It’s FREEEEEEEZing in NYC right now. The weather app says it feels like -2 degrees! With that kind of cold comes the need to warm our bodies from the inside out. My go to morning beverage used to be a hot cup of coffee. As soon as I woke up, I’d throw on my slippers and groggily walk to the kitchen to make my morning cup of liquid joy.
After a while I was finding that that morning cup was sending me running to the bathroom and causing me some serious anxiety and jitters – not fun! Now I know that was because caffeine is a stimulant that causes your adrenal glands to secrete extra cortisol. Cortisol should already really high in the morning, it’s actually what gets us up and out of bed in the morning. Cortisol can help control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism, help reduce inflammation, and assist with memory formulation – in short, NOT something we want to be messing with.
All this leads us back to the coffee situation. Everyone’s bodies respond to coffee differently, but if you are someone who is experiencing fatigue in the morning, weight gain around the middle, inflammation in your joints, have consistent brain fog, feel tired and wired when falling asleep or are waking up between 2am – 4am there is a good change your cortisol levels might be skewed and coffee on an empty stomach doesn’t help. But what to do on these cold ass days!?
Start the day with the lemon water elixir.
THEN have some yummy foods (this morning I had GF Avocado Toast with two free range organic eggs) THEN I had my coffee with grass-fed butter, MCT oil, cinnamon and coconut milk blended to up my fat intake and balance my blood sugar.
Lemon Water Elixir
* 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (Bragg’s is a great brand) * 1 tsp raw honey if needed (the darker the better) * Squeeze 1/2 lemon (organic if affordable) * 1/2 inch of grated ginger (you can use a ginger tea bag or loose ginger tea) * 8 ounces of warm to hot filtered water
