As a health coach, people come to me searching for a natural way to help with their health problems. Most of them are tired of going to doctors just to receive another prescription. My advice: shots.
No, not the kind you get at a bar! Healthy shots make downing supplements oh-so-much easier. With shots, plugging your nose, tossing your head back, and swallowing as fast as possible has stood the test of time as being the best way of getting it down, but, when it comes to healthy stuff, you won’t regret it later.
The Benefits of Healthy Shots
Different shots can help with different problems. Clients come to me to with various health issues like adrenal fatigue, headaches, weight loss or gain, and many other problems. Depending on their situation, I’ll recommend a shot or series of shots to help alleviate their problems.
I love reaping the benefits of shots, too. So, I take try to take at least three shots every day: wheatgrass, chlorophyll, and apple cider vinegar. Depending on my mood and the state of my immune system, I often toss in another shot as well. Not all at the same time, of course. You wouldn’t mix a Blue Moon, Irish Car Bomb, and a Lemon Drop all at once (I hope), so spread your healthy shots out throughout the day.
Here is a quick guide to the ten shots that health coaches love.
Wheatgrass
Wheatgrass shots are a good way for you to get a lot of your daily vitamin needs in one gulp. One pound of wheatgrass has the same nutritional value as 23 pounds of other vegetables. It is a good source of vitamins A, C, E, and K, in addition to many other vitamins. Drinking all of those nutrients concentrated into one shot will help prevent overeating, stimulate circulation, improve digestion, and detoxify your body.
Chlorophyll
The green goddess of health shots! Chlorophyll has many health benefits, ranging from fighting infections to preventing bad breath. It’s also a powerhouse when it comes to gastrointestinal problems. Many diseases originate when refined, low-fiber foods and animal fats that are difficult for us to digest clog up our colons. Chlorophyll can heal your intestinal tract, improving digestion and assimilation of nutrients.
Chlorophyll can also give you a huge energy boost. It helps rebuild and replenish your red blood cells since its cellular structure is almost identical to your blood’s building block, hemoglobin. Because of this, chlorophyll allows the blood to carry more oxygen from your lungs to other parts of your body. In addition to all of those benefits, it also helps ease inflammation, strengthens the immune system, and protects against many carcinogens.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar shots are amazing for a quick and effective energy burst, but that’s just an added bonus. It actually helps ease digestion, detoxifies the body, kills head lice, and balances the pH of both your body and your skin. It’s even claimed to help reverse the aging process.
Ginger and Lemon
Sometimes called a wellness shot, this combination is a nutrient-dense powerhouse that can halt a cold or flu. Ginger is anti-everything – antiviral, antiseptic, antihistamine, and anti-inflammatory. It also helps tame nausea, stimulate circulation, and heat up the respiratory system to break up congestion and clear sinuses.
Lemon juice also has some amazing benefits. It’s rich in vitamin C, which is an antioxidant essential for healthy immune function, proper digestion, and wound healing. With these two working together, you can kiss your cold goodbye.
Mangosteen
This one is a strange-looking, yet delicious tropical fruit packed with antioxidants, one group of which is called xanthones. These are hailed for their strong anti-aging properties. Mangosteen is also high in fiber, vitamins C and B, and other micronutrients such as thiamine, niacin, and folate. So, it also strengthens the immune system, increases joint flexibility, and provides cognitive support.
Acai
Acai is richer in antioxidants than almost any other fruit. One berry contains ten times the amount of antioxidants as grapes, and twice as much as blueberries. The antioxidants in acai promote skin and heart health, boost energy and blood circulation, improve mental function, and help to keep cells strong so they can fight against the invasion of free radicals.
Essaic Tea
Essiac is a four-herb tea, and it actually tastes good. It consists of burdock root, slippery elm bark, sheep sorrel, and Indian rhubarb root. These herbs in Essiac strengthen your immune system, relieve pain, and increase appetite. Many have also claimed that it cleanses blood, promotes cell repair, boosts energy levels, and detoxifies the body. The herbs are also touted to relieve inflammation, lubricate bones and joints, stimulate the stomach, and eliminate excess mucous in organs, tissues, lymph glands, and nerve channels.
Goji Berry
Also known by the fierce name of wolfberry, goji berry has long been a part of traditional Chinese medicine. It contains high concentrations of many vitamins and minerals, as well as phytochemicals such as beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, and lycopene. Goji berries have been used for years to treat a huge variety of common health issues including diabetes, high blood pressure, fever, and eye problems. Studies have found goji berry juice to have many other benefits, too, in regard to mental well-being and calmness, athletic performance, and sleep quality.
Spirulina
It’s been said that humans could thrive by just eating spirulina and drinking pure spring water. Spirulina is 60% protein (meat is only about 27%) and is a complete source of it, containing all of the essential amino acids we need to live. It is rich in a huge range of other nutrients as well, which provide you with a huge range of benefits – suppressing the growth of bad bacteria, promoting healthy digestion, balancing brain chemistry, and helping with problems such as chronic fatigue, anemia, and blood sugar issues.
Matcha
When making regular green tea, you generally throw away the leaves after steeping them, but you’re actually throwing away the best part. The leaves are nutrient-dense, and one way to incorporate them into your diet is through matcha.
Matcha is a concentrated form of green tea that has been consumed for centuries. It is drunk as a powder diffused into liquid so you digest the whole leaf and absorb maximum nutrients. Matcha contains two substances (theophylline and theanine) that work together to give you an energy boost that can last up to six hours. Green tea can also increase fat oxidation during exercise and increase thermogenesis, which increases your energy expenditure and may help with weight loss.
Drink ‘Em, But Drink ‘Em Fast
Many people suggest diluting these supplements with water and sipping them slowly. I disagree – unless you like the taste of your lawn. I have discarded so many glasses of mixed concoctions that were ninety percent water and just a few drops of apple cider vinegar because, honestly, it tasted horrible. In order to add these supplements to your diet without gagging, I recommend just getting it over with – quickly.
My clients find that taking these shots daily not only fixes their original health concerns, but it also improves their overall health, impacting the way they feel every single day. It helps keep them feeling young, vibrant, and energetic, and they even notice the added perk of glowing skin. So knocking back a few healthy shots daily can truly make you look and feel great, too. Enjoy!
Which one are you going to try? Or do you already do some of these shots? Please post to the comments below.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.
