Top 10 Secrets of Schisandra Berries {+RECIPES}

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{Please welcome my good friend Lydia to the site today! Lydia is a Nutritional Therapist and the author of the Divine Health from the Inside Out site. If you’ve followed my site for any amount of time, you know that Lydia is not only a close friend, but she is also my NTP and has been helping me make great progress on my healing journey. She is an INCREDIBLE woman who really knows her stuff when it comes to health, especially the role minerals play in our bodies. Please give her a warm welcome to the site and stop by Divine Health and say hello!.}

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by Lydia Shatney
Divine Health from the Inside Out

Now that you are here perhaps you are wondering what on earth schisandra berries are. Schisandra berries happen to be one of mine and Jessica’s favorite adaptogenic herbs (see my post on Schisandra HERE, and Jessica’s post on Schisandra HERE).

Schisandra berries are known for their powerful energizing effect. In fact, traditionally, Siberian hunters used them as a staple food taken on journeys to relieve fatigue. Schisandra berries are also known for their support in those with asthma. Great for insomnia, anxiety, bad dreams, as a liver antioxidant, supportive to the kidneys, anyone with chronic fatigue syndrome. Studies have found the berries help to normalize blood pressure. They are also a great endocrine support.

DISCLAIMER: The content shared on this site is for informational and educational purposes only. Statements/products discussed have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease or illness. Please consult your own certified health care practitioner before making changes to your current diet or before beginning any herbal or vitamin supplement regimen or exercise program.

What can’t these berries do? (Well, solve world hunger for one thing). They are pretty darn amazing, so much so that I can’t recommend them enough! They are known to normalize and strengthen the ENTIRE body. Find out these 10 secrets about schisandra berries and you may just want to start consuming them right away. (Then check out the recipes I’ve got for you)!

• contain vitamin C and have antioxidant properties
• raise cellular glutathione levels
• enhance mitochondrial health
• good for asthma due to anti-inflammatory and antihistamine effects
• are cardioprotective, particularly against oxidative-induced damage
• help to regulate stomach acid production – a common problem these days
• are known to help improve eyesight, hearing and mental acuity
• help prevent cancer and work together with chemotherapy
• antiviral and inhibit HIV
• a wonderful tonic beneficial to improve your libido and enhance your sex life

If you’re interested in learning more about herbs and where to buy the highest quality herbs, check out my herbal resources here. I have linked to products below that I use and trust.

Schisandra Berry Syrup

You’ve probably heard of elderberry syrup and all it’s amazing benefits. Well, it’s the same process to make syrup out of schisandra berries with different health benefits. You can take it just like you would elderberry syrup and help prevent winter time illness, namely respiratory infections. I think it’s a great tonic to use, especially for those with adrenal fatigue and hypoglycemia. However, just because it’s healthy doesn’t mean you should go hog wild on it – after all the body still sees is as a form of sugar. So, don’t overdo it!

Ingredients

• 3 cups cold water
• 1 1/2 cup schisandra berries or replace 1/2 cup with elderberries if you desire
• 1-2 organic cinnamon sticks
• ¾ to 1 cup raw local honey
• 1.5 ounces brandy (optional)

Directions

• Combine herbs with cold water in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow herbs to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove from heat and mash the berries in the liquid mixture. Strain the herbs through cheesecloth and squeeze out the juice.
• Measure the liquid and add an equal amount of honey. Gently heat the honey and juice for a few minutes until well combined. Do not boil!
• Stir in brandy and bottle in sterilized glass.
• Label and keep refrigerated for up to 6 months.

11 Ways To Use Schisandra Berry Syrup

• use to sweeten smoothies
• on waffles or pancakes (see Schisandra Maple Butter Syrup Recipe below)
• in a spritzer – drizzle into some sparking mineral water, seltzer or club soda
• flavor kombucha or water kefir
• serve over vanilla ice cream
• stir into plain yogurt
• take it by the spoonful just like elderberry syrup
• mix it into jam
• add some to homemade gummies
• stir into your favorite tea instead of honey
• drizzle over baked pears or apples

Schisandra Maple Butter Syrup for Waffles and Pancakes

• 1/2 cup melted grassfed butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup schisandra berry syrup
• 1Tbsp. vanilla extract (optional)

To cut back on sugar consumption, add some good fat and save money on expensive maple syrup -this syrup blend also adds the medicinal benefits of schisandra and is a great way to get it into your kids!

Blend all ingredients together and serve warm drizzled over pancakes or waffles. This batch is enough for my family of 5 to have on one waffle each.
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Once you experience these ‘secret’ mental and physical benefits of this super berry, you are definitely going to want it as part of your daily health regimen. Have you used schisandra berries in any way before? Share your experience below.

If you’re interested in learning more about herbs and where to buy the highest quality herbs, check out my herbal resources here.

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Learn How to Master Basic Herbal Preparations

If you’re new to herbs and are feeling confused about all the different preparations for them, don’t be! Let me help you out with this Basic Herbal Preparations post. You can also watch the videos below to learn more about a couple herbal preparations and about my favorite source for organic, sustainably harvested herbs.

Supporting a The Adrenals, Thyroid, and Whole Body Through Herbs

When it comes to supporting overall wellness, herbs are a great tool to have in your toolkit, especially those who may be dealing with chronic illness of some type. Since 2009, when I started this site, I have met thousands upon thousands of people through my work and by far, the #1 health complaints are:

• adrenal fatigue (or adrenal dysfunction of some sort) (click here to read all of my adrenal health articles)
• thyroid disorders (hypo-, hyper-, or autoimmune) (click here to read all of my thyroid health articles)

Because of this, I wanted to add in a section into this post about the benefit of using herbs with chronic illness.

If you are dealing with any type of chronic illness, I’m sorry to break it to you, but caffeine may not be your best friend. 🙁 While you can find lots of info online in both the pro- and the anti-coffee camps, the fact of the matter comes down to the fact that are a lot of people dealing with chronic illness, especially thyroid and adrenal problems, that simply cannot tolerate coffee and caffeine.

While those with sluggish adrenal glands tend to feel run down and in need of a regular pick-me-up (like coffee and other caffeinated beverages), in the long run, caffeine can do more harm than good while you are healing. I go into the “whys” around caffeine and your adrenals in this detailed post here. In addition to the caffeine, there are other constituents, molds, and mycotoxins that can show up in coffee that some people find they react to and can further exacerbate the toxic load on the body.

When I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease and adrenal fatigue, one of the first things that had to go was coffee. In addition to dealing with these issues, we suspected that I was having some detox pathway sluggishness so we wanted to also focus on supporting the liver and lymph systems. Most people who are dealing with chronic illness are also going to have issues with detoxification of the body, which is why herbs can play such an important role. 

To be honest, I never drank coffee because of the caffeine. I drank coffee for the taste and aroma, as well as the emotional experience I felt to my morning cup of joe. For me, it was a ritual that I looked forward to every day (and sometimes multiple times a day). Whether I was brewing it at home or going to my local coffee shops, the experience was one that I clung to tightly.

But, when I was faced with new health struggles, I knew I had to do whatever I could to support my body and give it the tools it needed to heal. Giving up coffee and caffeine was one step in this direction.

And it sucked.

I turned to the coffee substitutes on the market in a desperate attempt to recreate the ritual I had grown so fond of, but nothing ever tasted the way I wanted it to. Nothing ever gave me that same experience that my cup of “real” coffee did. I knew there had to be something better, but I simply could not find it on my health food store’s shelves.

Necessity is the mother of invention so that is why I created my own coffee substitutes. They were made with organic, sustainably harvested herbs with zero grains, zero gluten, and zero caffeine. Just herbs.

Herbs that not only tasted delicious but supported my body’s function, like liver detox, bile production, digestion, etc. All of the herbs used in my “coffee” blends have been used for thousands of years to support the body’s normal functions and help everything work a little better — something we all need in today’s toxic world! (psst, dandelion is one of the herbs!)

When it came to creating these blends, if I could get something to not only tasted amazing (and helped me recreate my dearly loved ritual), but also did amazingly supportive things for my body, then it’s a no brainer!

I sold these pre-made blends on Etsy for awhile and the demand was more than I could keep up with. People literally LOVED these blends and were stunned at how much like coffee they actually tasted. Customers who had been dealing with a variety of chronic illnesses had given up coffee to heal their bodies, but like me were deeply missing their morning cup of joe ritual.

After careful consideration and work with some highly experienced advisors, I decided to stop selling the pre-made blends and instead share my proprietary recipes in the form of an eBook. That way I could arm people with the knowledge and recipes they needed to make their own caffeine-free, gluten-free, grain-free blends in the comfort of their own home. 

That is why I created the best-selling DIY Herbal Coffees eBook: A Complete Guide To Making Delicious Herbal Coffees to Support Healing & Stress Relief.

Now in its second edition, this ebook features:

• All of my proprietary herbal blend recipes to you can craft a homemade herbal cup of “coffee” at home.
• A ton of researched information about coffee’s impact on the health of those dealing with issues like adrenal fatigue, blood sugar dysregulation, autoimmune disease, thyroid disease, and any other chronic illness.
• Information about all of the herbs used, why I selected them, how to source them, how to prepare and store you “coffees”, and much more.
• Access to your own personal coffee shop where I show you how to recreate your favorite coffee shop drinks and pastries with wholesome, nourishing real food ingredients. No junk here. Only real food.

This book truly is a comprehensive guide to supporting your health, reducing your stress, and bringing a little something special back into your healing journey. You can learn more and download your own copy of this revolutionary wellness guide here, or simply click on the image below.

Sources

1. “Adaptogens in Medical Herbal Herbalism’, Donald R. Yance, CN, MH, RH (AHG)
2. Schisandra: Ultimate Superberry

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