Here’s some healthy hot & cold drink ideas for you! Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant rich, soothing, refreshing, energy-boosting, and subtly sweet deliciousness 🙂 They just happen to be vegan and dairy and gluten free!

Matcha Avocado Frappuccino

• 1 cup Coconut Milk (canned, or any other diary-free milk)
• 2 tsp Japanese Matcha Green Tea Powder
• 1.5 tbsp MCT Oil (or melted coconut oil, optional)
• 1-2 tsp Raw Honey (or other sweetener)
• 4-6 Ice Cubes
• 1/4 tsp Natural Vanilla Extract
• Half Avocado, large (or 1/2 cup frozen avocado chunks)
• Optional: non-flavoured protein powder, collagen peptides, L-glutamine…)

Method: Blend everything together in a high-speed blender until smooth. Et voila! A creamy, energy-boosting and antioxidant-rich Matcha Avocado Frappuccino! It’s also easy to sneak in some healthy fats here without too greasy of a mouthfeel.

I found matcha and avocado go well together not only because of their matching color but also the creamy avocado can mask the inherent grittiness of matcha (it’s basically finely ground whole leaf green tea). Their flavours also compliment each other well – the slightly bitter and earthy matcha makes the coconut milk and avocado taste less fatty and greasy.

Tips: Matcha powder can vary in taste and color quite a bit, depending on the quality (shelf life & processing method) and origin. A good quality matcha can be more expensive than others, but definitely worth the $$$ for its high antioxidant property and deliciousness! See resources below on how matcha antioxidant compares to other “super foods”.

Turmeric Coconut Latte – “Golden Mylk”!

• 1 cup Coconut Milk (canned)
• 1/2 cup Almond Milk (or other dairy-free milk)
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp Ground Turmeric
• 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger (or 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger)
• Pinch of freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp MCT Oil or Coconut Oil
• Honey, Maple Syrup or Coconut Sugar to taste (I used 1 tsp raw honey)

1. Put all ingredients except for the sweetener in a small milk pot or saucepan.
2. On medium to low heat, bring the mixture to a simmer for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the sweetener and turn off the heat. Let steep for another minute on the warm stove-top.
4. Use a strainer to remove the cracked pepper and cinnamon stick.
5. Optional to use an immersion blender to make it more smooth, creamy and frothy (to emulsify the fat into the liquid).
6. I prefer serving it warm as it’s a very comforting, soothing, and calming hot drink, but you can also serve it cold!

Tips: Turmeric’s anti-inflammatory effect is well known today and very trendy – not healing for the gut but also for joints . You may think it’s odd to add black pepper to a sweet drink. But black pepper actually increase the bioavailabilityof the curcumin in turmeric (i.e. increase absorption by our bodies), so the two work synergistically to give us their anti-inflammatory properties.

Interesting reads on matcha and turmeric.

• Antioxidant Properties and Nutritional Composition of Matcha Green Tea https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/4/483
• Stress-Reducing Function of Matcha Green Tea in Animal Experiments and Clinical Trials https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6213777/
• Matcha Antioxidants https://www.gotmatcha.com/matcha-anti-oxidant/
• WTF Actually Is Matcha, and Is It Really Better Than Coffee? https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/diet-nutrition/a40800/is-matcha-better-than-coffee/
• What Are the Benefits of Turmeric https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/style/self-care/turmeric-benefits.html
• Curcumin – A Review on Its Affect on Human Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/
• Using Black Pepper to Enhance the Anti-Inflammatory effects of Turmeric https://www.umassmed.edu/nutrition/blog/blog-posts/2019/6/using-black-pepper-to-enhance-the-anti-inflammatory-effects-of-turmeric/