Here’s a flax seed green smoothie recipe to help with hormonal fluctuations that can create hot flashes & interfere with sleep.

Truth: Since the end of 2018, my sleep is often interrupted by experiencing the wonder of hot flashes.

Truth: As someone who is always cold, I previously believed a hot flash would be a welcome change. (Those of you currently laughing at my naivety know such a burst of warmth is not really the antidote to cold extremities! In fact, I think I sometimes had both going on at the same time!)

Truth: We must embrace such changes. Fighting them is often a direct path to suffering.

Besides this flax seed green smoothie, see also: How to Sleep Despite the Heat: 10 Ways to Cool Hot Flashes

As is my nature (& profession!), I started looking online for holistic approaches, and talking with people about my situation. A friend turned me onto the idea of seed-cycling for hormonal balance. I found this interesting because I have all of these seeds already in my pantry! In my opinion, the hardest to use is the flax seed; yet its potential benefits for fighting inflammation and hot flashes makes it well worth the experiment.

Smoothies are a great–and a somewhat obvious place–to sneak in a little flax seed. Here’s a recipe I originally posted in 2014 that I revived for this specific purpose. There are several options, depending on your tastes & dietary preferences. E.g. because spinach is high in oxalates that can aggravate my system, I always replace spinach with a different dark leafy green. Play around until you find a combination you love!

Ingredients:

• 1c hemp (or almond) milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1-2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1c kale
• 1c spinach (or arugula)
• 1/4c flat parsley
• 1/4c pea sprouts (optional)
• 1/4c blackberries (or raspberries)

Instructions:

• Combine ingredients in a blender, preferably in the order listed above.
• Drink up and enjoy!