Superfood Cocktail Recipes

If you joined us for the Grand Reopening of The Health Dimension, you got to sample our Superfood Cocktail recipes. Everyone wanted to know what was in them, how to make them and what the superfood benefits were. So here you go:

Sparkling Ginger Cocktail

Ingredients:

• Grated ginger
• Natural sweetener of choice
• Sparkling water

Method:

Using a microplane, grate about 20 swipes worth of fresh raw ginger into the bottom of a glass. Add sweetener of choice, to taste, probably about 1/2 teaspoon but you can add more if you prefer. I used organic maple syrup because it pairs nicely with the ginger. You could also use raw honey, stevia or agave. Then top off with chilled sparkling water. The ginger and sweetener mix themselves as you pour the sparkling water over them, but feel free to gently stir if desired. Refreshing and delicious!

Benefits:

Ginger is a warming food that stimulates digestion, increases absorption of nutrients, increases circulation, reduces inflammation, has some anti-tumor effects and provides minerals such as zinc, chromium and magnesium.

Although I wouldn’t consider maple syrup a superfood necessarily, research suggests that it does contribute to the body by helping to re-sensitize the cells to insulin, it contains several compounds with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, it provides multiple B vitamins and is mineral-rich.

Blue Green Algae Elixer

Ingredients:

• 1/4 teaspoon of Blue Green Algae from EarthShift Products
• 1 quart of water

Method:

Add 1/4 teaspoon of the blue green algae powder to one quart of water in an impeccably clean glass container. Stir ever-so-gently, just a few swirls should be all that you need. Place uncovered in the refrigerator and wait 2-3 days. Discard and sediment at the top or bottom. If it’s too strong, it can be watered down, but generally it tastes like a mild iced tea. Serve chilled.

You will see the color change from a light bluish-green to having almost a violet-purple undertone. The reason I use EarthShift Products for the Blue Green Algae Elixer is because it’s the only brand I’ve found that will turn that violet-purple color as it grows, and that’s where the special nutrients are found.

Benefits:

Why would you consume algae, anyway? It’s because of its bioavailability of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. It contains about 30mg of chlorophyll per gram. That means it’s one of the greenest foods you can find. It’s a high quality bioavailable protein. This combination makes it a complete food and one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet.

Pineapple Tepache

Ingredients:

• Rind of one organic pineapple
• 1 cup raw organic sugar
• 1/2 gallon water
• 1 probiotic capsule (optional)
• 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
• 3 cloves (optional)

Method:

Scrub outer rind of the pineapple. Cut off top and base and discard. Remove the rest of the rind by slicing it off of the fruit. Place the rind pieces in a one gallon glass container. Add 1 cup of raw organic sugar and 2 quarts of water. Add cinnamon stick and clove, if using. Lightly cover with cheese cloth, plastic wrap or a paper towel and leave it on the countertop for 2 days. Then, strain and refrigerate to enjoy chilled, or serve over ice.

Benefits:

The rind contains a natural yeast that ferments, producing an effervescent probiotic effect in the beverage much like a kombucha or kefir water. In order for this process to occur, the yeast needs to feed on sugar to thrive. There won’t be sugar in the final product since it will be consumed by the fermentation process itself. If you’d like a stronger probiotic effect, you can open a capsule of probiotics and mix that in before the fermentation process begins.

Probiotics are good bacteria that naturally inhabit the gut. These bacterial species keep other organisms in check and help in more ways than I can mention in this post. You can get this friendly bacteria through supplements or through fermented foods, such as Tepache.

For more detailed information on probiotics, please refer to my article Nutritional Supplements: Professional Grade vs Over the Counter.

Cheers,

Dr Lisa