CAFFEINE SWAP OUT: FOUR SIGMATIC

CAFFEINE SWAP OUT: BENEFITS OF FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOMS

Is your morning coffee ritual one you can’t imagine life without? There is nothing wrong with loving coffee and enjoying a cup or two! But too much caffeine can be a bad thing if you are dealing with symptoms of adrenal fatigue (i.e. an imbalance of our ‘stress’ hormone cortisol), such as feeling low energy, anxious, ‘tired but wired’ at night, experiencing brain fog, skin disturbances, allergies (to name a few). Too much caffeine is also counterproductive when trying to reduce symptoms of Estrogen Dominance, such as weight gain, mood swings, irregular and heavy periods, PCOS, and many other symptoms. Finally, it is helpful to reduce caffeine when transitioning off the birth control pill (as we touched on in our recent post) to reduce side effects that can crop up during the transition. 

So what’s the answer? If any of the above-mentioned symptoms or situations apply to you, or if you notice that you still feel drained after multiple cups of coffee, it is important to have non-caffeine options on hand, such as our favorite: Four Sigmatic Mushrooms. Four Sigmatic has created a line of elixirs (without caffeine) that incorporate functional mushrooms into a drinkable powder providing different benefits for each person and their desires. 

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH MUSHROOMS?

Mushrooms in your coffee. Mushrooms in your smoothie. Mushrooms in your hot chocolate. Sound crazy? Not so much, because the rise in popularity of functional mushrooms can be credited to their amazing health benefits and nutritional value! Functional mushrooms like Chaga, lion’s mane, and cordyceps that grow in forests or on fallen logs have been used for hundreds of years for medicinal purposes and have many healing purposes.  These mushrooms are defined as ‘adaptogens’ which are plants and mushrooms that have learned to survive (and even thrive!) in stressful conditions like harsh climates, poor growing conditions, and high altitudes. Because of this, they have an inherent strength and adaptability which gets passed along to the person who takes them, supporting our ‘adrenal glands’ (the two organs that sit atop your kidneys and are involved in producing over 50 hormones that drive almost every bodily function, many of which are essential for life)!

HOW THEY HELP OUR BODY RESPOND TO STRESS: 

These medicinal mushrooms work to aid our body in dealing with stress by keeping us in the resistance phase of the stress response longer, rather than immediately crashing. This helps reduce the amount of cortisol that is released from the body, so that we can have a healthier response to stress, without it becoming chronic and burning out our adrenals (leading to ‘adrenal fatigue’ or ‘adrenal imbalance’ - associated with symptoms such as anxiety, depression, belly fat, allergies, insomnia, skin disturbances and more!). 

Additionally, medicinal mushrooms contain antioxidant ‘Polyphenols’ (i.e. molecules that fight unstable molecules that can harm your cells). Mushrooms also offer a healthy dose of dietary fiber to improve digestive and gut health! 

To recap, the top benefits of functional mushrooms include:

• Strengthening the immune system
• Helping the body adapt to stress
• Supporting a calmer state of mind
• Improving sleep
• Reducing inflammation
• Increasing energy and vitality
• Boosting brain function, focus, and memory
• Improving digestion 

So what are the best ways to use functional mushrooms?

We love Four Sigmatic’s non caffeine elixirs, hot cacao, and enhanced protein powders. Their products make it really easy to incorporate functional mushrooms into your everyday routine, and they don’t taste like mushrooms! If you're looking for a brain & energy boost, try a Cordyceps elixir (for energy) mixed with the Lion's Mane elixir (for brain function) into 8oz of steamed almond or coconut milk (you could also add a little organic Monkfruit or stevia if you like yours sweeter) when you feel the midday slump coming on (and make sure to use our code YHBALANCE for a 10% discount).

What’s more, you can also ADD these mushrooms to your coffee (or use Four Sigmatic coffee blends) to help your body better metabolize the caffeine and prevent any jitters or energy crashes that can come with regular coffee consumed on its own. But of course, if you are experiencing intense symptoms of hormone imbalance, we would still suggest transitioning off caffeine altogether, trying Four Sigmatic’s non-caffeine elixirs, or considering making a turmeric golden milk (such as Four Sigmatic’s Golden Latte with Turkey Tail). You could also consider switching to a lower caffeine option like matcha with the added benefit of green tea antioxidants and the calming amino acid, l-theanine! Want to learn more about the benefits of matcha? Check out our health coach, Jess’s blog post here. 

Check back next week for our next product swap out!  

Have an idea for a product you’d like featured or swapped out?

Email us at info@yourhormonebalance.com

Interested in testing your hormone levels and getting started on an all-natural rebalancing plan? Check out our at-home hormone testing + consulting packages  HERE.