This is Dr. Lam, founder of drlam.com and the Adrenal Fatigue Center. One of the most frequently asked questions is concerning the use of glandulars in the case of adrenal fatigue recovery. And we’ll talk about that more today. Now adrenal gland supplements varies from vitamins to glandulars to herbals to steroids that can be natural or chemical. Now in the case of glandular it must be remembered that glandular is nothing more than the glands of animals, such as from the porcine source, that is grinded up and refined and processed, and then put it into oral form. Now the purpose of these glandulars is to replicate the cellular structure of the glands that they come from. So for example, glandulars of the pancreas would mimic pancreatic tissue, and as a result would have insulin-like properties. Similarly, the glandulars from adrenal glands would have that similar characteristic.
Now glandulars has been very popular many, many years ago when there is really no ability to understand what is inside the pancreas, or in the case of adrenal, what is inside the adrenal glands. In the case of the pancreas for example, just by way of example, the use of glandulars has actually been reduced and almost nonexistent nowadays since we understand that the real chemical responsible is insulin. And you can just get insulin so much easier, more able to be standardized and effective. In the case of adrenal glandulars we’re not quite there yet. Now we do know that the adrenal glands make over 50 hormones including pregnenolone, DHEA, progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol, just to name a few. So the point of using glandulars for adrenals is to mimic and support the adrenal gland.
So in principle this concept seems to make a lot of sense and that’s why its use is quite widespread. Now there are certain problems with glandulars that one has to deal with. First of all, different source of glandulars in adrenal have different potency and different purification, and standardization is very difficult. In another words, you cannot compare glandular A from company A from country A to glandular B from country B because there’s no way to compare. On top of that, the body’s characteristic in terms of its response to glandulars also varies, depends on the state of the adrenal function. This is oftentimes not factored into consideration. In another words, if a person is strong their reaction and behavior to glandular intake can be very, very different from the person who is weak in adrenal functions. And oftentimes. depends on the strength of the glandulars, it can give you small energy increase, medium energy increase, or even a lot of energy increase. So oftentimes it can be misunderstood as if the body is now working and the adrenal glands are healed. While in effect the glandulars, what it really does is to mask the underlying problem by continue to stimulate the body by supplying the resources and the chemical hormones that the body puts out. Now this can be of short term benefit and glandulars does have its place at the right time and the right place. But if indiscriminate use is the practice then oftentimes glandulars can do more harm than good over a long period of time.
So, smart use of glandulars and adrenal gland supplements has to be titrated properly. This not only relates to glandular, it can be herbs as well as vitamins as well. But in glandular is particularly more critical because of its possible negative effect if it’s not titrated properly. Proper use has to match the body’s ability to take it in, process, and delivery the clinical outcome. And that requires a lot of professional knowledge as well as clinical experience. If you have mild adrenal fatigue you can try. But if your adrenal fatigue is severe do seek professional help before you embark on any such program is the best advice.
