Love your adrenals, part 2
I LOVE the new television channel FMTV (Food Matters Television (http://www.fmtv.com/) aimed at increasing awareness of health and well-being of mind, body, emotions and spirit.
Many of the programmes featured tackle the importance of making responsible choices with the food we consume to maximise our health potential.
One of the key messages is rather than struggle with cutting out the less desirable foods just focus on adding more good into the diet. With this positive thought in mind, I challenged myself to 30 days of juicing without worrying about changing anything else.
Keeping it simple was key, I needed to add to my energy reserves and not to my to do list! I dug out my ancient juicer, dusted it off and watched it creak lovingly into action after years of inaction.
When we are under continuous stress, our bodies use and lose essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. If we don’t take steps to alleviate stress, we suffer the consequences and my last blog talked through typical symptoms we may expect to experience.
So why juice? We need to start supporting our overworked adrenals and nervous system and provide them with nourishing fuel. Here are some of the ways juicing can help to do this:
- A fast and concentrated hit of phyto-nutrients, vitamins and minerals straight into the cells
- Easy to digest and packed with enzymes to ease digestive processes (stress often leads to poor digestion)
- Easy to absorb (under stress our absorption ability is often compromised)
- Powerful healing and rejuvenating properties to the whole body and different fruit and vegetables can be used to help target different issues
- Simple to drink (challenging to eat and digest the equivalent in raw vegetables!)
- Boosts energy and endurance
- Reduces toxicity and acidity in the body (both of which stress and poor dietary choices tend to cause) and eliminates waste from the liver and kidneys.
When to juice?
Ideally first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, when the body is naturally cleansing after fasting and is better able to absorb the nutrients.
What to juice? Top tips
- A higher ratio of green vegetables to fruit (fruit can boost blood sugar too quickly)
- Organic or locally grown (higher nutrient content and free from pesticides)
- Choose vegetables and fruit for their nutrient content (i.e. Those rich in B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium etc for helping stressed adrenals. This is a good link (http://www.health-alternatives.com/vitamins-nutrition-chart.html)
Recipe
I tested out this principle and made up the following recipe, knowing that dark green leafy vegetables tend to be high in magnesium, parsley, cucumber and lemon are good sources of vitamin C, celery helps regulate fluid levels, sprouted seeds are rich in nutrients and enzymes etc.
Marianna’s Adrenal Magic Mocktail:
A stick of celery
A handful of kale (or dark green leafy veg)
A chunk of cucumber
A piece of root ginger
A handful of parsley
A few stems of broccoli (purple sprouting currently)
A thick slice of lemon (pith in but peel off if not organic)
Small green apple
Optional extras to enhance the nutrient value:
A dash of Molkosan for digestive delight!
A handful of Biosnacky sprouted seeds of choice
It’s not an exact science, try whatever takes your fancy!
So 30 days on and here’s what I’ve noticed:
- Juicing is easy with a bit of planning and a willingness to experiment Remove full stop
- My energy levels have definitely improved
- My skin is brighter
- My mind is clearer
- My digestive health has significantly improved
- My hormonal cycle and PMT were much less noticeable
- My desire for sweet (cakes and chocolate) and salt (cheese) has definitely reduced add full stop
I love that by simply putting in more good I am naturally and willingly letting go of some of my less desirable eating habits (which hinder healing from stress) in favour of healthier choices. Would I have continued had I not noticed so many benefits? Probably not. However I am now 33 days in, I have passed the key 21 days needed to change a habit and I am fully committed to continuing!
There are a wealth of juicing tips and tricks on the Internet. I loved Joe Cross and his film Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (http://fatsickandnearlydead.org/is-juicing-for-you/) and Food Matters website (http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/treating-chronic-fatigue-and-adrenal-fatigue-naturally). So if you want a simple start to help and heal your adrenals, try juicing and let us know how you get on!
