If you like me, have been diagnosed with severe adrenal fatigue you need to really start taking care of yourself and become aware of every decision you may.

Everything you do affects your adrenal health and therefore your overall health in either a positive or negative way so it’s important to know what impact your lifestyle is having on your health.

The most important things affecting your adrenal health are:

* The amount and quality of sleep that you get

* The food that you eat

* The physical activities that you participate in

* The amount of stress – both positive and negative in your life

I developed the Adrenal Care Daily Checklist and Diary (you can download the diary from the ChiYo Life website) to help keep me on track. As it is so easy when you are having a good day to forget that you have a serious health condition and to go back to your normal way of living which unfortunately means that when you relapse you will feel worse than ever before.

The Adrenal Care Daily Checklist and Diary helps remind you what you need to do each day to take care of your adrenals. It also allows you to record what you have and haven’t done and then rate your overall wellbeing based on your behaviour. By keeping a track of what you do on a daily basis and rating your overall energy you can pinpoint what factors effect your adrenal health the most. The diary helps give you a picture of what is happening with your adrenal health and how the choices you make regarding food, exercise and sleep affect you.

The Diary also gives you the opportunity to jot down your thoughts, feelings and important incidences that occur each day.

My hope is that this diary will help you take control of your life and your adrenal health.

MEAL IDEAS

Breakfast ideas

* homemade porridge with milk, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, lecithin, linseed, amaranth, cinnamon and apple

* scrambled eggs with tomato and soy & linseed toast

Lunch ideas

* Hot brown rice salad with mixed veggies and protein

* Soy & linseed sandwich with avocado, protein and salad

Snack ideas

* 2 wholewheat soy and linseed crackers with cheese or nut spread

* handful of nuts with a piece of fruit

Dinner ideas

* Fish/lean meat/chicken with brown rice and veggies

* Lentil and pearl barley vegetable soup

* Chicken and vegetable soup

FOODS THAT SUPPORT YOUR ADRENALS

Protein

Seeds & Nuts: sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds, chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds

free-range, chemical + hormone-free poultry, eggs, yoghurt, goat’s milk, beef, lamb, natural cheeses such as ricotta, fetta & cottage cheese shrimp, mussels, fatty fish such as wild-caught salmon or trout

Legumes: adzuki, black, kidney, mung beans, lentils, chickpeas

Grains

Brown rice, oats, spelt, quinoa, corn, buckwheat, pearl barley, rye, millet

Vegetables

Chinese yam, Chinese cabbage, parsnip, winter squash, sweet potato, kale, leek, scallion, mustard greens and carrots, pumpkin, celery, beetroot, green vegetables, sea vegetables, sweet potatoes, turnips, onions, olives, avocado

Herbs & Spices

Chives, garlic, cloves, basil, rosemary, angelica root, parsley, fennel, dill, anise, caraway, carob pod, cumin, cinnamon bark, ginger, nutmeg

Fruit

Avoid fruits high in sugar such as grapes, oranges, dates etc. In winter you my feel better eating stewed fruits e.g. 2 stewed apples with a pinch of sea salt added to balance the effect of their sugar content

Chocolate

I know everyone loves chocolate so as a weekly treat you can enjoy one square of any 85% or higher dark chocolate eg Lindt. If you do get constant chocolate cravings it could be that your body needs magnesium, so start taking a magnesium citrate or amino acid chelate supplement daily. You can increase the dose of magnesium until you reach 400mg daily. Magnesium is great for relaxing the body and helping it create energy, so if you are taking magnesium supplements take one in the morning and one at night.

Salt

Always use Celtic or sea salt in your cooking

Water

Experiment drinking room or warm water and see how you feel compared to drinking chilled water

Temperature of Foods

As the cold aggravates the water element and the kidneys, it is important when it is cold or when your energy is low to eat more warm and cooked foods instead of cold or raw foods.

Include the Taz adrenal support recovery soup into your diet. This soup, from Dolores S. Downey, has been proven to increase energy in adrenal fatigue sufferers.

Combine one medium onion, one sliced zucchini, one cup chopped celery, one cup chicken broth, one cup tomato juice, one pound green beans, one cup spring water, two tablespoons raw honey and one teaspoon paprika in a large pot. Simmer the soup for one hour or until vegetables are tender. You can season the soup with pepper, if desired.

EXERCISE

Though it may feel like the last thing you want to do, exercise is very beneficial to the adrenal glands. It will also help you sleep better. Begin with light exercise, such as a 10-minute walk, and work your way up to more moderate physical activity. Just remember to listen to you body.

If you find that you have night sweats it’s a good idea to go for a 15 minute power walk about 1-2 hours before you go to bed. Night sweats are thought to be a kidney yang deficiency and due to low night cortisol levels. Rapid walking will increase your cortisol levels and make your body more yang. But it’s important not to over do it as if you push your body too far rather than creating yang energy you will be creating more yin energy. If you are new to yin and yang energy, I recommend that you read my article ‘How to Make the Most of Yin/Yang Energy in Your Life’, this can also be found at my ChiYo Life website.

You can download this diary for free from http://www.chiyolife.com.au/articles.html

Anthony Reid, the hotel’s Jamaican Head Chef whose cooking style is fusion and who believes that you can’t beat ‘organic’ for taste has bought together the traditional flavours of a Jamaican Christmas: pimento, sorrel, rum, ginger & lime and combined them with a meat that does exceptionally well in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains – lamb, to create a Christmas stuffing ‘Blue Mountain High’ that will beat away any lingering 2008 blues. 

Anthony’s stuffing recipe will not only help moisten your turkey during cooking, but in addition if you are considering downsizing to chicken this year, we can guarantee it will add an underlying richness to a meat that will make all the family sparkle and ask for seconds.

‘Blue Mountain High’ Stuffing
(This recipe is intended for a 3.5kg turkey and will serve 6)

Ingredients for the stuffing:
10 jerk lamb sausages
4 onions chopped
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp. chopped thyme
6 tbsp. chopped scallion
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
4 tbsp. jerk seasoning
2 tbsp. rum

Method :
Sauté chopped garlic and onion until golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Remove the covering from the sausages and mince finely in a food processor. (If you cannot source locally or online lamb Jerk sausages substitute finely ground lamb mince & add 1 extra tbsp of Jerk seasoning.)

Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Let it stand for ½ hour before stuffing the turkey or chicken.

Sorrel Glaze

Ingredients:

236 ml sorrel juice
4 tbsp. sorrel jam (or chutney )
1 tbsp. lime juice
Crushed black pepper
Pinch of salt
1 chopped onion
1 glove garlic and a small piece of ginger finely chopped

Method:

Sauté onion until golden brown.. When lightly glazed add garlic and ginger.  Continue sautéing until golden brown. Add Sorrel juice, jam or chutney, lime juice. Cover and allow to simmer until the liquid has thickened.  Season with salt and pepper.

Seasoning for Turkey

1/2 scotch bonnet or haberno chili halved and seeded
5 small scallions
2 tsp. chopped thyme
1 tsp. finely chopped garlic
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp. dark rum
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. jerk seasoning (either powder or paste)
1 tbsp. cooking oil
½ tsp. ground pimento powder
1 tbsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper

Method:

Blend all ingredients together.

Season the turkey by pricking it and then rubbing the outside with the spice mixture.
Stuff the turkey and leave for about 2-3 hours so that the bird absorbs the flavor.

Roast the turkey basting regularly with the sorrel glaze until cooked through but still firm.  Finish off by caramelizing the Sorrel Glaze by giving it a quick burst under the grill turning the bird as you do so as not to burn the glaze.

2 lemon grass stalks
3 fresh green chiles, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1 handful cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
grated zest 1 lime
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp grated fresh ginger root
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 cup (120ml) coconut milk
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, butterflied
salt, black pepper
1 recipe fresh papaya sambal (see Sauces), optional

Method

Butterfly the chicken breasts; with one hand on the breast half to hold it in place, slice through the middle horizontally to cut almost in half. Open out flat.

Remove and discard the tough outer skin from the lemon grass stalks and roughly chop. Put lemon grass, chilles, garlic, scallion, cilantro, cumin, pepper, turmeric, ground goriander, lime zest, lime juice, ginger, fish
sauce and coconut milk in food processor or blender; pulse until smooth.

In a bowl, toss chicken with lemon grass mixture.

Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Grill according to instructions below. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve hot with fresh papaya sambal, optional.

Outdoor on the barbecue
Grill over medium-hot coals until the chicken is opaque, with no trace of pink, 3 minutes per side.

Indoor
Preheat broiler. Broil until the chicken is opaque, with no trace of pink, 3 minutes per side.

Think ahead
Make marinade up to 3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate. Marinade chicken up to 4 hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate.

Makes 4 servings.

Barbecue Chicken Tenderness Tips

Avoid freezing whenever possible to eliminate additional moisture loss during thawing, which results in less tender meat.

Keep chicken from drying out in the refrigerator by keeping it tightly wrapped. If the chicken dries out, it will become tough.

Leaving the skin on the chicken, when cooking it, helps to hold in juices, which increases tenderness.

To keep breast area of chicken from drying out during roasting, place a piece of foil over this area. Remove during last 30 minutes of roasting time to allow the skin to brown properly.

Total price range for all that?

There’s probably a lot more. That was just from flipping from a few pages.

THE SPINACH PRISONER (R) A man is barricaded in his suburban home by strange neighbors who grow giant strains of green leafy veggies.

PULP FRICTION (XXX) Swingers enhance their eyesight and their sex lives with carrots, pumpkins, zucchini.

THE BLACK SCALLION (G) Horsing around on a remote island, a boy discovers a tasty new black onion. Nasty bad guys race to profit from his find.

WHO’S EATING GILBERT’S GRAPES (R) A classic whodunit about a thief who leaves no clues, except for some tiny seeds leading out the back door of Gilbert’s Organic Fruit & Produce.

THYME BANDITS (R) Pint-sized bad guys corner the world’s spice supplies while the good guys are busy resetting their clocks to EST.

ROTTEN TO THE CORE (PG12) Seedy inner-city wholesalers skin unsuspecting Ma and Pa groceries when they deliver overripe apples.

OKRAHOMA (G) A sprendid Japanese cast sings, dances, and grows corn as high as an erephant’s eye!

THE GRATE MAN (R) Tragic biography about a man ahead of his time, Ron Popiel Sr., who went bankrupt selling his Grate-O-Matic vegetable grater using radio infomercials.

TRUE GRITS (PG) A yankee travels the deep south, searching for that authentic side dish he can’t find anywhere near his home.

THE CANE MUTINY (G) Nursing home residents storm the kitchen and hold a cook captive, demanding real cane sugar instead of that funny pink and blue stuff.
WHICH MOVIE WOULD YOU SEE?

1.) When I plant an onion seed, does it produce 1 onion or many onions?
2.) Are my scallion seeds and my onion seeds the exact same thing?
3.) I have an onion in my cupboard that has several long stalks(?). If I plant it, will it produce another onion and/or onions?
3B) If so, do I plant the bulb in the ground and allow the stalks to protrude from the soil?

Thanks
These are scallions in Ohio, USA.

http://www.truestarhealth.com/Notes/Images/Food_Guide/Scallions.jpg

16 Ounce bag of fresh Chinese egg noodles (Lo mein noodles) 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil 6 Cloves garlic, minced 8 Ounces pork tenderloin, thinly sliced 2 Teaspoons rice wine vinegar 6-8 Cups water 3 Tablespoons soy sauce 2 Tablespoons dashida powder (Beef flavored soup stock) 2 Teaspoons ginger, grated 2 Cups cabbage kimchi, chopped in big pieces 4 Ounces shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced 7 Ounces firm tofu, cut into 1-inch squares 4 Baby bok choy, quartered 2 Scallions, thinly sliced 2 Teaspoons dark sesame seed oil Salt and pepper to taste (Add a little salt and pepper at a time and taste as you go. The kimchi and soy sauce may be enough salt for your taste.) Sriracha sauce (Optional but highly recommended.)

Directions
In a large pot add vegetable oil and garlic and sauté until soft. Add pork and cook until it is slightly browned. Season with salt, pepper and rice wine vinegar and stir for 2 minutes. Add kimchi and sauté for 3 minutes.

Add the water, soy sauce, dashida, and ginger. Stir and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. Add the mushrooms and tofu and turn up the heat to medium. Cook for 3 minutes.

Carefully add the egg noodles, bok choy and just enough water to cover all of the ingredients. Stir gently and scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure the noodles are not sticking. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes.

Putting It All Together
Equally divide the soup in four large bowls. Drizzle the sesame seed oil and top with scallions. For that extra kick and flavor, add sriracha sauce (For those who can handle the heat).

Serves 4