“Lively Up Yourself”….and your morning coffee, with healing herbs, spices, and extracts- The GAIA Health Blog

“Lively Up Yourself”….and your morning coffee, with healing herbs, spices, and extracts

On 04.12.13 • In Chef's Cookbook, Eat Smart, Featured Articles • by Doug Wallace

I'm not a super big coffee drinker, on most days at work I drink my Maca Coffee, which is much better than java to me.

I do still love regular coffee on some days however, especially on those "lazy Sundays" where the world slows down, and I actually have an hour or two to live in the moment. Something about that aroma.

Whatever my breakfast drink of choice is for a given day, I find that adding my favorite herbs, spices, and liquid extracts to that cup of "hot stuff", it gives me an amazing "vibration", a very smooth energy burst, a pleasantly eerie and very subtle great feeling.

My Maca Coffee Recipe, made with ground roast maca powder and Tazo Apple Tea, already factors in the added potency of my spices so it is never too strong, always "super smooth".

However, on the days I drink coffee, I like to "water down" the coffee a little, since the spices and extracts will add more kick to the coffee flavor, I like to keep it smooth and in that mellow zone.

Although it may seem like a lot of work and drama, it's actually the opposite, in that I premix all my dry ingredients into one spice shaker, and simply shake it into my morning drink. Here are my ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

Raw Cacao Powder (this is about half of my mix)

Ceylon Cinnamon (about 1/4 of my formula) Ceylon Cinnamon is light brown in color and a smoother more mellow taste that the common rust colored Cassia Cinnamon. Ceylon is the true cinnamon whose essential oils have the authentic health and healing properties.

Powdered Organic Turmeric,
Powdered Organic Ginger,
Powdered Organic Nutmeg
(One is not limited to these spices of course, but I like the taste of these together, and I like the health and healing profiles of these spices, EXPERIMENT!!!!)

Wet Ingredients

A few drops of Simply Organic Vanilla Extract, Simply Organic Almond Extract. Simply Organic has other extracts like Lemon, Orange, I like to experiment

Coconut Milk (If you can find a Non-BPA can with no added ingredients like Guar Gum, which I'm opposed to)

Organic Wild Raw Honey is my sweetener of choice these days. Read here about fake honey

I find my breakfast coffee to be somewhat addictive. But in all that I have learned about health and wellness, I now know that this is merely these healing spices and extract speaking to my body chemistry.

The aroma and taste sending are signals to the brain that I made a good choice to "Lively Up Myself" on this unique and special morning.

~stay healthy~

Yawl know how I sling it on my blog by now, any excuse to post one of my favorite songs.

This is "Lively Up Yourself", by the one and only Bob Marley, the cut that came to my head when I was writing this article.

Take a listen if you want, otherwise, thanks for stopping by

check out all my articles in "Eat Smart", the science of food (click here or on the photo below)

Doug Wallace

2 Responses

Hanna

12.12.16

Hi Doug,
I know this was written ages ago, but hopefully you still will see this and answer me. I’ve been going through practically every blog post you have on here the past few days. I’ve been a reader of your blog for a while now, but never really had the time before to read through all your old posts.

Fascinating blog you have here, and I’ve learned so much from you. So, 1st I want to finally thank you for this gift.

2nd I have a question about the Native Forest coconut milk you recommend here. I’ve been looking for 100% clean coconut milk, but this one like all the others I found includes Guar Gum. I know you’re also nit picky about ingredients, so does that not concern you? Should we not worry about Guar Gum? Would really love to hear your thoughts on this.

The only one I found with just Coconut Milk in the ingredient list is a trader joes’s brand. But their can doesn’t mention being BPA free, so not sure if it is or not.
Thanks again

Doug Wallace

12.12.16

Hi Hanna,

Thanks for the great comments about my blog. That kind of compliment comes in every couple of months, and it’s always a thrill.

I didn’t know about that Guar Gum in Native Forest, I’m guilty of not reading the labels. A quick research tells me I shouldn’t be taking it in. Same Example as when I bought Sambazon Acai for my smoothies and the front of the package said “Pure Acai” but reading the label said “Soy Lechtin”. Why do they do this to us? That’s why I put so much passing into wellness writing.

Nonetheless, I’m removing Native Forest from my site as a BPA free Can recommendation, I might replace it with Trader Joes after I do my research.

Fortunately, I haven’t used Coconut Milk in the last couple of years, I only truly freak out if it’s something I’ve been taking daily for years, that contains bad ingredients.

I don’t dril coffee much anymore, I drink Green Tea and Roobios Tea, and all I have to add is Coconut Water to sweeten it a little

~stay healthy~

Doug at Gaia Health Blog

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