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.
