped tremendously. I realize I’m one of those ‘nice’ people who doesn’t deal with issues when they bother me. Instead I shove it deep down and forget about it. Well it turns out that’s the main source of my panic, anxiety and stressful thinking. I’m now making a conscious effort to deal with problems as they happen, even if that means not being ‘nice’. For example if my family comes home, eats my food, dumps their dishes and goes to watch tv, I will tell them it bothered me and ask them to not only clean up (so that I don’t have to later) but also to help me make food. Surprisingly no one has gotten mad at me for nagging them about cleaning up or helping cook. I know, shocking! I really have to keep asking for help and telling people when they do something that bothers me. So much less stressful that way.

Here’s an idea of what I’m eating lately. I’m trying to eat properly for adrenal fatigue, not taking supplements for it or doing more research into it, just resting properly and eating well. This means a good balance of protein, fat and carbs at each meal/snack. I always eat before bed (mostly protein and fat) and first thing when I wake up.
pre-Breakfast: 1/2 cup half n’ half cream yogurt with honey
Breakfast: 2 eggs, chicken broth, cheese, banana
Lunch: Salmon, applesauce with butter
Snack: carrot and celery juice, cheddar cheese
Dinner: chicken thighs with artichoke hearts, applesauce with butter
Snack: 1/2 cup half n’ half cream yogurt with honey, piece of cheese before bed

Update (March 2010): See my Tips and Tricks section for Foods for Adrenal Fatigue

I was browsing around some message boards the other day and noticed a post about adrenal fatigue. I had never heard of this so I had a peek and saw that there was a questionnaire-style symptoms test. I decided to have a look just for fun… and ended up feeling like I was reading my very own personalized symptoms sheet. I had never in my life thought all the symptoms I have could be summed up in two words – adrenal fatigue.

I checked off the following:
-thin, can’t gain weight
-eyes, cheeks sunken
-full eyebrows
-sunken eyes, dark circles around
-paleness most noticeable around mouth
-hair thin and wispy
-dry skin
-smoothed out finger prints
-light sensitivity
-night blindness (not blind, but hate driving at night because things are a lot more blurry than the day)
-headaches, muscle pains
-Thermal chameleon (hot when it’s warm and cold when it’s cool)
-cold intolerance
-cold hands/feet
-General Reactivity: Emotional, physiological, immune, etc. Hyper-reactive (over)
-Immune Function: Tendency to over-react results in allergies, sensitivities, autoimmune problems
-history of mononucleosis
-sensitivity to medications, supplements, usually needing small doses
-personality tendency towards serious, occasional humour
-panic attacks, worry, fear
-startle easily
-poor tolerance to change or stress
-tendency to insomnia, light sleeper, waking up at 2-4 am, unrefreshing sleep
-fatigue, exhaustion
-exercise causes fatigue, body temperature drops after exercise
-low blood pressure
-heart palpitations: feels like my heart was about to jump out of my chest
-bowel function: Tendency to be irritable, or hyperactive, transit time may be too fast (food exits stomach too fast causing poor [enzymatic] digestion)
-malabsorption
-cravings for sweets and salts
-tendency to hypoglycemia
-problems with menses

My fatigue and bowel function was getting better with SCD, however my fatigue has returned with some higher levels of stress lately. Now I understand why. Yes I always knew stress was bad for you. But it’s one of the hardest things to regulate. It’s easy to change diet, exercise, even your job. But how do you change how you deal with stress?

Stress is one of the biggest factors that keeps people from recovering from adrenal fatigue so I have to work on that. I need to simplify things, learn to say no instead of stressing out trying to get things done.

How does food factor into adrenal fatigue?
-eat whole foods: check! SCD has made that extremely easy
-meat is good
-fruits and vegetables: here’s a weird one, some sources say to eat lots, some say to restrict it because of potassium levels. The goal is basically to balance potassium and sodium. People with adrenal fatigue have a tendency to low sodium. I believe in the reduce potassium and increase sodium path. This I have noticed from recent changes to my diet (less produce more salt).
-dairy is fine, but higher in potassium
-add sea salt to diet: good, I like salty foods
-eat protein and fat with carbohydrates: check!
-many individual nutrients are recommended like B vitamins, pantothenic acid, magnesium, calcium, etc etc. A lot of these are contained in organ meats. I will be eating liver more often!

Lifestyle changes to make:
-sleep in until 9pm everyday (no I’m not making this up! lol)
-lie down for a break in the morning and afternoon
-exercise gently to not cause more stress
-eat regularly and small portions
-reduce stress – gotta work on that one
-laugh

Maybe I should look into laughter therapy.

PS: I don’t encourage people to seek self-diagnosis on the Internet. I just stumbled across this information and found it quite interesting at how well it fit me. I won’t be taking any Adrenal supplements or products. The advice on most sites for treating this naturally seem to be pretty straight forward. Eat healthy, live healthy.