Green Week picts and books on tape

Happy Wednesday folks!

How is your Earth Week going? Are you helping Mother Earth take a much needed load of her stressful shoulders. I hope so, and I hope you don't stop once Sunday rolls around. Just remember that every little change makes a difference! And you know what? Saving the planet can be delicious. You think we eat "rabbit food" and that it's plain and tasteless? Check out my blogroll and you will be pleasantly surprised at how delicious and creative food can really be. We have to change our mindset people! We need to think outside the box and to not go with the flow of society. Going with the flow means...fake emotions, fast food, being someone you aren't, being pumped with drugs that don't work, and on and on. We need people to break away from this mold and to be who they are deep down inside and to connect with nature once again. Do your dig me? Okay, I'm off my soap box now...let's talk about some food.

As you may already know, Meghan Telpner's tutorial 5 Days Healing with Everyday Superfoods is taking place this week. As I am the lucky owner of this tutorial, I've been reading and following along with a few of her amazing recipes. After my morning TT workout yesterday (anyone love burpees?...ya, 8 rounds of these bad boys and I hate them! which means I really love them after its all said and done:) I made Meghan's Super-powered Breakfast smoothie, which she so kindly posted about here. It was delish and a new experience for me as I usually am very plain-jane when it comes to my smoothies -greens, fruit, cinnamon, and Vega. It was really good and had me filled right up! I made a few changes to include what I had on hand. I didn't have any goji's, I used almond butter instead of almonds, and I used cacao powder instead of nibs.

Beautiful color and so nutritionally dense...mmm!

A little proof for the Green Week Challenge that I actually drank my green monster:)

Later on in the morning I made Meghan's Superhero Balls. Oh boy! These were so rich and delicious.

Check out those white chia seeds and the rich cacao..yum!


RICH..in 15 minutes:)

For Lunch I had a lovely salad with avocado and sprouts. I made Kelli's Sweet Lime Cilantro Dressing. You have to make this..sooo good!

Ingredients ready to become dressing goodness!

Just a little bit left.I devoured most of it:)

Green power, baby!

I am also chugging along in my study of The Language of medicine. I'm trying to get an edge for when I get into ND school:) It felt so good to read and feel the hot sun..ahh. I also drank some ginger tea.

Terminology anyone? The first chapter was all about suffixes and combining terms. A lot of info but I feel like I learned a lot already!

I also wanted to show you how the veggie babies are doing. I love watching them grow everyday:)


Can't wait to plant these babies in the garden! I hope my green thumb stays green..lol!

I finally made it to Breaking Dawn in the Twilight Saga. I read New Moon like mad fire and was so excited to get Breaking Dawn from the library but someone had already taken it out...boo! As I didn't want to go buy it or wait for the person to return it, I decided to get it on audio somewhere. It's definitely a different experience. I'm not sure if I will do it again as I find I try to do other things when the voices are talking. When I have to read the words for myself, I need to concentrate hard so I can get the "feel" of the book and its characters. It's fun at the same time though as I am flying through the chapters:) Do you ever get books on tape? I'm thinking they would be great if I had a long bus or car trip to go on.

Have a great day!

PS Averie is having a beautiful giveaway of a custom necklace. So head on over to her site and enter! This giveaway ends tomorrow!

Inside Oso Negro, learning to have patience, and weekend eats

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? I had a lovely time with lots of sunshine..I even see my skin is slightly darker!Yay! I also had a little issue with my knees that I'll get to that later on. I also enjoyed a couple dandilion latte's ....I'm officially addicted! I have talked a lot about chilling at my fav coffee shop, Oso Negro, but I haven't shown you any picts. Today, I'm going to change that! The building is actually a house that they converted into a coffee shop so that in itself gives it this homey feeling.

I love all the beams and the sunken in area in the middle. They also feature local art which is always changing so it's like going to a gallery every weekend..you never know what is going to be featured.


Sweet patio hey? Its so spacious and the wood benches are gorgeous and surprisingly comfortable. As this is a very wood-loving town, it only made sense that they honored that and used the beautiful oak for the benches.

Check out this cool piece of art..something to do with the world and at axis.




Ry with the "world in his hand"...lol!

This beautiful Magnolia (I think that is what it's called) brought amazing color to the patio.

Ta Da!!! The infamous dandelion latte with rice milk..yuumm!

The hubby with his delish dark roast. Check out the curved bench:)

I love this place and for what they stand for. They brew organic coffee and roast their coffee beans in Nelson. They feature locally made treats, most of them are vegan and some are gluten-free, all look amazing. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the goodie case. If you ever pass through Nelson in your travels, you need to stop there. Really, its a must:) And...check out my new shades....

Pink aviators!!! Oh, ya! I'm pretty bad with my sunglasses. I lose at least one pair every summer by either sitting on them or leaving them at a counter somewhere.
So, I don't buy expensive shades but I love these and I'll try extra hard to hold onto them.

As I said on Friday, I was going to go on run #2 as the weather was too good to ignore. I actually wore shorts for the first time..isn't that the best?

I was really excited to get to wear these as I've owned them for a couple of years and they never fit. You know one of those "oh these are on sale and cute" buys..lol. But a Whole foods diet does a body good:)

Besides the cute polka dots, I really love that these don't have a zipper or buttons, they just have the criss-cross tie-up on the side! I like clothing that's unique:)

The run went well and with all the vacant benches, I was able to do 3 sets of 10 push-ups on the back side of the benches along the run. It was so nice to have the sun on my face and to listen to some bumpin' music on my ipod. Yet, the next morning my right knee was super tight and somewhat swollen. I had to limp most of the day and took the day off from the gym. I was really frustrated and thought that maybe my knees were back to their old, injured self. I push myself hard, I want to do as much as I can for my body, yet, sometimes its too much. I was confused too because I felt great after my first run. If it was the running you'd think the knees would swell every time. So, I re-traced my actions of the day and remembered that I had hit my shoe very hard on a raised part of concrete the day before. So, the running must have just egged it on, so to speak. I woke up Sunday morning and it felt better and I was prepared to go to the gym but I need to learn to give my body time. It knows what to do and I wish it could relay that information onto my selfish mind would learn to lay low when needed. I decided to take another day, just to be safe. Just because I want to complete my weeks work of TT workouts, doesn't mean that my body is up to it. I'm learning (slowly) to listen to my body, but I'm no expert. I know that I did a good thing by not lifting or doing intervals this weekend, yet I feel like I failed my program. I want to overcome this mentality because in essence I won because now I won't have a major injury to deal with which could put me out weeks. Do you have patience with your body? Do you allow things to heal fully before getting back into the game?


Now onto some good eats! Friday was a pantry dinner that was lentils with onions, carrots, and cabbage with pasta sauce..kind of like sloppy joes without the bread. Delish and filling!

I love this dish as it takes so little time to make. Cooking the lentils is the only limiting factor. The rest of the dish takes 5 minutes. So, 35 minutes total = perfect!


I ate a lot of salads with an abundance of sprouts. This salad had clover, daikon radish, and broccoli sprouts. I covered the veggies with some delish tahini-miso-ginger dressing.

Oh yum! I could literally lick the bowl this stuff is so good!

I love fried onions..its my one cooked food that still makes its presence often. I also love it mixed with quinoa and then...a little ketchup. You might think that its not appetizing at all. That's fine.. It's one of those foodie things for me..and possibly me only..lol!

I made some of Averie's High Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls. This time I decided to put half of the chocolate chips into the food processor with the other ingredients rather than leave them whole. The result was an even more convincing cookie dough..yum!

Check out the little chocolate chunks..mmmm. You need to try these!

I also made some of Meghan's Superfood Bon Bons...

Ya..these rawk and the ingredients are all super dooper for you! This reminds me, her 5 Days Healing with Everyday Superfoods tutorial is on now. I'll be making some of her recipes this week and they sound amazing. If you want to get more amazing superfood recipes, grab her tutorial!

I made this recipe again that is off of Carmella's blog. It was posted by Mosaica on the Raw Freedom Community. The Indian Carrot Curry Soap is so good and I love the spice combo. We ate it like a curry on a bed of quinoa with some daikon sprouts for some added crunch. It makes a lot which is awesome because you will want seconds! You may even be lucky enough to attend one of her classes, like Bitt!

This week is chalk full of fun stuff going on, with Meghan's tutorial, green smoothie cleanse (more about this later), and its EARTH WEEK! It's time to give Mother Nature a break this week so change something in your life to a "greener" option whether it be bringing your own coffee mug to the cafe in the morning, walking to work, eating a veggie meal, or starting a compost. I'm going to be taking part in Lori and Katie's Green Week Challenge.Wahoo! It's going to be fun!





Have a great Earth Week and do something green!

Running picts and Egg-less salad

Happy Friday!

Welcome to the weekend my friends. I thought I would keep it light for Friday as I've been schooling you a lot this week...lol! It's an absolutely gorgeous day here in Nelson and I'm going to go for run #2 today. Today is my "off" day for the gym yet I still want to get in some form of physical exercise, and with today's weather you don't have to pull my rubber arm! I had a little bit of knee pain while running on Wednesday but nothing crazy. The next day I didn't have any pain in my knees which is awesome and I think that they really have gotten stronger since my PRP procedure. Two thumbs up from me:) Anywho, I wanted to share with some pictures of the path where I ran and the beautiful lake. Can you believe this was my first time down there and I've been living here 8 months? I seriously need to do more exploring before I'm outta here.

This is the orange bridge that Nelson in famous for. Pretty gorgeous hey? The mountains are so in your face here that when I went back home to the coast, I asked where are the mountains. We have gorgeous mountains at the coast..they just don't stare right back at you from my town.

Another gorgeous view of Kootenay Lake. This lake winds forever and there are little beaches all along it that you can camp at. Too bad I'm not here for the summer:(

See the kite? Ya, it was a bit windy so this guy was having a ball dipping his kite down and flying it high! The bottom left is a happy face that was drawn in the sand by a group of hippies:) If you know Nelson at all, you know we are the capital of the hippies..and other things that I'm not going to mention lol! It was fun running past the smiley face though..it was a small form of encouragment for me.

They have all these "gym" machines set up so you can do a little working out in the park. Some of them are even partner operated. I've never seen such a thing in a park and I thought it was pretty cool:)

I love this picture. I think when we go back home I'm going to frame it and put it on the wall as a reminder of this part of our life...ahh!

Okay so I've been eating a lot of salads lately and I have been satisfied with that. I'm thinking that this has a lot to do with the weather and I"m not really craving "warming" foods as much.

Like this Thai salad...ooh so good!

Yet, I have two big bags of kidney beans and chickpeas and I want to use them up so I don't have to haul them when we move! So, I decided to go with an eggless salad recipe that I found on VeganDad and I subsituted the tofu for chickpeas. I made this for the hubby because we only had mayo in the fridge. Again it needs to be used up so I opted to have a delish salad with some miso dressing...I'm officially obsessed with this dressing! But you should try it with some veganaise as I know its delish. Kelly had a food fight with two similar recipes:)

Yummeey with all the celery and pickles in there!

PS get what has been sprouting in my house??.....

One of the varities of kale was the first of my seedlings to make its presence...YAY! I've got a lot more know and I'll be sure to show you my "babies" as they continue growing. How are your gardens and seeds coming along?

I'm off to go for my run! Have a fab Friday and I'll be stopping by again soon:)

Adaptogens Part 3: Ginseng

Happy Thursday!



What do you think about maca? Pretty powerful stuff, I'de say, and I'm so glad to be able to use it in my life. I'm going to be honest, I was pretty emotional and distant this morning because I let some stuff get to me. So, I decided to add some maca on top of my toast. Yep, toast! I put almond butter and cinnamon usually but I actually enjoyed having the maca on there as well. You know what? I do feel better, my emotions don't feel like they are at the top of my throat trying to force out the tears. So, ya I'm thinking there is something to rave about here! Today, I want to talk about ginseng and what it has to offer.



Ginseng has been used for thousands of years primarly in Asian nations, but in North America as well. The English word "ginseng"derives from the Chinese word renshen which literally means "man roots"referring to the shape of the root which resembles the legs of a man. Ginseng is one of 11 distinct species of slow-growing perennials with fleshy roots. Ginseng belongs to the Genus Panax which means "all-heal." Ginseng is considered to be the quintessential adaptogenic herb. In Chinese health practice there is a theory of li qi which means "balance of energy." Lab animals and humans that consume ginseng have been found to adapt to dark and light more easily, perform work more efficiently, and in general, adapt to a wide range of stressors more efficiently.



The mechanism by which ginseng helps humans cope with stress is believed to be due to the peripheral and neurogenic stimulation of the adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex is located on top of the kidneys. Check my previous post to see more about this.

The main active components of ginseng are its saponins, known as ginsenosides. Thirty six of these have been discovered in Panax ginseng. Ginseng contains the following phytochemical constituents:

• Panaxin and related compounds which act as stimulants to the midbrain, the heart, and blood vessels


• Panax acid which is a stimulant for the heart and general metabolism


• Panaquilin which acts as a stimulant for internal secretions


• Panacen and other volatile oils which stimulates the central nervous system


• Vitamin A, B1, B2, and C


• Lowers blood sugar


• Bio-organic germanium (GE) which is a powerful immunostimulant


• A glycoside fraction that has been demonstrated to possess significant antioxident activity

The uses of ginseng is beyond what I expected! Ginseng tonics are used for:

• General weakness


• Poor appetite


• low sex drive


• shortness of breath


• cold limbs


• spontaneous sweating


• premature aging


• increased physical and mental efficiency


• improved concentration


• a sleep aid


• improved memory


• improved mental ability in the elderly


• speeding up recovery from illness and surgery


• its cancer fighting abilities


• tonifying the kidneys

When ginseng is taken for an extended period of time, the physiological changes that take place last for a long time after the ginseng is discontinued. For example, people who take ginseng to help regulate their blood sugar level will maintain normal blood sugar for several weeks after discontinuing the ginseng. Pretty cool, hey?

Also, ginseng shows double-direction activity at virtually every level of action. For example, many studies have show that ginseng elevates blood pressure in cases in cases of hypotension or shock, but restores blood pressure to its normal levels in cases of hypertension. Again, an example of adapting to whatever needs the body has. Another example is the significatantly improved utilization of gycogen and the reduced accumulation of lactic acid and acetoacetic acid. This reduces fatigue from metabolic activities.

Here is another list of what ginseng has to offer:

• Counteracts the shrinkage of the adrenal glands caused by corticosteroid drugs
• Increases RNA and protein content in the muscle and liver tissue of lab animals
• Extracts of ginseng have been shown to be mild tranquilizing, analgesic, and relaxant of muscles
• Has gonadotropin-like action (influential on the gonads)
• Human studies have shown ginseng is effective in the treatment of impotence and some types of infertility
• antagonizes convulsions caused by cocaine and strychnine

No other herb in the world comes in more varities and grades than ginseng. The older, the richer the flavor, the wilder, and the more aromatic, the better the quality of the ginseng. Below is a list of some forms of ginseng that belong to this genus:

• Wild Ginseng Root
• North Korean Red Ginseng
• South Korean Reg Ginseng
• Chinese Shih Chu Red Ginseng
• Changbai Mountain Red Ginseng
• Jilin Commerical-grade Red Ginseng
• White Ginseng
  

Another member of this genus is Panax quinquefolius or American Ginseng. This variety performs differently than its Asian cousins. It contains the qi tonic which provides energy, adaptability, and heightened alertness. This form is especially good for endurance due to its increasing capacity. It is also a yin tonic which is cooling by nature. This is good for people who have high metabolisms, high energies, aggression, high blood pressure, or have ruddy complexions. In China they use the American Ginseng to help tonify the lungs in people with dry coughs caused by smog or smoking. It also promotes secretions of bodily fluids. This is especially strengthening to new mothers.

Siberian Ginseng or Eleutherococcus senticosus is actually not true ginseng but is a different plant that was named for marketing advantages. Instead of having a fleshy root, it has a woody root. It still contains powerful compounds that are considered adaptogenic. But for simplicity sake I'm not going to go into them here.

Ginseng is available everywhere (online and in stores) and as you can see it offers some amazing benefits. Do you use ginseng? I currently don't use it but after doing the research for this post, I'm thinking I should!

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone. Last but not least in the adaptogen series is Tulsi!

Adaptogens Part 2: Power Players

Happy Hump Day Everyone,

Hope you all are having a great day! It's simply gorgeous outside and so I'm going to go for my first run of the year by the lake. I'm really looking forward to testing the old knees out after having the PRP precedure a month ago. I love running on trails versus concrete because I like having a forest to look at rather than traffic. Yet, all the mountain trails in Nelson are not nearby so the lake path will do just fine. I hear so much talk about marathons and races that I feel like I want to jump on the wagon. I've been doing some google searches on some fun trail running races so we shall see what happens.

Anywho, I wanted to get into some of the power players when it comes to adaptogens. I know Adaptogens 101 was a lot of theory, per se, but now I want to start getting into the hands on part of it, if you will.

I have a few adaptogens that I want to focus on specifically, but I wanted to give you an around-the-world peek at the various power players out there. Some of these you may already be using. Good news hey?

I know in my previous post I talked about adaptogens as "herbs" well not all the power players are herbs, some are vegetables and fungi, some are spices, and some are considered pesky weeds.

China

He-Shou-Wu
Deer Antler
Ginseng
Astragalus
licorice
ginko biloba


India
Ashwagandha
Tulsi

South America
Pau D'Arco
Cat's Claw
Maca (vegetable)

North America
Dandelion (leaf and root)
Milk Thistle
Horsetail
Nettles
Burdock

Listed below are some adaptogens that follow into the medicinal mushroom and spices categories

Medicinal Mushrooms

Reishi
Chaga
Maitake

Spices

Black Pepper
Turmeric
Cumin

Nutmeg
Cardamon

Ginger
Cinnamon
Vanilla

Today I want to focus in on the Peruvian root vegetable, Maca. When the Spanish conquistadors invaded Peru they struggled with their new surroundings that were at an elevation of 11,000 to 15,000 feet. At this altitude, oxygen is about half of what it is at sea level. They and their livestock animals became quickly stressed. They starting feeding maca to their animals and noticed that they quickly adjusted to the surroundings and seemed less stressed. They decided to eat maca themselves and noticed a vast improvement.

Maca helps the adrenal glands regenerate and also helps to reverse the negative effects stress has on the endocrine system which produces hormones. It is these hormones that regulate your metabolism, energy level, growth, sexual development, sense of well being, and attitude. Even the smallest decline or incline of certain hormone levels will impede the body's ability to build muscle and and recover from stress in general. If the hormones remain out of balance this can cause induced signs of premature aging and can cause excess body fat to be stored.

It has been suggested by Peru's Dr. Chacon that maca works through the hypothalamus-pituitary axis. This is the link between the pituitary gland and the brain. The pituitary then makes the hormones according to the body's needs which is then circulated in the blood to a variety of the body's tissues.

So how does maca work its magic? It nourishes and calms the nerves and stimulates the appetite with calcium, phosphorus, vitamin B1, vitamin B12, and fatty acids. The phosphorus is used as a building block for the cells main source of fuel, ATP and glucose-6-phosphate. Maca possess the building block for serotonin. According to the Thrive Diet, the body will try to self medicate itself when it is feeling overwhelmed by stress-induced chemical reactions in the brain. Its during this time that you can experience sugar cravings which is the brains way of trying to raise serotonin levels. A diet that contains daily doses of maca will supply the body what it needs to handle stress and make serotonin which will, in turn, help reduce or eliminate sugar cravings. Maca is also a good source of sterols which are steroid-like compounds that help to regenerate muscle tissue. Alkaloids are also present which help the body assimilate all the nutrients where they are needed.

Here is a list of other benefits of maca

• increases energy and endurance
• increases stamina
• alleviates chronic fatigue syndrome
• improves sexual function in men and women
• increases fertility
• reduces hormonal dysfunction during menopause
• speeds up wound healing and reduces anemia
• enhances memory, learning, and mental ability
• provides a more youthful glow to your skin
• good for healthy teeth and bones
• its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial
• acts as a anticarcinogen and antioxident
• is non-addictive

Brendan recommends choosing the gelatinized form of maca because gelatinization removes the tough starchy part. The end result is a more easily digestible, easily assimilated, and more concentrated form.


So there you have it! Maca is so incredibly amazing I can't believe I lived without it for so long. I am currently using chocolate Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer which contains Macasure. I also have some maca that I got in bulk from the co-op. I add extra to my smoothies when I'm feeling stressed. Averie even puts it on her popcorn...mmm! Up next in the power players series is Ginseng. You won't believe how powerful this stuff is!

Have a great night:)

PS Nelly is having a giveaway of some awesome Everything Raw Bars! And its her first giveaway..wahoo!

PPS There is also another giveaway taking place on Gluten-free Vegan Family. This giveaway is for a Paderno spiral veggie slicer. Sweet!

Glorious Giveaways

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was nothing worth blogging about really. I worked, I chilled, I worked out-the usual really. And the food..wow...totally not picture worthy. I ate a lot of lentils, salads, and one night I had some vegan pizza. I need to boost it up a notch in the kitchie as lately I haven't been on my A-game and the food has been rather plain:( There are so many recipes out there I want to try but I just need to organize myself and write down the ingredients BEFORE shopping day. There's my goal for this week!

So I know everyone loves a giveaway so I thought I would post about some that I think are awesome (If I missed any let me know:)


First up, the lovely Averie is having a super cool chocolate giveaway. The prize is a $25 gift certificate to Chocomize where you can create personalized chocolate bars. Cool hey? They even have gold flakes:)

The following giveaways I found through Tropical Traditions where they feature a blog that shows all giveaways of their products. There are so many so check it out!

Cake Mom is giving away a 17oz jar of truly raw Canadian honey

Star Impulse is giving away some of coconut oil

Live, Love Laugh with Leslie is giving away a 1 gallon container of organic shredded coconut

Grammy Janet's Place is giving away a 5lb container of powdered laundry detergent

Upstate Ramblings is giving away some coconut oil

Susie QT Pies Scraps of Life is giving away some organic coconut flour

DK Mommy Spot is giving organic coconut peanut butter (this one ends tonight at midnight EST)


Another cool freebie I found was on the The Raw Seed blog. Meredith blogged about a free raw ebook called Profoundly raw which was released by Angela Stokes-Monarch. The ebook features 12 top chefs in the raw food community including Ani Phyo, Solla, Nomi Shannon, and Brigitte Mars plus many more! So go on and download it, it's awesome!

I'll be back later today with a post on Adaptogens 101!

Adaptogens 101

Hello again everyone!

I just couldn't stay away:) I'm really excited to share with you some info I found on some seriously powerful herbs. So, here we go!

First off let's start off with a small history lesson. Adaptogens as we know them today were used for thousands of years by cultures all over the world yet they were not classified until 1947. Russian Physician and pharmacologist Dr. Isral Brekham and his mentor Prof.Lazarev were the first to coin the term "adaptogen". Previously the orientals named these herbs the "kingly" and the "elite." Dr. Brekham came up with three criteria for determining whether a herb or food would be considered an adaptogen and they are as follows:

• The plants are entirely safe

• The plants increase the body's nonspecific resistance. This means they provide valuable support to the human body in coping with pressures placed on a wide range of its functions by both internal and external environments

• The plants will normalize the bodily systems

So, an adaptogen is simply referred to as an effective agent that proves to be effective in helping the body adapt or adjust to strains and changes of daily living.

Some examples of adaptogenic use in history :

• In China, adaptogens were used by soldiers before battle
• In Siberia, the same plants were used by hunters before long, dangerous journeys
• The Tibetan monks were able to go without food and warm clothes, living high in the mountains for many days using only these plants

Let's talk a little bit about physiology and the big picture when it comes to adaptogens.

Humans were once at risk of being attacked by animals or hostile people. Today our bodies still respond to threats by secreting hormones that change our physiology and enhance our ability for "flight" or "fight." This reaction causes stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal glands which results in increased respiratory rates, higher blood pressure,increased blood sugar levels, and increased heart rate (plus increased force of contractions). At the same time there is a decrease in digestive secretions . In the case of brief or acute stress, the situation often resolves itself quickly and the body returns to normal. If stress becomes chronic this is where we run into problems. When the body is weakened by chronic stress due to lack of sleep, poor diet, chemical toxins, or mental assaults, the body's ability to maintain homeostasis is compromised and this is when illness occurs. Adaptogens come in to help prevent imbalances as a result of stress.

Adaptogens specifically recharge the adrenals which are the body's mechanism for responding to stress and emotional changes. The adrenals cover the upper surface of the kidneys where they make and store dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine responsible for the flight or fight response.

So, how do adaptogens help handle stress? they do so by providing:

• antioxidant activity
• liver protection and anti-toxin activity
• improved blood sugar metabolism
• improved immune resistance
  
• increased energy and stamina
• improved muscle tone
• increased strength
• faster recovery
• better focus and concentration
• less anxiety
• better sleep
• better motivation and productivity
• better moods

Adaptogens tend to be amphoteric which means they normalize function rather than stimulate it or suppress it. They are also self-limiting . The more we need them, the more they work; the less we need them, the less they work. Adaptogens were classified by the Chinese as the most effective plants to extend lifespan. Wow, now that is what I'm talking about!

Adaptogens are used in three ways:

1. They are used as general tonics by healthy people who are not suffering from any acute or chronic disease. This gives the body a general tune-up and helps prevent disease. Yet, they are not there to offset the negative effects of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle.

2. They are used to boost the immune system and help you recover after a period of acute (brief) illness. Adaptogens are not recommended to be used to during illness because we need herbs that help to mobilize our body defenses. Adaptogens do not act in this way as they slowly normalize and strengthen the immune system. Therefore, you will be sick longer and so prevention is key.

3. They are used in the final stages of treatment for chronic conditions. This is because there are two major factors that must be addressed in order to maximize the benefits of these herbs. First off, adaptogens will provide the greatest benefit to organs when they have significantly healed to a certain degree, not when they are in a very dysfunctional state. Secondly, tissue toxicity interferes with the action of adaptogens. Therefore, if toxicity is a factor, detoxification will have to take place before they will be able to experience the full benefits of adaptogens.


There are multiple ways to take these powerful herbs:

• Ground up - unfortunately, this is the least effective form as they are poorly absorbed in this form
• Tinctures made from fresh herbs -the most effective form
• Tinctures made from dried herbs - this is the best option if you don't have any of those herbs in your neck of the woods.
• Tea - I've heard some herbs can be successfully brewed. You will have to double check if the herb you want to use can be steeped:)

Now you are probably wondering why I haven't mentioned which herbs are considered adaptogens? Well, I want to keep you guessing...no, just kidding... I will lay it out in part 2 of this post:)


Have a great night!