This week’s Doorganics delivery features Cucumbers, a true superfood, loaded with vitamins and nutrients crucial to overall health. One small cucumber provides substantial amounts of B-vitamins, Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and more. Notable are the high levels of B-vitamins in these juicy treats. I want to focus on B-vitamins today and show you how adding a cucumber a day could actually curb your bodies reaction to stress.

The adrenals and our good friend stress:

For many the word stress isn’t a foreign one. With our busy schedules, mouths to feed, bills to pay, appointments to make, it is easy to get caught up in our every day lives and forget to take that time every day to breathe, rest and relax. When we get over stressed, an organ in our bodies, called the adrenals, often takes the biggest hit.

The adrenals are little walnut shaped organs that sit on top of your kidneys and are responsible for releasing cortisol, our stress hormone. When we overstress this little organ it can no longer function optimally. We can then start to feel symptoms of adrenal fatigue including, daytime fatigue, nighttime sleeplessness, salt and sweet cravings, dizziness on standing, fuzzy thinking, headaches, poor digestion, and on and on. Sound familiar?

Along with adrenal fatigue can also come a disruption in what is called the “circadian rhythm”. This means that normally the adrenals function to keep cortisol high in the morning, so we can wake up, and low in the evening, so we can fall asleep. However, as we tax the adrenals, this rhythm can flip, making it hard to get up in the morning and keeping us awake at night. Sound familiar yet? I think you are starting to catch on.

How cucumbers come into play:

Loaded with B-vitamins, cucumbers are great additions to your every day diet to help support the adrenal glands. Every pathway that occurs inside the adrenals to maintain their optimal function is supported by B-vitamins. Incorporating a diet full of B-vitamins, like those in cucumbers, supports the adrenals, maintains your normal circadian rhythm, and helps curb the negative effects of stress.

Eating a cucumber a day may be one way to avoid adrenal fatigue, which not only causes the symptoms I mentioned above, but has also been associated with increased menopausal symptoms, thyroid disease, depression, anxiety and more.

Bottom line: Eat your cucumbers!

Please note: Always remember, organic cucumbers are best! Cucumbers are on EWG’s dirty dozen list, meaning they are among the most pesticide-ridden produce around. Keep your body clean of pesticides and eat organic cucumbers like the ones you are receiving in your Doorganics bin.

Recipe:

A great way to get cucumbers in every day: Cucumber, Lemon and Mint Water

In one gallon of water add:

1 small cucumber

2-3 lemons thinly sliced

10-15 mint leaves

Let sit in refrigerator until cold and enjoy a refreshing drink full of vital daily nutrients!

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If interested in learning more about Grand Rapids Natural Health please log on to www.grnaturalhealth.com or call 6162646556 to request a complimentary 15-minute consult.

~ Kelly S. Hassberger, ND

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