Unstress With These Cortisol Mocktail Recipes - Moon Juice (2024)

If you’re looking for a functional beverage to help you unwind at the end of the day or give you smooth energy to start your night, a cortisol mocktail is what you want. It’s the perfect natural remedy for stress relief.

What is a cortisol mocktail? It’s a non-alcoholic sipper intended to help regulate cortisol, a stress hormone, in your system by way of adaptogens, minerals, or other helpful ingredients to help you reset from the stress cycle.

When we encounter stress, a coordinated cascade of reactions is set off in our bodies, releasing cortisol. This stress response is useful when we’re confronted with an actual threat, but chronic stress can have a ripple effect in our bodies, with unwanted impacts on our sleep, weight, skin, hair, sex life, and beyond.

To counter these effects and support better stress management, we look to adaptogens for stress like Ashwagandha to help our bodies return to homeostasis. Ingredients like Ginseng and L-theanine bring smooth energy, and minerals like Magnesium before bed can help us relax and unwind.

Here are some cortisol mocktail recipes to try after a long day of work. They’ll soothe stress and help your body adapt to the effects of cortisol.

1. Green Tea Cortisol Mocktail

Green tea is an ingredient that brings smooth energy for a night out or a day ahead. Although green tea contains a boost of caffeine, it also contains L-theanine, an amino acid that helps promote relaxation and support healthy sleep and stress levels. In a study from 2022, increased consumption of green tea was found to significantly reduced levels of elevated stress hormones like cortisol in teenagers. (1)

The clean, slightly grassy, and sometimes bitter taste of green tea balances well with a variety of flavors, from fruity to floral to citrus. Depending on the season, you can change up this cortisol mocktail recipe with strawberry basil green tea, cherry green tea, mint green tea, peach green tea, or any other favorite blend.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• Green tea (1 bag or spoonful)
• Squeeze of lemon
• 1-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled (optional)
• Honey
• Cup of ice
• Cup of water

Instructions:

1. Start by boiling your water for the tea and steep green tea 3-4 minutes.
2. Remove the tea bag or strain and chill the tea until cooled.
3. To a glass, add your squeeze of lemon juice, ginger, and honey to taste.
4. Fill the glass with ice and pour in green tea.
5. Stir and adjust this cortisol co*cktail as needed.

2. Classic Adrenal Mocktail Plus Magnesium Powder

Adrenal mocktails have become popular as a response to adrenal fatigue or overuse of the adrenal glands that produce cortisol in times of stress. If you're looking to support your adrenal health from the inside out, this classic adrenal co*cktail recipe with Magnesium powder is the perfect beverage for you.

Magnesium is an essential mineral that’s helpful for unstressing at the end of the day, yet over half of us show signs of Magnesium deficiency. We’ve included a classic adrenal mocktail crafted to help lower cortisol levels with the addition of Moon Juice Magnesi-Om®, containing 3 types of Magnesium + L-Theanine.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• Fresh squeezed orange juice from one orange, or ¼ cup
• 1 cup coconut water
• Squeeze of lemon or lime juice
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp Naked Magnesi-Om®
• Water or sparkling water to top

Instructions:

1. Add Magnesi-Om® and pinch sea salt to your glass.
2. Pour in orange juice and coconut water and stir to combine.
3. Add a squeeze of lemon.
4. Fill a glass with ice and top with water or sparkling water for extra fizz.

3. Sleepy Girl Mocktail

If you’re looking for a nightcap, this original Sleepy Girl™ Mocktail combines Magnesi-Om® with the naturally-occurring tryptophan and melatonin present in tart cherry juice to help support sleep as well as relaxation.

Perfect for staying in, the sleepy-time drink won’t knock you out, but there’s clear evidence that its ingredients have sleep-inducing qualities. In addition to the calming benefits of Magnesium that we’ve already touched on, tart cherry juice also contains natural melatonin, the sleep hormone that signals to your brain to get sleepy when it’s dark out.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp Berry Magnesi-Om®
• 2 oz organic tart cherry juice
• 10 oz sparkling water

Instructions:

1. Combine Berry Magnesi-Om® and tart cherry juice.
2. Top with sparkling water and ice. Sip in bliss.

4. Kombucha Sparkler Cortisol Mocktail

Any mocktail can be made a cortisol mocktail to support adrenal function with the addition of adaptogenic support in the form of SuperYou®. These natural stress relief supplements are a daily defense to help regulate cortisol levels for proactive and reactive stress support. Four potent adaptogens traditionally used in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine help alleviate the emotional, mental, hormonal, and physical manifestations of stress.

When stress is activated, organic Ashwagandha root helps regulate cortisol levels and reduce irritability. Rhodiola root powder, traditionally used to reduce fatigue and increase alertness, helps counter stress-related fatigue as the stress sets in. Because prolonged stress can impact hormones and skin, organic Shatavari root comes in to support healthy hormonal balance, and Amla protects skin from oxidative damage.

The bubbly probiotics found in fermented foods like kombucha also aid in gut health—all the more reason to make this cortisol mocktail.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• Low-sugar kombucha, such as ginger lemon or ginger berry kombucha
• Lemon, lime, or berry sparkling water
• Blackberries, frozen in ice plus extra for muddling
• Lemon or lime to garnish
• 2 capsules SuperYou®

Instructions:

1. Muddle some blackberries in the bottom of your drinking glass.
2. Next, add your frozen berries in ice.
3. Fill the glass halfway with your ginger kombucha of choice, and fill the rest of the way with your lemon/lime sparkling water.
4. If you’re looking to boost this drink’s effects with one of the best supplements for reducing cortisol, take 2 capsules of SuperYou®.

While cortisol's effects are far-reaching in our bodies, certain ingredients can help alleviate the hormonal effects of a stress response. So, with every mocktail, add some functional supplementation to your fizz in the form of adaptogens like Ashwagandha or essential minerals we need in balance to encourage our bodies to relax, such as Magnesium. Pour, stir, and sip in bliss.

Editorial Policy: At Moon Juice, we strive to deliver high-quality health and wellness content. Our articles are written by experienced authors who have knowledge on these topics. To ensure accuracy and reliability, all content is meticulously researched using trustworthy sources and studies, which are linked at the end of each article. Our goal is to provide readers with valuable and informative content on wellness-related topics, but we want to emphasize that this information is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Readers should consult with their healthcare practitioners with any concerns.