Adrenal Cocktail

This simple adrenal cocktail recipe is delicious, refreshing, and mineral-rich. It’s the perfect way to support your adrenals, fight fatigue, and replenish key nutrients during times of stress. My tips and recipes are included below!

If you’re feeling tired, burnt out, and in need of a pick me up, this adrenal cocktail recipe is exactly what you need! I’ve been making a variety of homemade mineral and electrolyte drinks for decades, including my homemade electrolyte drink. This is one of favorites because it’s beneficial for so many people, especially if you’re dealing with chronic stress.

I started making adrenal cocktails years ago when researching adrenal dysfunction and mineral balance. Vitamin C, sodium, and potassium are incredibly important for the adrenal glands, and these nutrients become depleted when you are chronically stressed. This drink will boost your nutrient and mineral status, fight fatigue, and support adrenal function. My recipe, variations, and tips are included below. Consider this your go-to guide!

Note: I recently created a free mineral balancing guide which contains simple tricks for supporting your body with minerals. Download it here!

What are the Adrenal Glands?

The adrenals are two small glands that sit on top of your kidneys. The adrenals produce many important hormones, including cortisol, aldosterone, and adrenaline. These hormones help to manage the stress response and regulate blood sugar, blood pressure, and metabolism.

Adrenal Hormones and Fatigue

Many people don’t know this, but there’s a strong connection between your mineral status and adrenal function. Stress is actually known to burn through minerals and disrupt electrolyte balance.

Cortisol is the hormone that’s released when you experience physical or emotional stress. While it’s primary recognized as a stress hormone, it also plays an important role in your sleep/wake cycle and how your body retains sodium. If you’re dealing with chronic stress, chronically elevated cortisol and adrenaline can negatively impact your sleep, hormone function, nutrient stores, and mess with sodium retention.

Aldosterone, another adrenal hormone, helps control the balance of electrolytes and water in your body. Chronic stress can cause a rapid depletion of potassium, and subsequently electrolyte imbalance. Low levels of key minerals can cause symptoms of adrenal dysfunction, such as chronic fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, blood sugar imbalances, and sleep disturbances. For more information about adrenal dysfunction, check out The Adrenal Fatigue Myth: What’s Really Going On and How to Treat it.

What is an Adrenal Cocktail?

An adrenal cocktail is a drink containing key minerals and nutrients the body needs during times of stress. Stress actually depletes key nutrients, and proactively replenishing these nutrients will help support proper adrenal function. When the adrenals are well-supported, your body can properly manage blood sugar, balance hormones, and maintain cellular hydration.

Despite the name, adrenal cocktails are not actually cocktails. But, they are tasty and delicious! There are three key components of the drink: potassium, sodium (unrefined natural salt), and vitamin C. As per the root cause protocol, the cocktail should deliver approximately:

• 375 mg of potassium
• 460 mg of sodium
• 60 mg of whole food vitamin C

This supports aldosterone production, replenishes potassium, and ensures the appropriate cofactors are present for mineral absorption.

The original recipe was created by Susan Blackard, NP, ND, PhD, and was published in Cure Your Fatigue by Morley Robins. For more from Morley Robins, check out my interview with him on the Well-Fed Women Podcast here: #404: Mineral Balance, Iron, And Fatigue With Morley Robbins

Ingredients

While there are many variations out there, simple is best! The basic recipe includes orange juice, coconut water, cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate), and unrefined natural sea salt. Here are the ingredients:

• Orange juice – Try to use fresh orange juice that you’ve squeezed yourself or purchase freshly squeezed juice from the store. Avoid commercial orange juice products with added calcium.
• Coconut water – Rich in electrolytes, coconut water is a great source of potassium and other minerals. It’s smooth and slightly sweet, which makes the cocktail refreshing and smooth. Look for coconut water that doesn’t have any additives.
• Cream of Tartar – This is a common ingredient in baking that is actually pure potassium bitartrate. You can find this in the baking section where the spice jars are located, or online. I typically purchase cream of tartar in a spice jar at the grocery store.
• Unrefined natural sea salt – I recommend using Redmond’s Real Salt or Celtic Sea Salt. This is an excellent source of sodium plus 90+ other trace minerals.

How to Make An Adrenal Cocktail

Three Variations

Here are three additional recipes you can use. I recommend making the orange creamsicle version if you are struggling with blood sugar issues. The simple versions are great if you don’t have cream of tartar and/or don’t want to use orange juice. You can also add a squeeze of a fresh lemon or lime to any of these to add some vitamin C and improve the flavor.

Orange Creamsicle Adrenal Cocktail:

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup coconut water
• 1/4 teaspoon unprocessed sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
• 2 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk
• 1 scoop collagen powder

Simple Adrenal Cocktail (without cream of tartar):

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1/4 teaspoon unprocessed sea salt

Simple Adrenal Cocktail (without orange juice or cream of tartar):

• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1/2 cup purified water
• 1/4 teaspoon unprocessed sea salt
• 60 mg whole foods vitamin C

Adrenal Cocktail Benefits

1. It balances minerals. Stress depletes minerals, and when stress becomes chronic, it can lead to imbalanced sodium levels and low potassium. This drink helps to support the body with sufficient potassium, sodium, and trace minerals, which the adrenals need for the production of cortisol, aldosterone, and adrenaline.
2. It’s rich in vitamin C. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps your body mitigate stress, synthesize hormones, and support immune function. Your adrenal glands store vitamin C and use it to produce stress hormones, including cortisol. Because stress depletes vitamin C, it’s an essential component of the drink.
3. It fights fatigue. Minerals are the body’s “spark plugs”. They are involved in over 20,000 enzyme reactions and help create energy at a cellular level. Your adrenal glands help to balance key minerals, specifically sodium and potassium, which control cellular hydration. When your are stressed or dealing with adrenal dysfunction, this can lead to rapid depletion of minerals and electrolytes, which can cause fatigue, lightheadedness, sleep issues, and more. Supporting your body with key minerals and electrolytes provides your cells with the substrate it needs to create energy and hydrate cells.

Mixing Tips

The basic recipe can easily be mixed in a glass with a spoon, whisk, or frother. You can also use a shaker bottle to help keep your drink mixed up and evenly distributed.

If you plan to add in any of the extras like coconut milk or collagen powder, I recommend using a blender to make the drink smooth and creamy. Add all of the ingredients to a stand mixer and blend until combined, or use a stick blender or handheld frother and mix the ingredients right in the glass.

Recipe FAQs

Expert Tips

• Make ahead of time for easy sipping. You can triple or quadruple the recipe and keep in it a large jar with a lid to drink throughout the week. It will last in the fridge up to 3 days. If you use coconut milk or collagen, blend the mixture again to reincorporate.
• While this drink helps to reduce the stress of nutrient depletion, it will not treat the root cause of your adrenal dysfunction. Make sure to also manage your stress, get plenty of sleep, reduce intense workouts, eat nutrient dense foods, and take as much off of your plate as you can while your body recovers.
• It’s best to drink the cocktail on an empty stomach. If you are struggling with blood sugar issues, add the collagen and coconut milk to your drink, or drink it right after a protein-rich meal.
• Orange juice loses it nutrients overtime. So, fresh is best! I would try to drink freshly squeezed juice within a week.
• Nutrient content can vary with your ingredients. Different brands of coconut water and even cream of tartar can have varying levels of potassium. This is why I like using a combo of coconut water and cream of tartar for potassium. Also, coconut water has added electrolytes and minerals, so it’s incredibly effective at helping restore minerals.

More Nourishing Recipes

• Mango Coconut Milk Smoothie
• Apple Banana Smoothie
• Garlic Butter Steak Bites and Potatoes
• Crispy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Recipe by: Noelle Tarr / Coconuts and Kettlebells | Photography by: Casey Colodny / The Mindful Hapa