Happy New Year!
Truth: I spent the last few days of 2018 experiencing the wonder of hot flashes.
Truth: As someone who is always cold, I had 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.
As is my nature, I started looking online for holistic approaches, and talking with people about my situation. A friend soon 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 is 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 plan to revive for 2019! 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 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!