There are many things that we do to maintain our adrenal health (or more specifically, our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal health) on a regular basis.
After struggling with HPA-dysfunction for years it is an aspect of our health that we stay consistently committed to.
We aim to keep many foods on hand to maintain our HPAhealth such as bone broth, various hormone-health-promoting teas, and several notable juices.
But, as with everything that we do for our health, staying with these practices can take some time and effort, and it can be really easy to start making excuses for why you can’t do them.
“It’s too hot in the summer for bone broth or hot tea.”
“I have way too much on my plate to think about adding beneficial juices to my water every day.” (Sound familiar? We’ve totally been there!)
In an attempt to simplify life, this recipe–which incorporates a wide spectrum of HPA-D friendly ingredients–was born.
Helping out your adrenals (and your hormone health overall) by eating some gummies after dinner? That’s something we can stick with!
The Players
So what makes the gummy ingredients so good for adrenal and hormone health? As it turns out, this crew helps out our endocrine systems from many different angles.
Raspberry leaf tea has long been used for addressing hormonal imbalances (we’re talking centuries!) thanks to its incredibly high mineral content that can aid in appropriate hormone synthesis.
Likewise, lavender tea has been used throughout the world for its stress-reducing properties, which therefore also aids in adrenal fatigue. But it wasn’t until recently that several studies came out suggesting that lavender works by helping to decrease cortisol production when it rises at inappropriate times.
Both pomegranate juice and fresh squeezed lime juice are loaded with Vitamin C, which is crucial for sex hormone balancing. Most notably, vitamin C has been researched as an aid in increasing progesterone levels.
Progesterone levels tend to plummet the most with HPA-dysfunction. Since low sex hormone productions negatively impacts feedback loops to the hypothalamus and the pituitary, and therefore the adrenals, addressing these imbalances is especially important.
Glutathione and Detoxification
Additionally, pomegranate juice helps increase glutathione levels in the body, a very important antioxidant, which can help lower inflammation and help support good liver function.
While these processes again can seem unrelated to HPA-D, the proper functioning of these bodily functions is integral to attaining and maintaining hormonal balance.
In fact, detoxing is so incredibly important to hormone health, that we offer whole-food based group detoxes and suggest that anyone trying to balance hormones considers this crucial step first.
As you can see, HPA dysfunction can be incredibly nuanced and requires the interplay of a lot of moving parts to truly overcome and improve.
That’s why we strongly recommend that people with adrenal and hormonal problems get guidance from health care providers who can order the appropriate labs and consequently come up with a holistic plan to address all the different aspects of health, like we do in our Healthy Hormones Group Program.
Check out this easy recipe for a simple way to start supporting your hormonal balance and improving your menstrual cycle problems!
Adrenal Gummies for HPA Dysfunction and Menstrual Cycle Problems
Ingredients:
- ½ tablespoon raspberry leaf tea
- ½ tablespoon lavender tea
- 1 cup water, boiled
- ½ cup pomegranate juice, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon gelatin
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- fresh squeezed juice from 1 small lime
Steps:
- First, you’re going to be making a tea blend out of your raspberry leaf tea and lavender tea. Start by placing the loose leaf teas into a tea strainer (or cheesecloth, if that’s what you have) and then steeping it in your cup of a hot water for about 5 minutes. (If you just have tea bags, we recommend steeping 2 of each kind of tea in your cup of hot water)
- While your raspberry leaf and lavender tea brews, place the tablespoon of gelatin into a small pyrex mixing bowl.
- Add the ½ cup of pomegranate juice to your gelatin and stir well until everything is combined.
- Once your teas have brewed, add the hot tea into your pomegranate juice and gelatin mixture. Stir well again.
- Let everything cool for about 5 minutes. (This is so that the boiling hot water doesn’t degrade the vitamin C in the lime and the enzymes from the raw honey)
- Add in the raw honey and lime juice and whisk everything together well one last time.
- Pour your almost-done gummies into a 9-by-9 baking pan and refrigerate overnight (or until the gummies have set).
- Cut into squares (bonus points for cutting them into cute shapes!) and enjoy.
Note: this recipe isn’t overly sweet so the kiddos in your house may not be very interested. If they are, it’s best for them to stick to a portion every now and again but I wouldn’t let them go overboard.
Ready to balance and support your hormones and adrenals? We are offering a 12 week Healthy Hormone Group Program that will be starting on September 27th, 2018.
XOXO,
