5 tips for balanced energy
BY: Andrea Nakayama
DATE: 2018-03-01
adrenals…
You may know exactly what they are, what they do and where they sit in your body.
Or, you may just have heard the term “adrenal fatigue”.
So many people these days have decreased energy levels that the use of this phrase has virtually become synonymous with everyday living!
Your adrenals are the gland that secrete your “fight-or-fight” hormones. Those two primary hormones are cortisol and adrenaline. The glands will readily release excesses of those hormones under times of stress, flooding the system with a profusion of biochemicals that send your body and brain into a tailspin.
Evidence of taxed adrenals can take many forms:
weight gain (especially around the belly)
severe fatigue
depression, anxiety and overwhelm
skin troubles such as dry skin, hair and nails
and a cascade of other hormone challenges including PMS, infertility, low libido, challenged menopause and more!
This is why I love the FxNA Winter Cleanse: Truly Food Ways to Nurture your Adrenal Health where we get to support and begin to bring balance to those poor little stressed out glands and their hormones.
Here’s where I have to confess…
I’ve been working like a dog lately. While I knew that the last two months were going to be a stretch, knowing and doing are two different things. Through it all, I’m so thankful that I have my handy-dandy toolbox of tricks to keep be feeling energized, alert and balanced. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be sitting here writing to you right now!
It’s this toolbox that I’ll share with you during the FxNA Winter Cleanse. But I wanted to give you a few pointers right here!
my top 5 tips for supporting balanced energy:
Reduce or eliminate caffeine
Balance blood sugar (ditch the rollercoaster)
Avoid the feeling of deprivation (wait until you try the food on the Winter Cleanse!)
Sleep! (to bed, to bed sleepy head)
Find your cradle…(these are the places where you feel most held and supported!)
Just what does this have to do with feeling Dandy?
Well, the Dandy Blend in my cupboard serves each one of my goals for supporting my adrenal hormones and harnessing my stamina and moxie in even the most trying times.
Dandy Blend is one of those instant herbal coffee substitutes, and I love it.
It’s caffeine-free, gluten-free, non-GMO and super yummy IMO. It adds just a touch of sweetness to every drink while still keeping that full-bodied flavor.
Lately I’ve been experimenting with it in smoothies (see below) and elixirs (check out Megan’s Morning Elixir boosted with grass-fed collagen) with great and varied results.
And it keeps the Top 5 in check.
I can easily reduce the caffeine with a viable substitute.
I balance my blood sugar by sipping delicious and warming drinks between meals when needed.
I totally side-step the deprivation by indulging in the yumminess.
Sleep is more dreamy as a result of not coffee-dipping.
And I most definitely find some cradling support with my hands wrapped around a warm mug of goodness on these chilly (and snowy) winter days.
Check!
All 5 tips for supporting my balanced energy in one Dandy cup of brew. I’ll take it! I hope you’ll join me too!
Warmly,
P.S. Dandy Blend is made from the water-soluble extracts of five ingredients; three roots and two grains (barley and rye), not from the ingredients themselves. This is how it can contain the extract of those glutenous grains and still be gluten-free. You can read more about how that works by clicking right here.
dandy green superfood smoothie
This has become one of my favorite blood-sugar balancing and energizing ways to start the morning in the cool winter months. It’s infinitely adaptable. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the exact ingredients. Play around and give it a smoothie whirl!
Ingredients
2 cups water
1-2 tablespoon inner-eco liquid coconut probiotic kefir
1 scoop protein powder (my current favorite is a straight-up collagen protein powder)
1 green apple, chopped
1 handful spinach, washed
1 small knob fresh ginger (about thumbnail sized)
2 teaspoons Dandy Blend powder
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 pinch sea salt
1 good-sized-squirt liquid vanilla stevia
preparation
With a high-speed blender, throw all ingredients into the container and blend on low-medium for about one minute. (If you don’t own a high-speed blender like a Vitamix or a Blentec, chop all ingredients more thoroughly before attempting to blend.)
serves 1 to 2
By: Andrea Nakayama, FxNA Founder & Functional Medicine Nutritionist
Functional Nutrition Alliance provides the comprehensive online Functional Nutrition training in the Science & Art of the Functional Nutrition practice. Learn to address the roots of your clients’ suffering with client education, diet & lifestyle modifications.