Adrenal Fatigue Guide: How to Heal Burnout Naturally and Reclaim Your Energy
Here are 10 practical steps to heal from Adrenal Fatigue—no raw organs required.
Let me tell you about the time I ate raw adrenal glands.
They looked like small, pink, stringy lima beans—way smaller than I expected for a cow.
I got them from Frankie’s Free Range Meats, an eccentric Italian farm distributor known for sourcing everything from beef testicles, chicken heads, 20-pound briskets, and yep… adrenal glands.
I arrived at this magical (and slightly deranged) moment thanks to chronic fatigue getting the best of me. I was 23 at the time (now 24—not a big age jump, but I feel 10x better), and I could barely stay awake past 11 a.m.
Even Adderall, which had been prescribed to me, couldn’t touch my energy levels.
I was sluggish, mentally foggy, and honestly... sad. It felt like I was living under a dark cloud.
During this time, I’d been diving deep into ancestral health and came across Catherine Shanahan’s book Deep Nutrition, where she talks about Doctrine of Signatures and Native American healing traditions.
I was moved by this concept:
Eat the organ you want to heal.
I learned that Native American tribes would consume animals adrenal glands when they were deeply exhausted. They instinctively understood that eating the organs would help heal theirs. They also ate intestines for gut health, and testicles for vitality.
Anyway—back to the raw cow glands.
I pulled them out of the plastic bag—two small, pink adrenal beans and hesitantly went full send on these meaty adrenaline beans.
It was cold, chewy, and honestly kind of horrifying. Like eating flesh. The texture was like steak, but way less enjoyable. Still—I got it down.
I decided to hit a workout right after. Halfway through, my heart started pounding. My chest got tight.
I felt high—wired, sweaty, intense. I thought: Did I take something? Meth? Cocaine?
Turns out: adrenal glands actually contain trace amounts of adrenaline. So I had just ingested exogenous adrenaline from a cow.
No wonder I felt wired.
Over time—after that wild method—I started learning more about the adrenals. And once I actually started supporting them (without raw glands), everything changed.
I could finally focus at work again—no more needing three coffees.
I had real energy, especially past 11am.
Hard workouts felt fun again, not like punishment.
My testosterone rose naturally.
And most importantly—I felt joy again. Like a little kid riding his bike downhill with no hands.
These 10 adrenal-supporting practices gave me a complete 180 in life.
But first, wtf is adrenal fatigue?
What Is Adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal Fatigue is a broad (but real) term used to describe a state of functional burnout in the adrenal glands and the larger HPA axis (that’s your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system).
This pattern shows up when the body is exposed to chronic stress—emotional, physical, environmental, or infectious—that goes beyond what your system can adapt to over time.
When you're constantly working, sleeping too little, stressing too much—your system starts to fall out of whack. The adrenals respond by pumping out more cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone.
In the short term, this keeps you alert and helps you survive.
But if the stress keeps coming, your body starts pulling resources from other hormonal systems just to keep making cortisol.
This is called pregnenolone steal—your body diverts pregnenolone (the “mother hormone”) to make more cortisol, leaving less for other key hormones like:
DHEA
Progesterone
Testosterone
Thyroid hormones
This leads to downstream imbalances like:
Low DHEA/testosterone (fatigue, low motivation, libido loss)
Low progesterone (PMS, irregular cycles, anxiety, poor sleep)
Estrogen dominance
Thyroid dysfunction (low T3 conversion, high reverse T3)
This is why adrenal health is foundational. If your adrenals are out of balance, even the best hormone or thyroid protocols may only give short-term relief.
Common Signs of Adrenal Fatigue:
Struggling to get out of bed in the morning
Afternoon energy crashes
Sleep issues (can’t fall or stay asleep)
Cravings for salt or sugar
Blood sugar crashes
Brain fog and trouble concentrating
Mood swings, irritability, anxiety
Low libido and hormonal imbalances
Sensitivity to stress or poor recovery
Light-headedness when standing
10 Simple Things Anyone Can Do to Heal from Adrenal Fatigue
If you want to wake up with energy, stay sharp, build hormones like testosterone and estrogen, and feel like you again—healing your adrenals is step one.
These are the exact tools I used during my recovery. No raw adrenal glands required (unless you’re into that) ;)
1. Increase Salt & Electrolyte Intake
People with adrenal fatigue often struggle to retain essential electrolytes. This messes with hydration, oxygenation, blood pressure, and brain function.
💧 How to boost electrolytes naturally:
Lemons/limes in water
Coconut water
Salt your food (Sea salt)
🧂 Electrolyte cheat sheet:
Sodium: sea salt, olives, pickles, fermented foods
Potassium: bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes, spinach
Magnesium: dark leafy greens, nuts, seeds, legumes
Calcium: leafy greens, dairy, almonds, fortified plant milks
I personally swear by Kaizen, made by my good friends Jordan and Jon Berens.
It’s the only electrolyte powder I use—no sugar, full-spectrum minerals, and totally clean.
2. Go to Bed Before 10 PM & Get 8 Hours
Your adrenals recover the most between 10 PM–1 AM. If you’re still awake during this window, you're missing the best natural healing window your body has.
I learned this the hard way after staying up till 5 AM at an afterparty with my music mentor Ky William (love you bro, but that crushed me).
What to do:
Set a wind-down alarm at 9:30 PM
Wear blue light blockers after sunset
Cut screens and tech by 9:45 PM
Go to bed before you're exhausted
Use magnesium or herbal teas (like chamomile or lemon balm) to support deeper sleep
🛌 Sleep is king. Treat it like sacred medicine.
3. Learn to Say No (Even When It’s Hard)
Saying “no” is one of the fastest ways to protect your energy and calm your nervous system.
Learn to say NO when you’ve reached your limit.
This includes work, tennis with friends, stressful conversations — even “good” things can be too much when you’re depleted.
More relaxation means bringing the ego down a bit. I know I have to check mine when it’s time to slow down. But I promise — when your energy returns, you’ll be glad you gave yourself space to heal.
What to do:
Say “no” to one thing a day, big or small — meetings, social invites, phone scrolling
Ask: “Where am I giving too much?”
Try this phrase: “Not right now — I’m prioritizing my health.”
4. Do Something Relaxing Every Day
Warm baths, walks in the park, yoga, meditation, acupuncture — whatever calms your system, do that. Daily.
What do all these have in common?
They activate the parasympathetic nervous system — your “rest and digest” mode. This turns off the fight-or-flight response so you can actually recover and heal.
Nobody has time to relax and repair when the lion is chasing them.
What to do:
Choose one relaxing thing per day — even just 10–20 minutes
Make it a non-negotiable part of your routine
Stay off your phone while doing it
5. Don’t Over-Exercise
Working out is amazing, but it’s still a stressor.
If you hit the gym and can't perform the same or even slightly better than your last session, it may be time to scale down.
I took a whole month off weights — did only yoga, longboarding, long walks, pull-ups, push-ups, mobility work, and swimming in Lake Michigan. Surprisingly, I never looked or felt better.
What to do:
Take a rest week (or even a month) if you're feeling run-down
Switch to lower intensity movement: yoga, walking, swimming
Listen to your body — it knows when it’s time to pause
6. Eat a Protein- and Fat-Rich Breakfast Before 10 AM
This is huge — especially when recovering. It sets your metabolic tone for the day and helps avoid blood sugar crashes.
Right now our body needs to rest, digest, and refuel — and nothing is more stressful than waiting till 3 PM to eat.
I REPEAT: Do not intermittent fast until you are metabolically more stable and adrenals are healed.
What to do:
Eat within 30–60 minutes of waking up
Include healthy protein + fats (ex: eggs with avocado, chia pudding with nut butter)
When eating fruit, always pair it with protein or fat
Eat regular meals to prevent energy dips and blood sugar crashes
🥚 Eat early, eat real, and keep your body nourished.
7. Avoid Alcohol, Sugar, Gluten, and Dairy
You don’t have to be perfect — but reducing or eliminating these will speed up your healing.
What to do:
Try a 2-week elimination of all four
Replace alcohol with sparkling water + citrus
Choose gluten-free carbs like rice, quinoa, or sweet potatoes
Switch to dairy-free options like coconut or almond products
Use raw honey or dates in small amounts instead of sugar
8. Cut or Minimize Sugar and Caffeine
Both spike your cortisol and blood sugar, which can feel good in the moment but can crash your energy long-term.
What to do:
Start by cutting caffeine in half
Replace coffee with herbal alternatives (like rooibos, dandelion root, or mushroom blends) or just drink better coffee…..
Beat sugar cravings with high-protein snacks (like hard-boiled eggs or nuts)
Stay hydrated — thirst often mimics hunger or sugar cravings
9. Use Supportive Supplementation
Supplements aren’t everything—but the right ones can help your body bounce back faster, especially when you're under chronic stress.
After testing what feels like the entire supplement aisle, these are the most bioavailable, natural, and actually effective adrenal-supporting options I’ve found.
What to consider:
Kaizen Electrolyte Packets – Clean, high-quality hydration with no junk. Helps restore minerals lost from stress and sweat.
BiOptimizers Full Spectrum Magnesium – Crucial for nervous system regulation, deep sleep, and muscle recovery.
BiOptimizers MassZymes – Digestive enzymes to help you actually absorb the nutrients you’re eating (because if you're not absorbing, you're not healing).
Quicksilver 'The One' – A powerful mitochondria and energy booster with NAD+, CoQ10, and adaptogens to support resilience and recovery.
Jigsaw Health Adrenal Cocktail – A daily blend of whole-food vitamin C, potassium, and sodium to nourish your adrenals and support natural cortisol rhythms.
Adrenal-supporting foods include:
Sea salt, grass-fed beef liver, oranges, coconut water, avocados, and mineral-rich bone broth.
10. Address the Root Cause
Most importantly, address underlying causes of inflammation such as toxicity, mold, gut issues, or infections — otherwise, the adrenals will continue to burn out again.
So important. You need to fix the roots — otherwise you are simply going to shrivel the leaves again.
What to do:
Go see a naturopath or a functional medicine doctor who specializes in testing for toxicity, mold, gut issues, or infections so you know the real root cause and the path to healing. (Here’s the link to my doctor)
Test for toxicity, mold exposure, infections, gut imbalance
Follow a targeted protocol based on data
🌱 Heal the root, and the whole system can grow strong again.
Final Word
Ok guys, that is the list.
In this period, I know it sometimes is difficult to put the brakes on and begin to return to base, but do this for 2 weeks to a month and watch your energy skyrocket, your optimism for life rise, the colors brighten, and your performance, productivity, and fulfillment be at their highest.
And if you ever want to hop on a call to discuss, we can set up a plan for your whole biohacking journey (Dm me for more info)
Now go rest, and love yourself — you deserve it.
I’m grateful to my partners who create amazing health & wellness products.
Disclaimer. I am not a doctor. This is just some random stuff I learned on the internet. Pretend it’s a story. Ok bye.
OMG. Thank you so much! These are the exact symptoms I experience right now. I've already tried many things and got great support with 2 Burnout specialists but I feel this is the missing key !