Spring Drinks For A Happy Gut And Boosting Metabolism
Homemade Tea
Spring. Season - a time for cleansing, renewal, and peace of mind, body, and spirit
Holidays bring family and friends together - especially at the dinner-table where we sit around and enjoy conversations, and lots and lots of food. It’s the best of times! I love entertaining, being a guest and diner out, (healthy restaurant choices a prerequisite) but eating heavy meals can be over taxing for your body to process. The recipes below have the Spring season in mind to cleans, lighten, and boost your mojo. It’s time to feel fresh and energized! We all want to feel less bloated, shed those extra pounds and give our liver, gut and metabolism a well deserved rest from the hard labor of breaking down heavy meals and decadent desserts.
We’re in the month of April - Spring ahhh! It’s time to let go of extra fat and the sluggishness of Winter, and preparing for warmer days. We all want to feel lighter, and more energized as we enter Spring and Summer. Yippee, yay for seasonal changes and warmer temperatures! Besides Spring clothing awaiting in your closet to enjoy, and feeling light and free, seasonal foods and drinks are just as important to cool your body and stoke your digestive fire.
Genia’s Spoon Me Tips:
I like to double or triple my tea recipes. You never know who’s going to drop by for a cup of tea. You might want to sip your tea all day long, too. I suggest preparing a bigger pot!
Bitter and astringent (list of foods below) foods are great ways to clean house - your temple - lighting the load in your body from heavy and sweet foods that way you down. There’s a time and place for all yummy bites, but think about (act upon) eating clean. Holiday deliciousness is always tasty fun - but usually more than your gut can handle! Go light and feel bright! You’ll reap the benefits in your mind and body, and skin! Bottom line, relax your system!
Lemon - known as an astringent cleanse for the liver. It increases saliva and gastric juices. The Lemon, carrot and Ginger Juice below is gentle for all body types. The combination is sweet, sour and spicy - recipe to heal!
I’m careful about adding lemon to me teas and food, because lemon is heating and can be too hot and acidic for me.
Green Tea energizes your mind, but without the jitters of coffee. When I had adrenal fatigue in 2014 I stayed away from Green Tea as I wanted to rest my adrenals from over stimulation. Happy and grateful I’m back to drinking my green tea!
I use a tiny strainer when I make my teas - they fit right over my tea cups.
Bitter and Astringent foods that are great for this time of year - Spring. They have traditionally been eating for thousands of years healing to strengthen digestion, and heal indigestion after overeating. The bitter tastes reduce congestion, poor circulation, weight gain, and increases metabolism. Studies have shown that bitter tastes can stimulate the release of hormones, control blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
Here’s a list of Spring veggies: alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, artichokes hearts, bean sprouts, beet, carrots, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, broccoli, burdock root, chard, collard greens, dandelion greens, fennel, fenugreek, green tea, kale, romaine lettuce, spinach, turnip, watercress, zucchini. There are plenty more foods to enjoy during Spring, but these stand out! Please remember to keep them astringent, bitter and season to taste deliciously. Acidic foods for me in high quantities can irritate my skin. If you feel agitated or itchy from lemon please be mindful, and be your own food detective - don’t consume lemon for a few days and see how you feel.
Source:
Dr. John Doulliard - Ancient Ayruveda Meets Modern Science - Life Spa
Joyful Belly - School of Ayurveda Diet and Digestion
Recipes
2 Teas and 1 juice
Spring Teas and a Juice that will stoke your digestive fire and prepare you for the new season after a cold and heavy winter and holidays. Time to feel lighter in your body!
Cumin, Coriander, Fennel Tea A.K.A. CCF Tea
Boil 1 1/2 cups of water
add 1/2 tsp whole seeds of cumin, coriander and fennel
steep for 5 minutes or until it cools to a comfortable drinking temperature
strain and discard the spices/seeds and enjoy
drink the tea before or after each meal
Cumin, Coriander and Fennel Tea. is one of the. simplest and most famous home tea formulas for detoxification, weight loss, and water retention. CCF Tea warms your circulation. and stokes metabolism and your digestive fire - agni, and restores energy.
CCF Tea has a mild bitter taste, all by design as it revs up your detoxification and purifies your blood, inflammation, water retention, cleanses urinary tract, and clears the mind.
Metabolism Boosting Green Tea With Basil and Ginger - Spring Tea
1 tbsp basil
1/2 inch fresh ginger root
1-2 tsp green tea or tea bag - my fave is Sencha Green tea - sold in tea bags
chop 1/2 inch of fresh ginger
bring 2 cups of water to a boil and lower to simmer
add ginger root to water in pot
chop approx. 10 fresh basil leaves - 1 tbsp basil and boil in separate pot for 5 minutes and remove from heat
add basil and 1-2 tsp of green tea leaves or powder or tea bag
steep for 2-3 minutes and strain over each tea cup
Green tea is very energizing, and added ginger and basil to your tea you’ll feel so refreshed and light. Green tea is wonderful for a pick me up, leaving you feeling alert and inspired. This recipe stimulates your blood flow and wakes up your taste buds - a great pre-meal vovoom feeling!
Basil, ginger and hot water warms up your circulation. Ginger - ahhh - my fave that travels with me everywhere - is a cardiac stimulant - pumping up your heart rate. Basil opens up your vessels for smooth blood flow. Both ginger and basil are blood thinners that improves your circulation. These are hot herbs! You might even break a sweat as you drink and eat them in your foods.
Lemon, Carrot and. Ginger Juice
8 carrots
1/2 inch fresh ginger root
1/2 fresh lemon juice
scrub carrots clean, cut the tips off and discard
place carrots in juicer
peel the ginger root and place in the juicer
squeeze in the lemon and stir
Juiced carrots contain beta carotene and loads of vitamin A - nourishing the blood. Carrots are great for the eyes. Carrots are sweet, therefore, yummy and easy to drink.
Happy gut is a happy body is a happy self,
Spring love, Genia