My Energy Has Increased Because of Doing This....

I have been taking something new in the last few months... and it has been helping me. I have severe adrenal issues and also thyroid issues and have tried a variety of things to help, but there is certainly no magic cure.

I have tried many things that do help in a slow way and I am thankful. This has helped in a bigger way and my energy is going up little by little and I am very thankful. :) I am taking gelatin water and blackstrap molasses and I drink it together like a tea. Here it is with cheese and apples, which make a good snack.

 I have found that I need a lot of protein( it can be a help for adrenal issues)...  and I find that I do much better with a lot of protein. One source advised 24 grams of protein for breakfast... and I tried... I really did, but I cannot eat enough to make up that much protein for breakfast... it would take 4 eggs (and I am getting so that I do not like eggs after having them so often.. and there is no way I can even eat 4 eggs!) or quite a bit of beef, etc. So, though I felt a bit better... I couldn't keep it up... and I never even got up to having 24 grams of protein a day most days, let alone in the morning. However, I found that when I did extra protein for breakfast, it really did help, so I continued looking for ways to do this.

 Different brands of gelatin have varying amounts of protein.. this one has 11g of protein for each tablespoon, which is great. I am taking about a tablespoonful in the morning and a teaspoonful before bed, so even with other protein sources, I am still probably not getting 24 g every day, but that is okay.

The best way that I have found to mix it is to put a small amount of cool water in the cup and sprinkle the powdered gelatin over it.

 It starts to dissolve, but needs to also be stirred in. It will be very thick... I have used more cool water at times, so that it wasn't so thick, but then it isn't hot enough for me to drink after I add the hot water, so this amount works well for me.

My husband drinks the gelatin water just plain, but I do not like the smell of it, so I have added blackstrap molasses, which I know has many good health benefits. When I started taking this drink, I was taking it before bed and I have heard reports that blackstrap molasses can aid sleep. I suffer from insomnia which is connected with the adrenal issues, so that was a plus for me... and it did help some. These small helps were such an encouragement to me and though I did not take it regularly, I could tell that it was helping when I did.  At first, I took the gelatin as a preventative for joint issues because my husband was taking it, so I wasn't very committed to it... I didn't think I really needed it.

 Here is the thick gelatin that is all dissolved in the water.

My husband takes the gelatin for his knee.. he had a meniscus tear in his knee and was headed for surgery to "fix" it. He was in lots of pain, unable to do stairs w/o a lot of pain or the knee trying to give out on him... I drove him to and from work for weeks because his knee hurt so much when he drove, etc.

 I do things in as healthy of a way as possible and he decided to try some things, although he was very skeptical that any of it would help... we did several things for many months... gelatin water is one of those things... and he no longer limps and has actually started running again... with no surgery! This helped him to believe more in the natural ways of doing things and he has since started to take better care of his body.

 Gelatin is said to be good for joints, skin, hair and nails, digestion, a source of protein and more.... it has even been said to be of some help as an anti inflammatory.  The little packets of gelatin in the grocery store can help a little, and we used them for a while... but the gelatin found in the health food store... such as the one shown above... has helped much more and has a higher protein content. I had to pay about $19.00 for the container, I think... and it says it has 38 servings (1 tablespoon) in the container, so this is not a cheap thing, but I feel that it is really worth it to me. My energy has been so non existent for so long and I had no choice but to take long daily naps.... and severely limit activities... but now I am only taking a short nap once or twice a week... and I am doing more activities.. there has been a big improvement.

 I poured the boiling hot water into the cup with the dissolved gelatin and stirred it well... it mixes very easily at this point.

 Note:  After drinking this Gelatin/Molasses "Tea",  it is VERY important to rinse out the cup... or the bit of gelatin left in the liquid at the bottom will form a very hard layer in the bottom... especially if left overnight... yes, we have learned this the hard way. :)  It will clean out after hardened, but takes more work.

 Here is where I add the blackstrap molasses and stir it in. The amount varies. For a while, I added 2 tablespoons each time (morning and evening) so that I would get a larger amount of iron from the molasses... and it also helped my energy level ... but I became concerned about taking in that much of a sugar and didn't want to irritate or start  a candida problem, so I usually only use 1 teaspoon at a time, until I can do more research on the subject and experiment a bit. I may increase it again, but for now I am content with the progress I am seeing and do not want to unknowingly create some other kind of issue, so I am just being careful.

 Blackstrap molasses has many possible benefits - for hair, laxative effects, iron source, calcium and magnesium and other minerals and more. I have heard of people who were unable to take iron tablets because of constipation or other problems, but they did great on blackstrap molasses. If you are interested in it, you should do your own research... I am only sharing what has worked for me.. but I am not a doctor and am not advising that it will work for you. Note: Molasses and Blackstrap Molasses do not have the same benefits.. blackstrap molasses has much more good nutrition in it than regular molasses.  The blackstrap molasses that I bought.. also at the health food store... was about $7 or $8 for a 31 oz container, which should last quite a while.

 Here it is all stirred in and ready to drink. As I have been taking this combination consistently for a while, I have noticed a more stable energy level...without as many ups and downs. It is not perfect, but in my search for more energy and better health, these two things have really helped and I plan to continue them. For so long, I have found nothing that would help, so this is huge for me.  I have been able to function much better and add things to my schedule... and I have loved having some energy again, although I still have to be careful not to overdo it.  This is not the only thing I am doing for my health, but it has been a successful addition and I am so thankful to have found it. I still have down days where exhaustion hounds me all day, but I am not having as many of those at all... and I find that those days tend to be the days when I didn't have any gelatin in the morning, so it makes sense to me to continue it. I will continue my search for improved health... and for now I am so thankful for a simple and easy thing like this.

By the way, this has worked well for me... and the gelatin and other things worked well for my husband, but I am not a doctor and would never advise you to think I am saying this is some sort of "cure all".  I am just sharing what has worked well for us. It doesn't taste bad... and has become one of my "regular" teas that I drink every day or twice a day.

Sometimes there are health issues that we can face that can be quite discouraging... and it seems there is no help for them. If you are in a place like this, I hope you won't despair... God made our bodies and He knows the answers to the health issues we face and so we just keep searching and waiting on Him to show us. I feel that this is one of those areas He has allowed me to learn and I am so thankful... and I will also keep searching. Thank you for coming to my blog today and I hope that your health is good or continues to improve.

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