Dealing with everyday stress and challenge is never easy and especially when there is a pandemic throughout the planet. Right away there are stories coming from everywhere, and I know here in Mexico, reports, and alerts daily on your cell phone. So there is panic, overthinking, worry and anxiety. The sympathetic nervous system going into overdrive and “reacts” with fight or flight hormones and then the parasympathetic system perceives the stress and the body reacts and digestion slows and now food doesn’t get digested and begins to build ama(toxins) and then illness occurs or a lowered, weakened immune system.
We can battle stress though and get prepared to deal with crisis or stress that pop up daily. Adaptogens, are a select group of herbs that support the body’s natural ability to deal with stress. Adaptogens are medicinal herbs that help get stress, inflammation, pollutants, fatigue under control…they help the physiological functions normalize in the body. This is important during pandemics.
Ashwagandha is one of those adaptogens that help the body deal with stress naturally. It normalizes your physiological functions in the body. It will help with inflammation, help combat pollutants and fatigue. The best thing during this time is that it LOWERS Cortisol levels! Cortisol is a stress hormone that can send your adrenal glands into overdrive, causing you to feel exhausted and weak. Spikes in Cortisol levels can also send blood pressure through the roof, so it is important in times of stress to keep blood pressure down, especially if you have heart conditions. Ashwagandha also helps speed up recovery times! Another bonus for sure! I have heard that pregnant and breastfeeding mother’s should not take Ashwagandha.
When buying Ashwagandha get an organic brand, one that has 250-300 mg per serving and one that is not synthetic and has no fillers. It is also great to pair this with tumeric . Tumeric has Curcumin as an active compound which is linked to many, many health benefits and one of them is it is high in antioxidants. Tumeric also helps your body fight foreign invaders and speeds up healing and recovery times. A perfect pair! So, how do you enjoy these two WONDER Herbs? You can add the to a smoothie, add to a glass of warm nut milk or plant milk. For tumeric, you can boil Corriander seed, fennel seed and a touch of cumin seed and boil for 5 mins. Strain and pour into your cup. I would add a 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric at this time….let it dissolve and enjoy! This is a great digestive tea and its important to keep your digestive track healthy. Tumeric can be sprinkled over rice, potatoes, pasta, salad. All we have to do during this time is keep calm, know that this will not last, protect yourself by keeping your body calm and healthy. Adapt to stress using Adaptogens and please don’t hoard and leave your neighbors that may not have the ability to go out and buy 100’s of dollars of canned goods and tissue products in one shop. Be safe my friends. #IAMJOANNEandthisisME
Smoothie Recipe
1 cup Almond Milk or any other nut or plant milk
2 frozen bananas
a nub of ginger
1 tsp organic cacao
1 tsp Ashwagandha
1/2 tsp tumeric
kale or spinach
natural organic yogurt
Blend and enjoy!
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