Tag: morning

Morning (Anti-Gremlin) Concoction

by Kristen Neilan, RD, LDN4 Comments on Morning (Anti-Gremlin) Concoction

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Our favorite thing to wake up to in the morning: Matcha and -a-little-bit-of-everything-else too- tea! This recipe is from Laura Lee Balanced & is absolutely amazing- prior to this I was drinking just Matcha & Golden Milk – which is an awesome combo too! DO NOT feel like you need to purchase all of the below to reap the benefits. Main ingredient is Matcha- everything else is a bonus! I call it our Anti-Gremlin tea. 

Side Note- At first when I saw this recipe- I was very skeptical. We actually really aren’t “supplement people”. A lot of supplements do not get absorbed in the body and it can be just a bunch of mumbo jumbo for the vitamin/supplement companies to make money- but the below supplements/herbs are tried & true- for us!

Ingredients:

  • 1 Teaspoon Matcha powder – Our favorite: Teami Blends
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Golden Milk [or turmeric powder]- Our Favorite: Gaia (turmeric, date & spice powder)
  • Splash of Vanilla Extract
  • Lots of cinnamon [to taste]
  • Splash of Maple Extract [optional, but my fav]
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Spirulina [optional]
  • 1 Teaspoon of Coconut Butter [optional]  -Our Favorite: Nikki’s Vanilla Cake Batter
  • 2 drops of Stevia or a drop of honey [we don’t add this because the extracts make it sweet enough BUT if you’d like it a little sweeter]

–Boil 2 cups of water (or milk of your choice- we also love it with cashew. But on a regular basis we use just plain old water). Once the water is boiling, throw everything in the blender and mix it up-

  • Golden Milk Benefits: Contains Turmeric, Dates & herbs. Anti-inflammatory & filled with antioxidants. I actually learned about this when I worked on the Bone Marrow/Oncology unit & a whole post on turmeric benefits is a must!
  • Spirulina: Bacteria aka cyanobacterium or simply put, blue green algae. Antioxidant & anti-inflammatory. Contains Phycocyanin, which fights free radicals. Spirulina can help lower LDL and triglyceride levels.
  • Coconut Butter: First off, we just plain old like the taste of coconut- if I didn’t we’d likely leave this out BUT this delish Cake Batter Coconut Butter- Recommended by Laura Lee Balanced- has been life changing. Coconut butter helps with appetite control & increases energy levels because it is high in lauric acid. As a medium-chain-triglyceride, it’s structure allows our bodies to soak it up easily; therefore, in a sense, it serves as a quick source of energy. Great for digestion & combats nasty bacteria!

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Cheers all & have A Happy Monday Night! 

Matcha > Coffee & Adderall

by Kristen Neilan, RD, LDN1 Comment on Matcha > Coffee & Adderall

MATCHA! I love it in and on all things. Pancakes (see below), oatmeal, yogurt, obviously my daily morning concoction (that I’ll share with you all) – I mean I’d sprinkle it on pizza if people wouldn’t look at me all funny. I tried it for the first time in high school and have been hooked since! I sprinkle it in almost everything for a bit of clean feeling energy & that earthy taste that keeps me comin back every time.

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Side Note: Add a tablespoon of Matcha to your pancake batter & a teaspoon of spirulina. I made these pancakes with whole wheat & coconut flour. Post to follow on benefits of spirulina & the pancake recipe!

From the Dietitian: Hope you all are seated because I could go on about the health benefits for quite some time. I’m gonna bullet it for you all so it’s not a bunch of mumbo jumo. I get excited and then everything starts running together haha! Background: I just got Patrick started on Matcha. Let’s just say the guy is not easy to convince (totally a science guy-EVERYTHING must be proven with research and yadda yadda). At first he looked at me like I had 10 heads and then he tried it and he now drinks it every morning & is equally as obsessed as I am. Why did I start Patrick on it this month? He started his rotation in the MICU (Medical ICU). This means 30hr shifts/>80hr work week and a lot of intensity. Clean, calm, alert energy- YES! Perfecto timing you could say! I make a matcha drink in the morning with a lot of additions- I’m going to share this with you on a later post but the main ingredient is MATCHA!

From the Doctor: He can’t say much because he just started drinking it two weeks ago! But like I said, he drinks it every morning because he feels like he has sustained energy throughout the day without the crash! Do we still drink coffee sometimes (yes- we are not anti-coffee at all. Just prefer Matcha).

From the Dietitian (I’m back again!): 

  • Stuffed to the rim with antioxidants, EGCG (or epiocatechin gallate – great for metabolic & cardiovascular health), L-theanine and polyphenols- this puppy serves as quite the immune defense
  • But back to L-theanine. Because this is my favorite thing about Matcha & why I will forever choose tea over coffee. L-theanine is an amino acid that has a calming effect. It’s found in both black and green tea. A lot of people will take L-theanine for anxiety! This is why there is less of a crash with tea like a lot of people have with coffee. Matcha gives me a calm/alert feeling that I love love love. Who needs nasty adderall? 👎🏻

Side note: We all are super busy humans these days. We work hard and don’t rest as often as we should. Probably why people love adderall so much- it’s why I did. I was prescribed adderall throughout college. I’d take it and then stop because I HATE the side effects- but I loved the focus. Matcha gives me that mentally alert feeling without the horrible crash that makes me turn into a gremlin! I’m not going to delve too much into adderall because a. my hubby isn’t home so I can’t pretend like I know all about the logistics (not my scope haha) BUT b. I hate the stuff & for me- I didn’t think it was good for my body.

  • Polyphenols-  Before I go here, there is ongoing research with this topic. Polyphenols are a great source of antioxidants. And we all say antioxidants but I think people forget what it actually means and I love love chemistry so I’m taking this opportunity! Definition: An antioxidant is a molecule that prevents another molecule from oxidizing. Lots of processes in the body cause oxidation naturally (this can also happen from poor diet/pollution/UV rays etc)- the intake of antioxidants is needed to counteract some of the negative results of the build up of too many oxidized molecules. Picture you have three molecules: You have a healthy molecule (full of electrons aka happy), you have a free radical molecule (missing an electron aka unhappy) and you have an antioxidant molecule. The free radical wants to take an electron from your happy molecule (causing damage) BUT instead the antioxidant (as kind and generous as it is) gives an electron to the free radical so it doesn’t have to take an electron from your happy molecules (see photo below)!  AND IN TURN reducing the progression of diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative  (ex: Alzheimer’s) and cardiovascular diseases. Sounds pretty fabulous to me- if that doesn’t make you want to drink matcha and eat your fruits and veggies I don’t know what will. ATOMS2
  • Matcha can help lower cholesterol and blood sugar
  • High in Selenium, Zinc, Vitamin C, chromium, and magnesium- I will post about importance of mineral don’t you all worry. But I’ll spare ya since I just went on a chemistry binge.
  • Contains fiber (anti constipation club here)Matcha-Antioxidants-Chart-Other-Foodscaffeine-chart-ig_1024I hope you all enjoyed & Knox wishes you all a very happy Sunday!