The other day I went to my fave health food store, I could honestly spend hours and hundreds of dollars in that shop! I stopped myself at $47 and 35 mins and came out with the loot of goodies below.
I am in love with the Loving Earth range at the moment and picked up their raw 70% dark chocolate, cacao powder, dark agave syrup and Coconut Chocolate Butter. The chocolate coconut butter is AMAAAAY-ZING! It says on the jar that you can spread it on stuff or eat it straight from the jar....straight from the jar you say? Well cheers to that!! In all seriousness though, it is a treat so will be eaten in moderation. But you gotta love a treat that's completely clean, natural and amazing for your body.
Pic from http://www.lovingearth.net/
There are some awesome products that I keep in my cupboard all the time so I thought I'd share some with you.
Cacao Powder - Cacao (pronounced ka-kow) beans are the seeds of an Amazonian fruiting tree and source of all chocolate and cocoa products. Grinding raw cacao nibs separates them into cacao butter and cacao powder. As the temperature during grinding never exceeds 40°C, the powder is considered a ‘raw' food with all the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants remaining intact. Cacao powder is said to have over 360% MORE antioxidants than regular unsweetened cocoa powder! I use it in place of normal cocoa powder or add to milk with a sweetener for a clean hot chocolate.
Coconut Butter - Coconut butter has so many health benefits including hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. I could do an entire post on the health benefits on the stuff!
Look for a cold-pressed coconut butter as it will be creamier and more buttery, raw, light tasting, smooth and better for you. You can use it as a replacement to margarine and butter, add it to your smoothies for a dose of healthy fats or in place of other oils for baking or frying as it has a high smoke point.
Flaxseed Meal - Another one I could do an entire post on! Flaxseed meal is basically ground flax/linseeds making them more convenient to eat. Flaxseeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids (perfect if you don't get enough fish in your diet), dietry fibre and lignans (a compound that has been found to prevent some cancers). The health benefits include lowering risk of heart disease, treatment of some immune disorders, constipation relief and as mentioned previously, prevention of some cancers. I add approx. 10 grams to my smoothies, sprinkle it on yogurt and add it to my baking. You can pick up a bag of flaxseed meal from Safeway/Woolies for about $5. Do it today!!
Chia Seeds - Chia seeds are another one of the highest known plant sources of Omega-3. It is a highly stable form of the essential fatty acid due to its powerful naturally occurring antioxidants. It contains Vitamins A, B12 and C, complete protein (18 Amino Acids), minerals including potassium, phosphorous, folate, zinc, iron, and calcium as well as soluable and insoluable dietry fibre. It's so versatile, sprinkle on yogurt, cottage cheese etc, add to smoothies, use in baking just like flax. It can also be soaked in liquids to make a chia gel which is pretty amazing. I've soaked it in almond milk and made a dessert using it. I will do a recipe post on this :-)
Stevia - Stevia belongs to the chrysanthemum plant family. It is native to South and Central America and is a tall and leafy plant, growing up to one meter high. The leaves contain steviol glycosides that are high intensity natural sweeteners, 200-300 times sweeter than sugar. It is a great tasting alternative to traditional artificial sweeteners as it's completely natural, sourced directly from plant leaves. I use stevia in my baking and to sweeten drinks like the cacao hot chocolate I mentioned above. As it is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, you only need to use a tiny amount, see the sugar to stevia conversion chart here.
If you haven't tried any of the above foods, I can't recommend them enough, get out and try some! I really enjoyed researching these products, I learnt alot that I didn't know.
Do yourself a favour and try the Loving Earth Coconut Chocolate Butter too!! Don't eat it all at once though!
