Recipe: Hormone Balancing Smoothie
The Pursuit of Balance
As women we all have a tough time juggling everything in our lives, work, fitness, health, kids, a partner, friends, hobbies, pets, AAHHH…how do we do it all! It feels impossible!
This is what I have discovered, achieving a perfect balance in life is an on-going journey not a destination.
While it’s the ultimate goal to feel balanced in our lives, life unwittingly throws us twists and turns and unwelcome change can come like a fast moving, smoke spewing freight train. It can be overwhelming.
Achieving Hormonal Balance
During my most over-whelmed states, I remind myself that what we can control or should I dare say balance, is our inner selves and our hormones are a big part of our inner balance.
As a woman in my 40’s wanting to desperately conceive a baby, I was deeply invested in learning about hormonal balance. As I delved deeper and deeper into the critical importance of functioning hormones, I began to think of them as busy little honey bees making sure my body’s nectar was flowing to all of my cells.
You see our hormones behave similar to the operating system of a computer, they relay information throughout our blood stream to all of our vital organs. Hormones are our body’s hardwiring ensuring everything is running smoothly. If our hormones get out of wack by raising too high or dropping too low, we can experience a range of issues from fatigue to immunity and metabolic disorders to reproduction issues.
Properly functioning hormones boost brain health, control much of what we feel, fight off harmful viruses and bacteria, and keep us youthful. Who doesn’t want glowing skin!
Manage Stress
One of the biggest ways to help ensure hormonal health is to manage stress. Cortisol is the stress hormone and when it frequently spikes or stays high, it can produce anxiety, lowered immunity, kidney malfunction, suppression of the body’s natural sex hormones, and fatigue to the point of adrenal exhaustion. Stress can’t always be avoided but it can be managed. Meditation and yoga are two medically proven ways to dramatically reduce stress.
Meditate & Yoga
A daily five minute meditation can do wonders for lowering pesky cortisol. One of my favorite meditations is focusing on a four breath count during the inhale and a four breath count during the exhale. Counting while meditating assists in deeper breaths as well as a focus shift away from the constant brain chatter.
One of my favorite yoga positions while I was trying to conceive was the camel pose. Camel pose helps to regulate hormones by triggering the hormone glands in the neck region.
Reduce Sugar
Reducing sugar intake is another way we can control our hormonal balance. Balanced blood sugar is critical for hormonal health. When we eat too much sugar or refined carbohydrates, excess insulin is produced and this in turn increases an enzyme responsible for estrogen production. Excess estrogen causes irritability, chronic fatigue, inability to concentrate, and lack of sex drive.
I am a recovering sugaraholic and my go to sweetener to start my day is a fruit smoothie. Who needs sugar cane! If I can happily reduce sugar as a complete addict, you can too!
Maca Superfood
I add maca powder to my morning smoothie for an additional natural hormone balancer. Maca is derived from a Peruvian root crop and it is most known for increasing stamina and libido. This super food supports the body’s natural production of numerous hormones, increasing or decreasing their levels according to what you individually need. An added benefit of this powerhouse food rich in magnesium, healthy fatty acids, vitamins C, A, B2, B6, iron, zinc, iodine, calcium, and potassium, is the suppression of cortisol. Maca gives cortisol a one two punch.
When purchasing super foods and supplements, always know where they are being sourced, not all are create equal. I like Mighty Maca Plus because it’s organic and sourced from Peru.
Keep your hormones happy and you keep your mind and body happy regardless of how fast the world is spinning around you.
See recipe below for a quick, easy and delicious way to incorporate Maca powder into your diet!
Recipe:
Hormone Balancing Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
1 medium ripe banana (either frozen or at room temp) 1 cup | 250 ml. hemp milk (Hemp has more calcium than diary, is packed with essential fatty acids and is a body anti-inflammatory.) 1/2 cup | 70 gr. fresh blueberries (Blueberries are superfood heroes!) 1/2 avocado (Avocados are loaded with fiber, potassium, healthy fats, and make smoothies super creamy - YUM!) 1/4 tsp cinnamon (Cinnamon helps to lower blood sugar levels.)
1 tsp maca 1 tsp shatavari (Balances the female hormones, strengthens the eggs and increases fertility.) 1/4 tsp ashwaganda ( Ashwaganda helps to regenerate the endocrine system and it strengthens the female body in any phase of the menstrual cycle.)
Tips for Hormonal Balance:
Eat a healthy balanced diet
Exercise
Manage Stress
Incorporate a daily 5 min. breath meditation
Please always consult a doctor if you are having any questions or issues about your hormonal health.
Yum Leigh! I’m going to make this in the morning!