With a lot of iterations and failures and eventual success (with my kids as judges of course), I present to you two recipes to easily ramp up the anti-inflammatory quotient in your child.
In my previous blog, we talked about chronic inflammation being the root cause of widespread disease and dysfunction in our children, including conditions like ADHD, Eczema, and Asthma. IF you haven’t read that, do take a quick detour here.
Among the simplest interventions I have tried, in my quest to amp down inflammation is a superfood-filled night time drink. It is tasty, kids love it, and I usually dose just 2 superfoods at a time.
Recipe 1: Skin and Gut friendly Hot Cocoa
This recipe is great for healing your child’s skin and gut. It uses cacao (which is the raw unprocessed form of cocoa, and very rich in antioxidants). Cacao, a rich source of tryptophan is also great to help your child’s anxiety and sleep.
The other two superfoods are 1) Rice Tocotrienols, a great natural food source of vitamins, minerals and the skin-healing Vitamin E; and 2) Marine Collagen Protein: an excellent source of amino acids that help heal the gut lining (and skin lining).
Marine Collagen is an animal food, sourced from fish, but tasteless and odorless. Feel free to drop it if you are strictly vegetarian.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond or macadamia milk
- (Note: I soak 5 -6 almonds the previous night of morning and make my own almond milk with 1 cup of water)
- 1 date
- 1/2 tbsp raw cacao powder, now available in Costco!
- 1/2 tbsp rice bran tocotrienols
- 1/2 tbsp Marine Collagen
- Challenge: Try introducing 1″ Cinnamon / 1″ piece off Star Anise
- Pinch Sea Salt
Heat the Almond Milk to your desired temperature. Blend in a high-speed blender preferably, but really any blender will be fine (you may need to soak the dates with a weaker blender).
Recipe 2: Calming and Anxiety Reducing Hot Cocoa
We continue to use anxiety-lowering and kid-favorite raw cacao here. But the super foods are different: Maca, an ancient Peruvian superfood used for energy and stamina (both mental and physical), and Ashwagandha, a similar adaptogen, used for thousands of years in the Ayurvedic Tradition.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond or macadamia milk
- (Note: I soak 5 -6 almonds the previous night of morning and make my own almond milk with 1 cup of water)
- 1-2 tsp Maple Syrup
- 1/2 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 1/4 tsp Maca Powder
- 1 Capsule Ashwagandha, opened up
Heat the Almond Milk to your desired temperature. Blend and serve.
Alright! Good luck in your cocoa, sorry cacao travels! Did your kids like it? Let me know.
