Morning Detox Drink

Start your day with this nourishing and simple morning detox drink of cranberry juice, raw honey, sea salt, and collagen peptides.

**This post is sponsored by Vital Proteins.  We reached out to them because I really use and enjoy this!**

This is a drink I’ve begun making in the last couple of weeks.  I’ve been looking for a gentle detox drink that will also help to build me up in preparation for my new baby’s arrival.  I’ll continue this for months after, too.

Of course, this is good at other times, as well, because it is gentle and easy to drink.  Each ingredient has been chosen specifically for the benefits that it offers.  It’s a nourishing drink that is an excellent way to start your day.  I have done versions of this and always noticed benefits to it.

I’ll explain!

Morning Detox Drink – Ingredients

This drink contains four simple ingredients.  Each is important.

Cranberry juice

Pure, unsweetened (preferably organic) cranberry juice is beneficial to the kidneys, urinary tract, and lymphatic systems.  It’s important to choose cranberry over other types of juice because of its benefits.  I wanted something to support these systems in particular, but wanted a gentle herb that is safe for pregnant and nursing women.

The lymphatic system is what actually causes you to detox.  It is the system of fluids that runs through your body and carries waste out.  If the system is blocked up, then you may get sick more and feel tired and sore (or worse, over time).  Cranberry binds with the fatty fluids in the lymph and helps to get rid of it.  Of course, not a lot of people really like pure cranberry juice…keep reading.

Collagen peptides

This is one of my favorite ingredients.  Collagen peptides (which is a form of gelatin) has benefits for skin, hair, digestion, muscles, and more.  It soothes the digestive system, which promotes detox (think like the gelatin in homemade stock, only this is easier to take for many).

It promotes the production of collagen, which improves skin and hair and may reduce the appearance of cellulite.  Plus, the amino acids in the collagen peptides help to build muscles.  (We easily get the amino acids that are in muscle meats, but we miss out on those that are in organ meats and gelatin, and we really need them all for adequate muscle building and repair.)

For women during and after childbirth, this can help tighten up things “down there” and make pushing more effective.  I have noticed this effect as I’ve used collagen peptides on and off for two years!  It helps strengthen legs, arms, and abs too (and a lot of women need help with abs after birth).  This is an important ingredients for me.

I choose to use the Vital Proteins brand because it’s made from the hides of grass-fed cows.  It’s clean and beneficial.  Plus, it’s processed so that it doesn’t form MSG, which store-bought gelatin does.  A big tub will last about a month if you’re doing this daily, so it’s affordable too.  You can snag it 20% off with code MODERNALTERNATIVEMAMA20 through May 22.

Raw honey

Pure cranberry juice is pretty low in sugar.  One of the lowest sugar fruits, actually.  A small spoonful of raw honey helps to make the drink more palatable, and it also provides healthy sugars, anti-viral and anti-bacterial activity, and more.

If you suffer from seasonal allergies, local raw honey may even help with those.  If you don’t prefer this, or struggle more with cranberry juice, you can also use some unfiltered apple juice, which has benefits for the gallbladder.

Sea salt

Salt is an electrolyte that helps the adrenals.  A lot of people need help with this because of long-term burn-out.  Stress, low magnesium levels, digestive issues, etc. can lead to adrenal fatigue.  A pinch of sea salt helps to bring important trace minerals to the adrenals, helping to re-balance hormones.

This drink is simple to make, too!

Morning Detox Drink – Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. unsweetened organic cranberry juice
• 3 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides
• 1 – 2 tsp. raw honey
• 1 c. warm, filtered water
• Pinch sea salt

Directions:

Step 1: Blend the cranberry juice and collagen peptides in a mug.

Step 2: Heat the water until warm.  It does not need to boil.  Stir it in the cranberry juice.  (This helps the honey and collagen peptides dissolve.)

Step 3: Add the honey and sea salt and stir together.

That’s it!  Drink.  I also add my prenatal tincture to the drink at this time.  (It’s a good vehicle for any liquid supplements since it’s pretty strongly flavored.)  I also use it to take my liver pills.  Remember that I said that we need a balance between gelatin, organs, and muscle meats?  The liver pills help with that.

Being warm actually helps too — promotes better digestion than ice-cold would.

Follow this with a healthy breakfast and plenty of water.  You need water to help remove all the “junk” that this knocks loose!  I definitely feel thirstier when I drink this.

Taking a bath with Epsom salts sometimes is also a good thing to do, since it helps get magnesium and helps with detox.

But this drink is an excellent start.  (Yes, all of these suggestions are gentle enough for pregnancy/nursing, but do be careful with the cranberry juice while nursing — since it dumps a lot into your lymphatic system, which can get into your milk.  I would do less cranberry or do the drink every 2 – 3 days instead of daily.)

Do you do any morning detox drinks?