Adrenal Tonic | Singing Canary

This Singing Canary (aka Adrenal Cocktail) tastes great and is loaded with overall health benefits to keep you going in the face of the many stressors of modern life. Sip on this "all day sipper" throughout the day to keep your mind and body happy!

With our stressed-out and hurried lifestyles, the adrenals of many are on the fritz.

In addition, we could all use a boost to our immune systems.

The answer? Feed your body the nutrients in this "sip on it all day" drink and you will feel the benefits immediately.

The "Singing Canary"

The original recipe comes from the gals behind Trim Healthy Mama. It's an eating plan that's taking the world by storm. I don't adhere to all aspects of it, but the results of this plan are typically phenomenal in the way of weight loss and an overall improvement of health. If we could all eat healthier, just think of the impact on so many things...our health, our families, our nation....our world.

The original Singing Canary was good, but I felt that it needed some more "something" to counter the turmeric taste for me--call me a wimp, that's OK by me :). So I monkeyed around with some spices and found a combination that works well and adds some extra health benefits to boot.

I call this drink an Adrenal Cocktail, but there are so many good things in it for everyone.

Adrenal Support

Some people say that adrenal fatigue is a real condition and others say it isn't.

Regardless of what you think about the condition, it's a fact that we are over-worked and over-stressed. We are pushing ourselves to the limit and our bodies are taxed with too many toxins.

Bottom Line--our bodies need help.

So whether you think you have a diagnosable condition or not, do yourself a favor and support your body with this adrenal cocktail as it has a lot of ingredients that will support overall health.

Benefits of Ingredients this Drink

This Adrenal Cocktail has many ingredients that support your adrenals (and other parts of your body).

Water

This is, of course a basic thing we should be drinking anyhow, but it's important. Just please make sure that your water is purified. I have used loads of water filtration systems over the years. You can see the information in this post on water filtration and see what I am using now.

Lemons

Lemons contain vitamin C, citric acid, flavonoids, copper, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, fiber.

They also have tons of polyphenols, and beneficial plant compounds such as hesperidin and diosmin. (source)

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one of the main vitamins hosted by the adrenals. It's a huge support for these glands.

Note that I reference sodium ascorbate in my recipe. The reason for that is that there have been reported concerns regarding the ingestion of ascorbic acid. Additionally, sodium ascorbate is not acidic so you will not be endangering your tooth enamel with this portion of the drink. See my DIY Swim Spray for more information on the difference.

I have continued to do more research on this and it's complicated. Some say that taking ascorbic acid short term is fine. Others say no.

One way to address this is to use something like baobab powder for the vitamin C instead :).

Turmeric

Turmeric has so many health benefits that it's hard to know where to start. One important way that turmeric helps with adrenal health, however, is by helping the body detox. Toxins are a stress on the body and any time that you can remove stressors from the body, you help your adrenals.

Turmeric reduces histamine levels which then reduces stress on the body. (source)

Salt

Real unprocessed salt contains minerals that are beneficial. While too much salt can be a problem, too little can as well. (source)

RealSalt is a great salt and we LOVE it in our family. This type of Sea Salt is another great option.

Ginger

Ginger has anti-inflammatory effects that, as mentioned above, will assist the adrenals by reducing the stress load on the body. I recommend using organic ginger to avoid toxins and irradiation. (source)

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is known for its ability to boost the immune system, detox the body, and more. (source)

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a well-known anti-inflammatory. (source) There have been numerous studies on it showing its effects on the body such as reversing stressors and regulating hormones. (source)

Cloves

Cloves have also been shown to be beneficial in mitigating stress on the body. (source) If you like, feel free to add more to this recipe based on this information :)!

Vanilla

Vanilla, though it is mostly known for the lovely flavor that it adds to baked goods, has health benefits of its own, including anti-inflammatory properties. (source)

Protein Powder

Protein is crucial for adrenal health. is important no matter where it comes from.  If you can tolerate it, you can use whey or egg protein powder in this adrenal cocktail.

I personally use vegan protein powders since I don't tolerate egg or dairy well at present, plus my oldest has life-threatening allergies to dairy and egg white so it's less stressful to not have powders with those proteins in them in our home.

It's really important to source protein carefully due to them having a lot of potential exposure to toxins. And that's not only true for the animal-based powders. Pea and Rice are often grown with lots of pesticides plus rice can have a lot of arsenic in it so you need to be careful about that as well.

Where to Get Quality Protein Powder

I have several protein powders that I love.

Miessence's vegan protein powder is a great option since it's allergen-free and the amino acids are perfectly balanced in it to mimic the amino acid profile of animal protein. Just one 25 gram serving provides almost 2/3 of the daily Essential Amino Acid requirement for a typical adult. It's pricey but I find this product to be superior to anything on the market and anyone can get discounts just by being a customer.

If using another vegan protein powder, I highly recommend using an organically sourced powder. The reason is that many of the ingredients in vegan protein powders are crops that many pesticides are used on. This organic vegan protein powder is a solid choice but note it can cause digestive upset in some people.

Coconut Oil

Fats are crucial for adrenal health.

Many people (like me) have avoided fats in the hope of losing weight. However, your body needs fats for your endocrine system to work well. So adding even just a small amount of fat to this drink is a plus.

For more information on foods that are helpful for adrenal issues, see this post on the adrenal fatigue diet.

Notes On Lemon Essential Oil

Adding essential oils to food and drink is a controversial topic.

I consulted with an aromatherapist about this, and she recommended only using 1-2 drops of essential oils a drink of this size considering the amount of coconut oil in the drink. The coconut oil acts as essential oil emulsifier but you still do need to be cautious with the amount that you use.

How to Use this Tonic

You don't want to drink this drink all at once (not that you could) because your body can only absorb so much vitamin C at once.

Make this "Singing Canary" adrenal cocktail in the morning and sip on it all day long.

Recipe Notes and Substitutions

• Turmeric: You might find that the drink is still a little too "bitter" due to the turmeric. I recommend starting with ½ tsp of turmeric and increasing from there if desired. After making the drink, if you find it to be too bitter, you can add more stevia and/or vanilla to taste.
• Water: You will want some more water for the jar (see How to Make Your Water Safe).
• Coconut Oil: You can substitute 1/2 teaspoon organic extra-virgin coconut oil for the MCT oil but it will clump some depending on the type of blender you use.
• Collagen: You can use collagen instead of protein powder.
• Homemade Vanilla: If you would prefer to make your own vanilla, see Homemade Alcohol-Free Vanilla.
• Stevia: See How to Use Stevia to learn more about stevia. You can also substitute an on-plan sweetener for AIP.
• THM: This recipe is an "all-day sipper" if you are on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.

Why Is There No Black Pepper in This?

I wondered this myself. The gals at Trim Healthy Mama are pretty thorough, so I figured they knew what they were doing, but I wanted to investigate it myself.

It turns out that there is mixed information as to whether or not black pepper needs to be taken to enhance absorbability of turmeric.

This is a lengthy topic that I will possibly cover in another post, but in essence:

- the presence of the oil already helps with absorption
- studies on absorbability of turmeric and black pepper center on focusing on curcumin and piperine, which are portions of turmeric and black pepper
- it's probably that turmeric taken with black pepper will absorb faster and stay in your bloodstream longer, but whether or not that is what you want depends on what you are taking the turmeric for--in some situations you might want the turmeric to stay in your digestive system longer.  You can see more on these points here and at this source.

Health Note for Pregnant Women

As noted on the Trim Healthy Mama site, turmeric is typically considered safe during pregnancy when consumed as a food, despite concern that as a supplement, it may stimulate the uterus to cause contractions. However ginger has similar properties and it is often suggested by physicians to treat morning sickness during pregnancy.

The 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in the Canary should be considered a safe amount for pregnant women since that is the amount that people in India consume on average through food. However, please do consult with your physician if you are concerned and you can reduce the amount of both Turmeric and Vitamin C to 1/4 the amount or not drink the full two quarts per day as well.

The full amount of vitamin C is not recommended for pregnant women.

I so hope that you enjoy the drink and all the health benefits it affords.

If you end up really loving this and wanting to make it on a regular, or even daily basis, then this Singing Canary Concentrate will be a great time saving addition to your pantry.

Would LOVE to hear what you think about this adrenal tonic!