Natural Anxiety Therapy

I could have sworn that I posted this recipe before, but I can’t find it anywhere!    Requests come to me daily for my “super smoothie” recipe because it starts of the day right by balancing blood sugar and helps stop gnawing cravings the rest of the day. Every ingredient in this delicious (almost ice cream like!) recipe is chosen with a specific action in mind.  So don’t go adding all sorts of stuff (bananas, pineapple, agave, sugar laden nut milk, soy milk) unless you really understand nutrition!!!  Long term daily enjoyment of this smoothie has helped repair my insulin resistance, blood sugar swings, anxiety / panic attacks, and adrenal fatigue.

SUPER SMOOTHIE RECIPE

2 scoops Power Meal

5 drops YLTG grapefruit oil for the taste, chemo prevention, bloating (lymph support)

2 drops YLTG  nutmeg oil for the adrenals

¼ tsp of Redmond Real salt for the adrenals

1 heaping tblsp of coconut oil for thyroid, blood sugar, and yeast (candida)

1 raw egg for the protein, fat, and vitamin A (1/2 an avocado can be used instead of eggs)

Stevia extract to taste

About 10 ice cubes in the blender 1^st, add ingredients.  Then fill up with enough water so it will blend until smooth. Blend super well so it gets fluffy and the coconut oil and ice cubes are no longer chunky.  Add Young Living’s stevia extract to taste.  It’s not only for the sweetness, but stevia is known to help balance blood sugar and decrease cravings.

Sometimes I add 1/4 cup of blueberries, raspberries, cherries, or strawberries to this. Nothing else. NO BANANNAS OR PINEAPPLE – although delicious they are very high in sugar.

If you are at work or on the road and can’t take time out with a blender, just do Power Meal as a snack. It taste goods even on the go by just adding water.

In the summer time I will often crave ice cream. By slightly tweaking the recipe above by adding a few more ice cubes and 1/2 an avocado – the smoothie will be very thick and can be eaten with a spoon. Yummy and health … PERFECT!

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Recipe time!  Another yummy one has been birthed from the kitchen with ingredients chosen “mindfully”.   Eating like this will not only help you’re brain feel fabulous, your pants will become looser too!   My recipes will typically not contain a starch (corn, potato, rice, pasta, bread, etc). This is because I use vegetables as my carbohydrate source due to my blood sugar issues (swings are what caused the severe panic/anxiety attacks). Eating this way also helps repair the “crazy blood sugar swinging” caused by severe insulin resistance.

Any protein can be chosen for this recipe – seafood, poultry, or meat.  I also choose Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce because it has way less sodium, uses non GMO soybeans, has no MSG, is gluten free, and I just plain like the taste better.  Bragg’s also contains these essential amino acids:  arginine, aspartic, lysine, glutamic, serine, threonine, alanine, glycine, praline, isoleucine, methionine, valine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and leucine. Many of these are my favorites for balancing blood sugar and supporting feel good brain chemicals!

Simple Stir Fry:

Ingredients:

2 small onions (small diced)

3 large carrots (julienned)

1 large broccoli floret (coarsely chopped)

½ of a lemon

1 pound of protein cut into bite size pieces (your choice – we did steak!)

¼ cup of coconut oil (melted if not already liquid)

¼ cup of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

Mrs. Dash Seasoning – Lemon Pepper

2 drops ginger oil (Young Living ONLY!)

2 tablespoons of tapioca flour

Prep a few hours before cooking the meal:

Marinate protein with Bragg’s and coconut oil.  Sprinkle heavily with Mrs. Dash Seasoning (approx. 1 tsp).  Mix together and set aside for a few hours.

When it’s time to cook:

Saute meat in a wok or fry pan.  Scoop out meat and leave juice in pan. There should be about ¾ to 1 cup of liquid in the bottom, if not add water to increase the volume (add a few squirts of Bragg’s if you’re feeling saucy!).  Add in the vegetables and cook until al dente.

Remove about ½ cup of liquid and add the 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour and 2 drops of ginger oil – whisk until fully blended.  Put back into vegetable mixture and heat until thickened.



Remove from heat, squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables, and mix in the meat.

Now it’s done!  Enjoy.

You can read more about how your diet is related to you “BRAIN” by reading “Can You Really Eat Your Way to Happiness? The Mood Food Connection”.

My newest anxiety therapy creation that came out “oh so good!”   The pumpkin seed oil and hemp seeds added an incredible richness in flavor to the abundance of veggies.

There’s a method behind my madness with choosing these ingredients:

Pumpkin Seed Oil: Rich in Vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, B6, D. Good source of minerals selenium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, and trace elements.  Significant source of essential fatty acids and vegetable protein.  Supports prostate, skin, digestive, immune, and circulatory systems.  And BOY is it yummy!

Hemp Seeds: FANTASTIC SOURCE OF AMINO ACIDS and ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS.  Hello,  super easy to digest anxiety busting food here!!!!

Tomato & Cucumber: Reduce acid and mucous levels in the body. AKA: balances the body’s pH which is often off whack when anxiety, panic, inflammation, immune compromise, etc. are present.

Cilantro:  Besides being my most favorite tasting herb on earth, this is why I love it:  balances blood sugar, chelates heavy metals out of the brain, supports digestion, rich in magnesium (calming mineral), reduces acid levels in the body, and protects against urinary tract infections.

Onion: Rich in sulfur which is anti-inflammatory and helps balance blood sugar.  Drains mucous and supports the immune system. Anti-parasitic (Super eewww – but these buggers can create anxious feelings!!!).

Olive Oil: Very trendy ingredient in recent years with all it’s cardiovascular health benefits. But it’s also a great source of Vitamins E and K.  Vitamin E is anti-inflammatory and is needed to help repair insulin receptor sites for those of us who are (were) insulin resistant.  Vitamin K is needed in partnership with Vitamin D for healthy bones.

Balsamic Vinegar:  Delicious and stimulates digestion by activating the enzyme pepsin. Pepsin breaks down protein into amino acids so our brain can have the raw materials it needs to make feel good chemicals (neurotransmitters).  Vinegar also helps improve insulin sensitivity.  (When my body was totally overgrown with yeast, I substituted fresh lemons for vinegar.)

Salt: Still using my favorite Redmond Real Salt.  The adrenals LOVE salt – good salt that is. Not the white bleached stuff that has about ZERO healthy attributes!

Italian Herbs: Oregano, marjoram, basil, & thyme all add savory stimulation to the taste buds but they also help support proper immune and digestive function.

RECIPE:

1/4 cup pumpkin seed oil

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

1 small sweet onion finely chopped

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

4 medium tomatoes coarsly chopped

1 large cucumber coarsly chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon Italian herbs

salt to taste

ENJOY!!!

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So how can someone swap out ingredients in a recipe to help lessen blood sugar impact for those of us with hypoglycemia, diabetes, and/or insulin resistance?  There are ways, trust me!  Life without goodies is no life at all, right?

First, why is it so important to eat foods with minimal impact on the blood sugar even if you’re not diabetic, hypoglycemic, or insulin resistant?  Because severe blood sugar swings contribute to adrenal fatigue, one of the major underlying causes of panic attacks, anxiety, depression, and other stuff like that.  Also, it just plain makes you fat!

1.  To reduce sugar in a recipe, I will take the amount called for and half it. Then I add in stevia to kick it up to the sweetness level I want.  1 cup of sugar = 1 teaspoon of stevia.  1 tablespoon of sugar = 1/4 teaspoon of stevia.  1 teaspoon of sugar = a pinch or 1/16 teaspoon of stevia.  A little goes a long way with this stuff!  Too much stevia will give a funky aftertaste.  For example, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar.  I will use 1/2 cup of sugar and supplement with 1/2 teaspoon of stevia.

2.  Use coconut, nut, or bean flour.  When I bake, I especially use recipes that call for almond flour and coconut flour.  You cannot use a traditional recipe and swap out for these. Because they do not contain gluten and are very fibrous – special accomodations need to be made.  Because of food allergy awareness, there have been many books written on these flours that are excellent. I have a few listed in the My Favorite Stuff section.

3.  I do not use rice, soy, corn, or potato flours. One reason is I’m reactive to corn, soy, and potato. As for the rice, it’s very high glycemic. For me, it spikes and crashes my blood sugar too radically. Which stinks because it makes for good gluten-free pasta and cookies!  Boo hoo.

4.  You might be thinking, what about agave?  It’s being touted as a super sweetener that is low glycemic and perfect for people with blood sugar issues.  I used to think that too, until it gave me big problems. I was having severe swings from the 200’s down to 60’s.  Because agave is pure fructose, it is not a friend to our insulin receptors or liver.   If the key words “agave dangers” are searched on the web, much interesting mind fodder can be found.  I miss it dearly and it tastes wonderful.  The day I cut out agave I was in mourning, but all I know is when I cut out the agave and my blood sugars were much more regulated.

5.  Maple syrup and honey?  Maple syrup is relatively low on the glycemic index (low 50’s).  It can be used in recipes in place of sugar, the only problem is it’s strong and distinctive taste!  Honey is over 80 in the glycemic – it’s not too far behind sugar. Lesser amounts can be used instead of sugar because it’s sweeter. But, the best honey is raw and if  it’s heated the health giving enzymes are killed.

6.  There are other sugars that can be used also that I have experimented with. I do not know enough about them to share my experiences. Oh, except yacon syrup. It’s very glow glycemic but it tastes like minerals!  It compares to molasses. If anyone has used this, I’d love to hear from you!  Other sugars you can research are xylitol, sucanat, brown rice syrup, date sugar, chicory sugar, and palm sugar. That will keep you busy for a while!

Experiment and have fun with these suggestions.  Remember, everything in moderation.   Not only will you help anxiety, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and insulin resistance – you’ll just plain feel better when your blood sugar is balanced. Plus if you need to, you might be able to cinch in your belt a few notches!

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Looking for GLUTEN FREE recipes that taste good?   Elana Amsterdam’s blog is outta sight!  She has recipes that range from meat preparation to after dinner treats. It’s heaven for anyone who has gluten related food allergies.

I made the chocolate cake made with coconut flour.  Oh my goodness!  This cake was so moist and flavor rich. I even brought it over to my parents for dessert and they loved it; they aren’t even gluten avoiders!   I used turbinado sugar instead of agave in the batter at same ratios and it came out great. In the frosting I used raw honey instead of agave and it was out of sight.

Her book The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook just arrived at my home a few days ago. I found her blog when looking for gluten free goodies and noticed Elana had a fantastic looking book. Then, I realized I ordered it and it was already on it’s way.  At least I’m consistent!  The woman is pure genius when it comes to creating recipes that are so delicious that even the most discriminating gluten eater will love. You can find it listed HERE with a few other recipe books that I just LOVE!

Because some of the recipes are higher in sugar, I will be blogging about how to do substitutions to things are still SWEET but without the blood sugar impact.  Hypoglycemics still want a little sweetness in their life. Don’t we?