Making your own Adrenal Support Herbal

As most of you know, I have fought my way back from adrenal fatigue, and now I help other people to do the same.  Adrenal support supplements of various kinds are very useful tools in this process.  Many of them use herbs that support the adrenals, such as ashwagandha, siberian ginseng, schisandra and rhodiola.

I decided recently to try my hand at making my own herbal extract for adrenal support.  This allows me to get to know these herbs better, save some money on supplements, and, my favorite part, to feel more in touch with my own healing.  I consulted with an Expert Herbalist who is a friend of mine in designing this remedy.

STEP ONE: Get some herbs
I chose the following for my herbal.  Mainly, I chose herbs I have taken before, not too many, and fairly small amounts to make one jar of extract, as this was kind of an experiment for me.  Where I live, I can buy raw herbs like these. Your other option would be to order them online.

I bought the following:

• ASHWAGANDHA 1 1/4 ounce
• SIBERIAN GINSENG 1 ounce
• SCHISANDRA BERRIES 1 ounce
• ASTRAGALUS 1 ounce
• MILK THISTLE 1 ounce

I had planned on also buying 3/4 ounce of Rhodiola, but the store was out, so my mixture does not have any Rhodiola in it.  Just a caution, some people really feel great taking Rhodiola and others don't, so make sure you have taken something containing Rhodiola with success if you plan to put it in your mixture.

STEP TWO: Get some alcohol
My herbalist friend told me that brandy and vodka are great types of alcohol to use to extract herbs.  She thinks brandy works particularly well, and I had some in the cupboard for cooking, so that's what I used.  So basically, get yourself some brandy or vodka, it doesn't have to be particularly good quality to work well for this purpose, just whatever you can get.

STEP THREE: Sterilize a Glass Jar
You always want to extract herbs in glass, not other type of container.  Grab yourself a glass jar with a good lid, and get it very clean - put it through the dishwasher, or boil it.

STEP FOUR:  Measure out the Herbs.  Then measure out the alcohol - 1 to 2 times as much as the herbs by volume.
The strength of herbal extractions is measured in parts herb to parts alcohol, and it's not by weight, it's by VOLUME.  Put your dry herbs all together in a glass measuring cup and see how much volume they have.  Now pour that same volume of vodka or brandy into another glass measuring cup.  That's how much you would need for a 1:1 extract.   The more herbs compared to the amount of alcohol, the stronger the extract.  You will see lots of 1:1 or 2:1 extracts on the market.  1:1 is pretty strong.  2:1 means twice as much alcohol as herbs.  I added about one and a half times as much alcohol as the herbs, to make a 3:2 extract - get it, 3 parts alcohol, to 2 parts herbs, right?  Mostly, I did that because that's how much my jar would hold.

FIVE: Put your herbs in the jar.  Add the alcohol.  Get it all wet.  Shake it up.
Put the herbs in first.  Stir them to mix them up together.  Pour in the alcohol.  Take a clean stainless steel spoon and stir it around to get all the herbs wet.  It will take a few minutes.  Wet down any little pockets of dry herbs remaining.  Put the lid on tight.  Label it carefully with exactly what's in it and the date.  Shake it up for around 10 minutes, at least 200 times, all around, upside down, until it looks super wet and saturated.

SIX: Put it in a dark cupboard for TWO WEEKS.  Shake it every few days.
Keep it in a dark place.  Your extract will take a full fourteen days to be ready.  You will want to give it about 50 shakes every 2-3 days.  It doesn't need as thorough a shaking as you just did, just slosh it around, up and down, upside down, and put it back.

SEVEN: Strain it sweeten it, and USE it!
After two weeks, you can strain all or part of your extract.  It is ready to use.  I strained about 1/3 of mine, and left the rest to soak longer.  It's fine to do that.  My herbalist friend says you can leave it to soak for as long as you want.  Strain it through a coffee filter lining a strainer, into a glass container.  It will take awhile.  After that, you can cook it to reduce it down, or just sweeten it and use it as is. 

Add something to sweeten it to taste.  You can make up little "shots" to experiment with various sweeteners, such as agave, vegetable glycerine or palm sugar, date sugar, coconut sugar, stevia, maple syrup, etc.  Many herbalists will use a mixture of sweeteners to make it palatable.  I added a touch of molasses and some honey.  It tastes ok to take a dropper or two at a time, which is how much I take.

Put it in a sterile glass bottle with a dropper - I boiled an empty one I had from another herb.  Make sure to label and date your new bottle so you know what's in it.  Alcohol extracts stay viable for quite a long time, at least 3 years.  They do not need refrigeration.

At a professional herb company, they would typically strain the extract at least twice, to get it clear, flavor it, and bottle it into glass bottles that have been boiled. 


Note that there's a lot to the herbmaking craft that is not included here.  It's important to extract each herb in the way that is well-suited to it, and to carefully construct your blends.  This is just an example of a good beginners blend that might be really useful to you.


Happy herbmaking!

Stress And Aging: 5 Ways Chronic Stress Can Affect The Aging Process

NOTE: At FDN Health, we would add the following note to this great article on stress and aging:  Stress isn't just from outside your body.  There can be lots of underlying health issues stressing out your adrenals without you knowing it.   Work with an FDN, and take extra stress off your body!

Chronic stress has been shown to have a number of negative health impacts, from insomnia to weight gain to an increased risk for heart disease -- not to mention impairing the immune and digestive systems as well as the central nervous system. And when it comes to aging, we've all heard that worrying will give you wrinkles, but is the science there to back up the idea that stress accelerates aging? Although more research is still needed on the exact mechanisms by which psychological stress contributes to biological aging, what we do know is that stress can be a contributor to premature aging.

“When we’re under ongoing stress, it creates that fight-or-flight reaction in an unrelenting way, and as a result, stress chemicals are released into the body. What we know so far is that the release of those stress chemicals creates biological changes,” Dr. Vivian Diller, PhD, tells the Huffington Post. “It’s very possible that if you have a life filled with that constant stress, little by little the body is breaking down.”

To determine what those biological changes actually look like, Diller explains, we have to go down to the cellular level, and research is beginning to shed light on this process. Scroll through the list below for five ways that stress can impact the aging process. 

1. Job Stress Can Damage Cells, Leading To Early Aging.
A 2012 study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, found that work-related exhaustion can can have a harmful effect on critical DNA in the cells. Researchers measured the length of DNA sections called telomeres, and found that individuals with the most job stress had the shortest telomeres -- and when telomeres become too short, the cells can die or become damaged. Those who did not experience work exhaustion had longer telomeres. Telomere shortening has been linked to Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, the study notes.
“We know that the telomeres [wear down] over time, but possibly anxiety and stress may expedite that," says Diller. "That is the closest we’ve gotten to understanding the relationship between stress and how our body may age faster.” 

2. Even The Anticipation Of Stress May Accelerate Cellular Aging.

UC San Francisco research found that the mere anticipation of stress can increase an individual's risk of age-related disorders. In the study, 50 women (half of whom were caretakers for a patient with dementia, and therefore presumably deal with daily stress) were told that they would have to engage in public speaking or math problems. The study found that those who felt most threatened by the anticipation of the stressful event exhibited greater signs of aging on the cellular level. The researchers proposed in a university release that greater anticipated threat levels in daily life may promote cellular aging in chronically stressed persons. There's still research that needs to be done ("The science is a little grey here," says Diller), but already it is beginning to pinpoint some ways that stress affects the aging process. 

3. Stress Ages The Brain.
Chronic stress has been shown to contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease, and recent research has shown that greater stress may be the reason that some women's brains age more prematurely than men's. UC Berkeley scientists found that the pattern of gene activation and deactivation that occurs as the brain ages seemed to progress more quickly in women.  "A higher stress load could be driving the female brain towards faster aging-related decline," researcher Mehmet Somel told New Scientist. 

4. Stress Can Lead To Vision & Hearing Loss.
In addition to speeding up heart rate and increasing blood pressure, production of the stress hormone adrenaline can also lead to temporary vision and hearing loss.
"With prolonged and repeated adrenaline production, that’s when we see a constriction of blood vessels, which may relate to a decrease in hearing and vision," says Diller. “We don’t know if these are permanent losses, but we definitely begin to behave and feel less vital if adrenaline is constantly pumping.” 

5. Chronic Stress Can Contribute To An Unhealthy Lifestyle.
"What stress does -- aside from these brain changes, bone changes, and chemical changes -- is that people tend to take care of themselves less," says Diller. "People who are under stress are known to eat more poorly, exercise less, drink more, and probably rely on medication. All of those things are going to show up on your body."

Developing healthy habits is critical to aging well. Regular exercise protects the aging brain, and conversely, sleep deprivation can accelerate aging. And as you get older, good nutrition becomes increasingly important in how the body ages, according to WebMD.

The takeaway? Cultivating a less stressful lifestyle may not only promote healthy aging in its own right, but also by setting the foundation for other habits that are crucial to successful aging.

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Adrenal Dysfunction Video with Reed Davis

Reed Davis, Founder of FDN, talks about adrenal dysfunction, an extremely common hormonal imbalance that often lies at the root of health challenges. Unfortunately, most doctors completely ignore it.  Testing for adrenal dysfunction is one of the cornerstones of FDN.

Watch this video on Youtube