There's a drink that's quietly become part of my daily rhythm.

I call it the Adrenal Mocktail. It's simple, salty-sweet, and surprisingly effective at stabilizing energy and helping your body actually handle stress, instead of just pushing through it.

Here's what's inside:

• 4 oz orange juice
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• ¼ tsp Redmond Real Salt or Celtic Sea Salt
• 1–2 tbsp collagen peptides
• 2 oz coconut cream

Blend with ice until frothy. That's it.

But what's happening underneath the surface is worth understanding, because every ingredient is doing something specific for your nervous system.

Why Each Ingredient Actually Matters

Orange juice gives your adrenals two things they rely on heavily under stress: quick, usable glucose to stabilize blood sugar dips, and vitamin C, one of the first nutrients to deplete when your stress load is high.

Cream of tartar is an old-school pantry staple most people overlook. It's rich in potassium, an electrolyte that helps regulate fluid balance, nerve signals, and muscle contractions. Stress hormones shift your sodium-potassium balance, this helps bring your system back toward baseline.

Mineral salt adds sodium and over 60 trace minerals that support cellular hydration and aldosterone balance, one of the adrenal hormones most taxed by chronic stress. If you crave salt when you're stressed or exhausted, your body is likely trying to reestablish exactly this.

Collagen peptides provide glycine and proline, calming amino acids that support gut integrity, connective tissue, and neurotransmitter balance. Glycine in particular helps modulate your nervous system's "brake pedal," counterbalancing stress chemistry and promoting a felt sense of calm.

Coconut cream slows glucose absorption so your energy curve stays steady instead of spiking and crashing. It also nourishes the brain, which thrives on a combination of glucose and healthy fat.

What This Is Really Supporting

When we talk about supporting the adrenals, what we're really talking about is your body's capacity to regulate stress.

Your adrenals don't act alone, they're part of your HPA axis, the communication loop between your brain and body that helps you adapt to challenge and recover from it. When that system is chronically taxed, everything feels harder: energy, mood, focus, pain tolerance, sleep.

This drink gives that system the raw materials it needs to do its job — electrolytes for nerve and muscle communication, glucose to fuel the brain, vitamins and amino acids to buffer stress, fats to steady energy and signal safety.

In short, it tells your body: you're nourished, you're supported, you can exhale.

A Few Ways to Make It Your Own

Not into juice? Use coconut water as your base and add a splash of lemon or lime for vitamin C.

Want more staying power? Add an extra tablespoon of collagen and a few more ounces of coconut cream to make it closer to a snack.

Sip it mid-morning, after a workout, or any time your energy dips and your nervous system feels like it's running on fumes.

A Gentle Reminder

This isn't a magic fix. It's a small, consistent act of nourishment that adds up over time.

And it points to something bigger, the idea that regulation doesn't always come from doing more. Sometimes it comes from giving your body what it's actually been asking for.

Drinks like this are one piece of it. But there's a whole framework underneath, the neuroscience of how your brain and body learn to feel safe, recover from chronic stress, and stop producing pain and exhaustion as protection.

That's what I teach in the masterclass.

✨ Regulation doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like a frothy drink and five minutes of actually taking care of yourself.

In my free masterclass, Heal Stubborn Pain With Your Brain, I walk you through the neuroscience of how your brain and nervous system regulate stress, and give you brain-based tools to start creating real safety in your body, beyond what any single habit can do alone.

If your energy, pain, or stress levels feel like they're running the show, this is where to start.