By Reena Jadhav
Ever woken up feeling seriously mad? Except you’re not quite sure who or what triggered you?
Or have you felt anxious, irritable, fatigued?
Then reach for this cooling, nourishing and calming drink over a toxic, heating jolt of coffee.
In 2016, I got finally got mad enough at my 28 symptoms that I decided to do something about them. I started spending hours on end searching for herbs, foods, and ingredients that might COOL ME OFF! Thankfully, all those hours of research and experimenting paid off when I finally had a special drink that blew out the fire and lit up a smile.
Today, I am unveiling my BeChill smoothie recipe to help you get rid of your hidden heat. It’s easy to make, despite a few exotic ingredients all of which can be bought on Amazon. I do suggest you buy organic (unless unavailable) as toxins will just trigger more heat.
INGREDIENTS for 1 SERVING
Water: 10 ounces
Almonds: 15 (soaked the night before and peeled)
Saffron: 10 strands
Cardamom: 1 green pod or 1/8th of a teaspoon of black kernels
Rose Water: 1 tablespoon or 2 tablespoons depending on how you like it
Protein Powder: 1 scoop/tablespoon
Monk fruit or Stevia: Optional to taste
Exotic Ingredient – Gond Katira or Tragacanth gum: 2 tablespoons after soaking
OPTIONAL (but highly recommended):
Benefiber or Acacia fiber: 1 tablespoon (to get you going daily)
Dried Rose Petals: 1 tablespoon
Ghee or MCT oil: 1 teaspoon
DIRECTIONS:
1. Soak the almonds overnight in hot water and peel the skin off in the morning. Ayurveda recommends eating soaked and peeled almonds as they are “cooling and easier to digest”.
So take the time to soak and peel, do not skip this step 🙂
Tip: I soak a whole batch of almonds, peel and keep them in the fridge for daily use.
2. Soak saffron in 1/2 cup of warm water for 10 minutes or so to get the threads gooey. A beautiful shade of orange will emerge in the water.
3. Soak Gond Katira piece, the size of a quarter, overnight in 2 cups of hot water in a large bowl. In the morning you’ll see the little piece has grown into a clear gummy substance and has filled your bowl up! Drain out the water and wash well.
4. Blend! Now that the soaking is done, it’s time to blend everything till silky smooth.
Gather your 15 peeled almonds, 2 tablespoons of soaked Gond Katira, soaked saffron with the water, cardamom seeds (peel and throw away the green pods if you bought whole pods), protein powder, rose essence water, 8 ounces of water and the optional ingredients and blend away on high for a minute.
Then taste a little (I always have to do this!) add whatever is needed to make it perfect for YOU – maybe add more rose essence or a dash of stevia or toss in some more water if it’s too thick, or more protein powder and Gond Katira if it’s too watery for your taste.
5. Pour into a tall frosted glass and enjoy!
Track your mood for the rest of the day and see if you feel calmer, cooler and a lot happier.
Key Benefits of Key Ingredients:
Gond Katira
Learn more about this here >>
• Prevents Heat strokes: My thinking was, if Indians have been taking this for centuries during crazy hot summers, maybe it could help us in our crazy hot menopause. It sure does!
• Prevents Constipation and Diarrhea: So, either way, you’re good as bowel movement in menopause is unpredictable.
• Small Breasts: What a fabulous free side benefit!
• Urinary Incontinence: Apparently great results against the tinkle from the giggle or jiggle or Zumba
• Tumor suppression: With one in 3 women getting cancer, it’s great to take any food that suppresses tumors.
• Immune System Boost: We all need that one, all year round!
Saffron
A long list of benefits including proven benefits of:
Induces calm, reduces mood swings and lessens irritability.
It was also used traditionally for thousands of years for coughs, colds, stomach ailments, insomnia, uterine bleeding, scarlet fever, heart trouble, and flatulence. More recently, scientists have concluded that saffron has “neuro-protective potential under toxicity.”
Which means it will also help your body as your bones leach some of those heavy metals from your silver fillings in your 20s or other metals your bones have been holding on to!
Rose Water:
It’s well known in ancient texts for its calming effect on the nervous system. Mildly sedating, it works as a natural anti-depressant and simply smelling it’s vapors can soothe the anxiety away. It is also thought to balance the endocrine system, and help control the unpleasant symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause including mood swings.
Historically rose water was also used to curb infections, ulcers, heart disease, and diarrhea.
Cardamom
Cardamom is considered an excellent digestive aid, helping reduce bloating and intestinal gas. It is also excellent for balancing Kapha (so if you’re carrying extra weight this could help). It is also useful for pacifying Vata, so if you’re anxious and agitated, cardamom will calm you down.
Almonds
A tiny little nut, a ton of nutrition! Known for its tremendous health benefits and packed with essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin E, zinc, calcium, magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids, almonds are a “must have” in your daily diet. The best of all, it helps with memory, which turns quite foggy starting in our 40s!
“But in order to absorb all those nutrients, the almonds you eat, should be soaked in water overnight. This is because their brown, rough skin contains a certain enzyme inhibitor that is meant to protect the seed until it has the perfect conditions for germination. Our body cannot breakdown this enzyme-inhabiting compound, not only making the digestion of almonds difficult, but also restricting your body from absorbing its nutrients,” as shared by MAPI.
BUY INGREDIENTS AT OUR HEALSHOP >>
Remember to share this recipe with your friends who could use some cooling!
Together, we are healthier!!
