Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

Antioxidant Smoothies and Nostalgic Melodies

As usual, those were some amazing comments on my last post. I love writing about veganism on my blog. I always get such incredibly insightful and honest feedback! For those of you who missed this post, please go back and check it out: I was thrilled with the level of conversation.

So I had a long recipe post planned for y’all, but it’s been a long and hard day, so you’re getting a product review instead. Months ago, Matt over at Miessence—a company that produces high quality vegan, organic body, skin, and haircare products—offered me a few samples of supplements. Namely, he wrote to see whether or not I was interested in three supplements:

1) An antioxidant “superfood” powder called Berry Radical

2) A wholefood probiotic powder called Inliven

3) A liquid probiotic (gluten-free) called Fast Track

Well sure, I said. I’m not in the habit of turning down free, high-quality probiotics—though for the record, I don’t take a regular probiotic supplement unless I’m traveling or my stomach is feeling off. (I did take probiotics religiously for a period of time in which I was “healing” my IBS, and I think they helped me tremendously. And I’ve written about probiotics and enzymes in this post.)

Matt went above and beyond the call of any man offering a blogger a sample product. When I posed questions to him about the products, he responded instantaneously and kindly. My main question was this: As I understand it, most probiotic bacteria is killed in the stomach, due to its very acidic environment. This is why enteric coated probiotics are popular. So I wondered how the liquid probiotic, Fast Track, could withstand such a low pH? Matt wrote back,

Thanks for your question, a very good one at that! I am not the best at describing how Fast Tract works as a probiotic, I use the In-Liven product myself – which is formulated in a way that ensures that lactic
acid in the stomach does not “kill” off the good bacteria (lactic acid is formed when bacteria are fighting each other). This is done through providing a food source (superfood) for the bacteria, whilst also allowing the good bacteria to establish themselves in the digestive tract. Also, the bacteria strains have been established through rigourous “breeding”, using extreme cold and extreme heat to use the
most resistant strains of the bacteria. Fast Tract is to be used as a precursor to transitioning to In-Liven, to allow the gut to have a baseload of good bacteria who can handle the predigested gluten.

Something also to keep in mind is that the products are certified organic, completely raw and unprocessed (well, they are predigested over 30 days, fermented somewhat). The use of enteric coatings is to protect the contents of the pills, my basic research into these coatings highlights that they use chemical based coatings predominantly.

I thought this was a great, if confusing answer! Not because Matt articulated himself poorly, but because I’m still not 100% sure how probiotic bacteria withstand the stomach pH. And vegetarian, chemical coating to ensure efficacy in a pill still strikes me as smarter than a liquid supplement that won’t have its intended effect. If any med or science folks in the audience have further insight to offer, do please share!

In any case, I was really impressed with the due diligence that Matt gave my queries, and with his attitude in general. I get the sense that Miessence is an honest and solid company.

As for the products, I enjoyed them quite a bit! The enliven tastes just like Kombucha. This was good, in that it’s a taste I like, and bad, in that I wanted to drink it like a beverage, rather than take it by the teaspoon and as a supplement, which is of course how I was instructed.

The InLiven is tasteless and easy to put in smoothies, soups, and nut cheeses! I tried it all three ways – I even made a batch of my raw “goat cheese” with it – and it worked nicely in the fermentation process.

Did I notice a difference in my digestive health? Well no, not really. I’m happy to say that, at this point in life, my digestion works like a well oiled machine, and I these probiotics had no impact to speak of. But perhaps they would make a big difference for someone who has digestive irregularity or trouble; in any case, I think they’re as worthy as any other probiotic of a trial! As for the Berry Radical antioxidant powder, it made a fun and tasty addition to my summer berry smoothies. Here was my favorite concoction:

I used the Berry Radical:

…and I also used a packed of Sambazon’s original acai pulp. Acai—along with goji berries and mulberries and maca and lots of other “super” foods—tends to elicit my teasing. But putting aside for a moment it’s purported health benefits, I really do like the way it tastes, and so I purchase these guys sometimes:

And sometimes, I even use terms like “superfoods” with a straight face. Like now.

Gena’s Berry Antioxidant Superfood Smoothie (serves 1)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 pack Sambazon “original Rio blend” acai
1/2 frozen banana
1 tbsp Miessence Berry Radical antioxidant powder
1/2 cup nut milk
2 tbsp cacao nibs (I used Navitas naturals)
Ice as needed

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender till smooth. I prefer my smoothies to resemble ice cream, rather than liquids, so this will be thick, but you can of course add more nut milk as needed! I topped mine with a little raw granola, too – this brand, which I find at my health food store and quite like!

It’s a delicious and decadent mix, made chocolatey by the cacao and the acai (which has a chocolate overtone). I suggest you try it soon!

Thanks so much, Matt, for giving me a chance to sample the goods. I may be ambivalent about many kinds of supplements, but I do admire what you’re doing, and have no doubt that your products can and will benefit many.

Switching gears completely for a moment, were any other NYC kids at Cakeshop with me last night, seeing Tennis perform? They were impressive, even in the tiny and sweaty space. For those of you who weren’t there, I present you with my music pick of the week. Listen now, thank me later.

xo

Superfood Shake, and Agave Controversy

Hooray for enthusiasm over fava beans! And the inevitable Silence of the Lambs jokes.

Veteran readers of Choosing Raw know by now that my attitude toward that mystical genus of foodstuffs known as “superfoods” is ambivalent at best. In theory, superfoods are simply foods that have a particularly high phytonutrient content. By this definition, many, if not most vegetables and fruits are, in fact, superfoods: kale, blueberries, kiwi, apples, spinach, walnuts, and dark chocolate are only a few examples. The problem is that the term “superfood” has no legal definition or government regulation, so it’s very easy for food manufacturers to exploit it.

Within the raw foods community, this is a particular pickle. The term “superfood” is now used to describe any number of dried fruits, powders, and supplements. Many of these–including cacao or goji berries–have some probable health benefits. But it’s not clinically proven that they’re any more healthful than a vast array of far more commonplace and inexpensive nutrient dense foods, like raisins, oats, or pumpkin seeds.

In other words, there’s nothing inherently deceptive about the claim that raw cacao or lucuma is high in phytonutrients; what is deceptive is the suggestion that they offer concentrated health benefits that no other food can provide more accessibly and cheaply. Raw cacao and lucuma might be great, but if we strip the term “superfood” down to its true meaning, cinnamon is a comparable contender. In addition, a number of superfoods are marketed with very murky health claims: powder X is supposed to balance hormones, while powder Y is supposed to prevent aging. These claims — structure-function claims as they’re called in the nutrition world — are seldom regulated, and very often reflect cultural lore more than proven efficacy.

Here’s what I like about “superfoods”: they can taste yummy sometimes. I don’t think cacao and lucuma will make me live forever, but I sure do like the flavors of both! And so I occasionally turn a dollar or two over to superfoods, not because I expect remarkable health changes, but because I find specialty ingredients fun. Take these, for instance:

Some old and recent purchases from Navitas Naturals and One Lucky Duck. Health panaceas? No. Fun for smoothie experimentation? Oh, yes.  This past weekend, I was in the mood for a little smoothie experimentation, and this expensive decadent concoction was born:

Superfood Shake (wink) — Serves 1

1 large frozen banana
2 tbsp cacao nibs
1 tbsp lucuma (available here)
1 tbsp yacon powder (available here)
1 tbsp hemp protein powder
1/2 cup hemp milk
Splash vanilla extract
1 cup ice

Blend all ingredients on high till smooth and thick. Thin with water as needed.

I’m confident that this bad boy conferred a nice dose of protein (hemp), potassium (banana), and antioxidants (cacao). But what it really delivered was taste, taste, taste. The cacao makes the shake rich and chocolatey, while the lucuma and yacon give it sweetness.

Since we’re on the topic of health claims — pro and con — I wanted to call your attention to my latest post for Whole Living Daily. Tons of you have written in asking me about agave: is it safe? Is it the same as high fructose corn syrup? I’ve avoided making bold statements about this since I’m not a chemist, doctor, or food manufacturer. But I am, at long last, offering my perspective on the heated debate. Check it out here!

xo

P.S. So excited to see Wolf Parade tonight! Any other NYC-ers going?

Smoothie Sharing

All this talk of Chloe and her wedding have me reminiscing fondly about the days when we shared our very first apartment together after college. This was in and of itself a notable fact: as any friend of mine will tell you, I’m pretty bad at sharing personal space. I had a single all four years of college, lived alone on campus during the summers, have never lived with a boyfriend (or wanted to), and have not had a roommate since Chloe moved to New Orleans. That Chloe and I were as happy as we were for three and a half years is a testament to the depth of our comfort and attachment: she’s more sister to me than friend, and if any two people embodied the truth that it is possible to be “alone, together,” we do.

In most ways, our apartment was a New York City tenant’s dream. It was vastly undervalued for what it was: a duplex on the Upper West Side with a roof. As Katie has noted, this is basically unheard of for twenty-somethings. But perfect it was not. For one thing, it was on the sixth floor of a walk-up building. So let’s just say I dreaded laundry day. It was drafty in winter and stifling hot in summer (all of it but my bedroom, which was nestled beside an air shaft). We had roaches a-plenty.  And in spite of the fact that we had more square footage than we deserved, our kitchen was smaller than our bathroom and our closets (individually, not combined). It was so small that the two of us literally could not stand in it at the same time. How’s that for two foodies?

But we made it work. We took turns cooking, mostly. And once in a while, one of us would make food enough for two.

Today’s smoothie is a based on a smoothie concoction I fell in love with while Chloe and I lived together. I forget what my inspiration was, but I whipped it up one morning and christened it the “monkey smoothie,” and it was love at first sip. When I passed a purple glass over to Chloe, she responded with equal glee, and we continued to make this smoothie, separately or together, for the next few years.

My original method was to blend banana, blueberries, vanilla soy milk, and conventional peanut butter. Nowadays, I’ve given this recipe a little upgrade by using homemade nut or seed milk and raw nut butter instead. Here it is:

The Monkey Smoothie (serves 2 besties)

2 large frozen bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup nut milk of choice (homemade is always best!)
2 tbsp raw almond butter (cashew butter or tahini would be great, too)
Ice (about 1 cup)

Blend all ingredients on high till thick and creamy. Add more nut milk if needed, and feel free to enhance with a vegan protein powder if you wish.

A few mornings ago, I sipped this smoothie is my new dwelling: a sweet, sunny, single girl’s apartment. I can’t say I ever regret living alone nowadays–in fact, I usually say that living alone is the best and most worthy financial investment–but I do sometimes miss my Chloe, especially on weekend mornings when we used to share breakfast and stories from the night before. I raised my glass of yum to Chloe, who’s on her way to Norway with her husband right now, and to days of bygone cohabitation.

Make and share this blissful drink with your roommate, your best friend, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, or to anyone who’s special to you. It’ll bring joy to both of your mornings!

xo

Sinful Smoothie

It’s fun to misbehave.

The running joke among my friends and colleagues is that I’m sorely in need of a vice. They’re sort of right: I don’t drink. I don’t smoke (anymore). I don’t do drugs. I don’t sleep with anyone, these days married men. Older men used to be a weakness of mine, but I’ve grown out of it. I don’t cheat or steal. I go to bed early (unless I’m working late), and wake up early. I’m always almost always on time for work.

And as for food — well, I’m not exactly fighting off a junk food habit

What’s a girl to do? It’s not as though I’m about to take up gambling. When my friends point out my lack of vice, I either admit defeat or launch into a long rant about how I hate the whole idea of “vice,” because it implies that everyday life is lacking in pleasure and fun, which makes us crave the forbidden, which is a fundamentally depressing for so many reasons…and so on, and so forth.

But let’s face it, they have a point. We all enjoy channeling our inner teenager, and that’s what we do with the occasional misdeed. It’s exhilarating to break a rule, or a norm. Do I think that “vice” is fundamentally overrated? Sure. If you’re counting the moments to your next drink, or line, or joint, or you next illicit liaison or inadvisable shopping spree, you probably need to invest your everyday existence with a lot more passion and fulfillment. But once in a while, it’s fun to play with the idea of vice.

Which brings me to the title of this post. You guys know about my love of coffee, right? I hesitate to even call it a vice, because a) in moderation, coffee isn’t so bad for you, and b) vice implies something off-limits, and believe me, coffee is hardly off limits in Gena-land. I really can’t think of a habit I’m less interested in changing. But in the grand scheme of my health freak lifestyle, I’d have to say that my java fixation wins the “one of these things is not like the other” award. Especially when it’s flanked by green juice and kale salads and beans!

So over the weekend, when I dumped half a packet of Starbucks’ new instant coffee (which tastes fabulous, by the way) into an otherwise healthy, alkaline smoothie:

…it felt deliciously sinful.

It was Sunday, and I’d just whipped up a sumptuous banana smoothie for breakfast. I was about to serve it up, when my eye caught the little red box of Via in my pantry. Hmmm, I thought. Wouldn’t this smoothie be better if it were coffee-flavored?

Did I dare?

Reader, I did. Into my super healthy smoothie went half a packet of Via. It was delicious, and if you should wish to invite a little vice into smoothies of your own, here’s the recipe:

Gena’s Sinful Smoothie (serves 1)

1 large, frozen banana
2 tbsp hemp protein
Half a cup of homemade hazelnut milk (or any nut milk)
Ice (about half a cup)
1/2 packet instant coffee (about a teaspoon)
1 tbsp coconut butter

Blend all ingredients in a blender on high. Add more nut milk if needed.

Yes. Sometimes it’s fun to make mischief.

After I made this, I realized that the smoothie was not only infused with coffee, but coffee that’s corporate and neither organic or fair trade. Meh. Those concessions to imperfection are way less cute than my original one. But I bought the box for travel emergencies, and I buy organic and fair trade the rest of the time, so I’m just going to put Via in the “imperfect” category, and leave it at that.

Speaking of non-mischevious smoothies, I also recently tried my friend Kristen’s much adored chocolate cherry bomb for the first time. Well, I certainly see what all of the fuss is about! It’s decadent and delicious. I’m not a cherry fan, but fortunately, they were fairly submerged beneath choco-banana bliss, and just lent a hint of flavor to the drink. Another winner! Thanks, Mama-to-be.

With that, I wish you all a good night–naughty or nice!

xo

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