Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Using Ayurvedic Ways For Calm and Balance (Part 1)

living an Ayurveda calm and balanced lifestyle — …I was told 🙂 I should show my face more, so here I am checking in on my avocado plants They look good 🥑

…Ok, today I’m sharing about Ayurvedic ways and living, my favorite topic.

This is a longer blog post than I usually write, so grab a beverage and get comfy because today is about getting calm and balanced.

Because getting consistent daily calm and balance is achievable with Ayurveda… and I believe has never been more needed in our world.

And yet in America, calm and balance are seen as nice-to-have intentions that aren’t built into our busy lives.

We’re used to running into stress, and at times have grown numb to our underlying stressful ways of living… despite short-lived self-care practices, unwinding on weekends, and happy hour-type fun that aren’t enough for our health and wellness.

Finding daily balance is dismissed in priorities and daily noise. It’s often seen as unobtainable or overmentioned. Plus living sustainably whole and healthy is not excitingly trendy …But when you’re 100, it will be!

And getting mind-body balance is part of the Ayurvedic ways, and what most people need to be the best version of themselves that would transform the daily stress and busy overwhelm into healthy and happy lives. That’s a mouthful that says it all.

…And with the right insight, a whole and healthy lifestyle is attainable by this or next season. And even better yet, using consistent balance as a predictable strategy springboard for better things ahead in life! (More on this point below.)

…You know you can’t always trust the external world to come through for you, but you can count on your intuitive and intelligent mind-body that has better answers and insight to your health.

Your mind-body follows you along the ride of your life’s journey and its good health is the difference maker to your getting the life you want, that can free you from what’s holding you back.

Like, living with accumulated stress (linked to inflammations and aging) is not doing you and your mind-body any favors… even though that’s baked into the Western world culture, lifestyle, and the air we breathe.

And a common reason why two people at age 45 look like they’re decades apart in age.

In a 2018 study, an international group of researchers led by scientists at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that adopting 5 healthy habits could extend life expectancy by 14 years for women and 12 years for men:

eating a diet high in plants and low in fats
exercising at a moderate to vigorous level for several hours a week
maintaining a healthy body weight
not smoking
consuming no more than one alcoholic drink a day for women and two for men

Ayurvedic Ways For a Heatlhy Lifestyle

We know a healthy lifestyle that takes care of the body is necessary for longevity and to prevent debilitating diseases.

And having or starting a stress-free, calm, and happy life optimizes your health in the mind-body connection.

It’s never too late to prioritize your physical and mental health.

One way to improve your life is to pay attention to your daily moods and symptomatic flare-ups. And not just brush them aside. When you’re 20 that’s fine, but as you get closer to mid-life, the accumulated wear and tear shows up.

And moods are subtle beginning signs of your balanced mind-body drifting, and what’s impacting your health inside you.

The Mind-Body Connection and The Past

Ayurvedic ways is all about the mind-body remedies for balanced living. Your mind-body is a part of you, but you are not the mind-body. You aren’t your thoughts, your gut, or arm.

Then there’s the mind-body connection based on the concept that your thoughts can be connected to body symptoms and your physical health. Like acne sprouts due to stress.

But not so quickly obvious are your past thoughts or traumas that show up in signs of aging (wrinkles and aging maladies), and your inflammations. The dots are not so easily connected. But they play havoc on your calm and balance, and mind-body.

…All unbeknownst to you.

And when you carry baggage such as buried childhood wounds (thoughts), they overflow into and affect your daily current health and life, through the mind-body connection. They still show up in the workplace, in your current reactions and attitudes.

It’s invisible trauma you may not know you’re carrying, but your mind recorded and has not forgotten.

And if triggered, can show up when you least expect, and where you don’t recognize the link to past trauma.

And, then there are some past traumas that you are fully aware of, and you may have never felt comfortable sharing with anyone. Or you haven’t purged the feelings enough to get all the wound hurt out of your system yet, so you can scar heal.

TED Talk presenters who share a trauma story rehearse over and over, and in the process, they get the poison out even if their wound was decades ago!

While Shark Tank presenters are asked on the fly about their personal tragedies related to their business, where tears are shed on the spot and healing begins or continues.

And that can be part of what frees them when they’re present, let go, and let their guard down. When trauma is acknowledged, a person can heal back to their natural essence.

Your Natural Mind-Body Now

Now is the present. And the present is a gift. It’s where you can be most aware and find your calm and joy.

And if you add being balanced, then you’re unstoppable!

Being balanced in Ayurvedic ways means leaning into your natural and primary mind-body dosha. That’s the way you’re wired.

“Natural” here also means favorable to the mind-body.

Like your favorite foods that you naturally like. Or your desire to do a certain exercise. Those are natural to you, but not to everyone else.

…And here earlier I was leaning into my Vata for a late afternoon sweet snack (…you know it’s healthy! 😉).

A healthy snack like these Samoa Bars is an example of Ayurvedic ways. — I shared the recipe last week for my healthy, no-bake Samoa bars… and I made a new batch that I’m enjoying for longer than the 5-minute break it took to make 😊

And Vata could be your natural way too, but we all have Vata in us that can throw us off balance.

And same goes for the mind. One way to get off balance can be from what we think of as our natural thoughts. The negative ones are not helpful if you put energy behind them that impact your mind-body. You’re best to ignore or replace those ASAP if they’re not helping you noodle out a productive solution.

Like… a negative thought pops up in your head and you want to blurt out what you’re thinking, but in a professional environment or amongst strangers, you don’t do it when you’re unsure as you don’t know how it will be perceived.

And later on in reflection, you’re glad you didn’t say anything. Or else you wish you had said something and now have slight regret that you missed the moment.

…Which can then turn into a negative thought that turns into negative energy.

Holding onto negative energy no matter how it sticks, spills into the mind-body and can cost you time and energy. That can turn into an attitude, mood, and imbalances that show up in the mind-body.

So it’s best to just nip it in the bud.🌹

Restoring Our Mind-Body Imbalances, Moods, and Ayurvedic Ways

If we’re lifelong learners, we’re constantly wanting to grow and improve, and recalibrating our balance makes good sense.

With those intentions, you can ask yourself:

Do I have… repeated anxiety, anger, burnout, tiredness, lazy mind or body tendencies, irritation, or excessive worry? …holding onto these types of moods and feelings can cause stress.

As a habit, we can check in with ourselves often and daily to see what’s off, just like checking the daily weather in our own part of the world keeps us on our toes …it was actually hailing small ice chunks in my neck of the woods over the weekend (in May!). 🌨

…And if we zoom out of our world, we see a bigger global world in organized chaos and crisis that affects us.

Gradual shift is omni-present happening everywhere and all the time, even when we can’t see. And that grows into stressors on earth, and to us and our mind-body.

For example, take a framed wall photo that you’re constantly straightening. Over time, it naturally shifts and becomes crooked. And in a new house especially, when the living earth below is still shifting.

But you know how to easily straighten the photo frame with a light touch tilt to bring it back to alignment the way it should be.

Or, you could “permanently” iron-clad anchor the photo to the wall, so the framed photo doesn’t shift again. But then one day, you decide to take down the photo to paint the wall behind it or to change the picture… or you completely move to a new house.

The framed wall picture is just one change away from its original “permanent” state. And like life, we don’t know what will happen next that can be stress-causing, or when our life could use some healthy adjustments even when we don’t have awareness.

Stress comes in all shapes and sizes, from earth-shattering situations to slight tilts, like slowly growing bored.

And change can help spice it up. But we also need some permanence for balance and alignment. Even if it’s temporary.

Balance is the natural desired order of this world and of your body, and mind-body.

And adopting Ayurvedic ways (the science of life) as a healthy way back works to bring back the order in us.

It works in the modern Western world to restore, prevent, and bring back natural balance. And it works for those who live in noisy cities as well as slower-paced towns, as all roads can lead to a desired healthy life taking different paths.

And that’s what I did and do. And you can too!

It doesn’t have to be just yoga or meditation… those are just a couple daily common practical household practices. 🧘🏻‍♀️…and maybe you didn’t know those were Ayurvedic ways 😉

Ayurvedic ways could be new or foreign to you, as it may sound like an ancient mystical or woo-woo set of Eastern healing practices. And it was to me too in the beginning.

But how I powerfully use it today, is as a West meets East approach to healthy living, with the West running the show in our busy American lives.

And that’s just scratching the surface on the description for all the benefits it adds.

One simple health benefit that’s achievable, is to change the course of our annoying mind-body symptoms daily through our lifestyle choices. That could be our higher standard goal and preventative norm so long-term stressors and symptoms don’t settle in.

And doing so helps your health and teaches your mind-body you’re on the same team 😊. That’s integrating Ayurvedic ways into daily balance.

Always Invest In Yourself (You and Your Mind-Body)

Another way you can help yourself is not accepting “just getting through the season.” That’s not effective ayurvedic ways in practice. You can do something today to start restoring or help along your natural healthy self as best as it can shine.

Only when we’re not conscious, do we not have a say in our lives.

Instead, adopt the norm of living each season blissfully, and enjoy daily!

Remember the old saying about your life isn’t a dress rehearsal. 🎬

You can be joyful and find joy every day (and not just some days!) even amongst the chaos. And while you’re going through difficult times.

Each year can have its challenges, but that’s part of growth and change. As you become more resilient (feeling less stressed about situations) that will help your health, balance, and calm.

When you get daily balanced health, you get the opportunity to show up as your best self, and unleash creativity every day that you may not even know you have today.

…And, find your purpose and true calling, that will give you your greatest life satisfaction and lead to your best foot-forward life.

And that can also lead to your leaving a miserable day job for a better-chosen life that fits you uniquely where work doesn’t feel like work, if that’s what your heart desires. You don’t end up where you started or in an unhappy middle.

…So, that’s what I have for you today to hopefully inspire and encourage you this season and the upcoming ones that will be your best ones yet (in your belief).

Next week I will share part 2 about how you can learn more about Ayurvedic ways (and even if you’re not sure exactly what it is today), and how you can start uniquely implementing mind-body restoring techniques into practice if it suits you. Talk then! 🧡

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Chocolate Chip Coconut Bar (No-Bake)

Chocolate chip coconut bar is a delicious snack flavor pairing. We can all think of a girl cookie and happy candy bar that has the flavoring We can all think of a girl cookie and happy candy bar that has the flavoring combo. But they aren’t healthy ones that you would eat for breakfast.

This chocolate chip coconut bar is no-bake, easy to make, and low-sugar.

Below is the recipe for healthy bars you can take anywhere to tie you over. Think field trips, hikes, and sweet tooth substitutes.

The best part is there is NO Baking involved. And even for a home baker like me, that puts a smile on my face as as EASY healthy snack.

And even better, they are low-sugar (no refined white sugar). So you’ll feel good about eating them. And most importantly, they taste great.

The chocolate chip coconut bar can also be a great breakfast morning snack because they’re loaded with oats.

And another healthy dish idea is porridge made of oats, that’s an underrated breakfast for any age.

It’s not just for Smurf characters or Goldilocks (characters I grew up to).

It’s a great meal idea year round. You can pair with a little sweetness… like these healthy chocolate coconut bars.

A chocolate coconut bar morning. — Healthy chocolate chip coconut bar recipe below. 🥥

The easy, no-bake chewy chocolate chip coconut bar recipe is made without any refined sugar.

You can also decide if you want to make a soft or crunchy version too. 🍪

But let’s get back to porridge before we go for the sweets…

If you’re a cereal lover and want to find alternates, porridge could be that nourishing sub.

When I was a kid, we ate cereal for breakfast before we left for school. It was fortified vitamin and mineral goodness drenched in Vitamin D milk that young, fast-growing bones and bodies need.

It’s also loaded with the sweet stuff that puts a smile on a kid’s face.

But, most cereals aren’t a good daily breakfast option.

The problem isn’t all the added sugar (even though they’re often loaded with 12 added grams per cup or more)… or knowing about the disturbing traces of Roundup that have been found in certain cereals (that’s a good enough reason!)…

And the real daily problem is…

Cereals are never filling enough for the most important meal of the day (or at least one of them).

It doesn’t do the fulfillment job for kids or adults… and it didn’t do it for me as a growing child that felt the stomach gurgles by mid-morning.

This is the reality for most school kids that just plow through their hunger discomforts.

So I remember bringing a snack to school.

But then I forgot about it or was too busy to eat it. My mind was somewhere else as it wasn’t lunchtime when everyone else around me was eating.

We’re easily influenced by our peers.

Decades later, these conditions haven’t changed.

Cereal is still the popular go-to convenient breakfast.

Cereal grocery shelves are filled or empty.

Plus, we still forget and get too busy.

Also when I was growing up, enriched white Wonder Bread was the magical bread that kids felt proud of bringing to school and parents felt good about for lunch sandwiches.

Enriched bread today has a different context. It can be enriched with dairy, eggs, or sourdough. And “fortified” cereal is also different in its wonders.

But travel around the world, and wholesome porridge is what you find in many less modern-convenient cultures. And where people live longer.

These cultures and places go straight to filling stomachs with nourishment.

They’re masters at adding nutritious flavors, often living with less.

And we can learn a healthy lesson from them. And we could start slow like choosing oats or whole grains as breakfast alternatives.

And then switch to a porridge meal with protein and good carbs that can carry through the busy morning. And does your body healthy goodness.

It doesn’t have to be boring… it can be more like this mushroom porridge (with btw, the same oats source that you would make your chocolate chip coconut bars or a mouth pleasing chocolate chip oatmeal cookie). 🍪

I thought this letter to you “from your gut” would be a cute way to highlight and get the point across for healthy encouragement. 😉

Dear Person I Live In,

Please don’t make me work extra hard today. And give me what I want: more rest, but also enough nourishing energy, so I don’t have to hunt around for help from the surrounding systems.

Thank you for a glass of water that signals to me that you’re up. Then for starters, a prebiotic and probiotic breakfast would be great!, like oatmeal with berries and bananas, a healthy chocolate chip coconut bar, or a healthy smoothie format is fine. This gets me going, before you really feed me…

You can mix it up or eat the same thing daily, but I do like some healthy variety. It keeps me from getting bored and helps me run best. I love healthy savory foods.

And yes I do rumble and signal to you when to go to the rest-room, so I can rest.

Please remember (…write yourself a note maybe? 😁) …fill me with small nutrient-dense meals every 4-5 hours so I have the time to churn the last meal and can consistently count on being fed. Then please give me energy again… plant-based carbs would be good… oh and btw, I’m not as color blind as you think I am ‘cause I do recognize when you eat from the rainbow (haha!). 🌈

And don’t wait too long to fill me with some healthy proteins that I love. Then, I don’t have to work so hard. You know how those old-timer people from the Blue Zones eat beans to add 4 years to their lives. And they only break out the celebratory meat once in a while.

Please consider my needs. And finally, I would love if you would provide more fiber and roughage, sprinkling in healthy fat, Omega-3 sources, and good fiber as daily garnishes. I also love nuts and seeds as snacks. Now I’ll be quiet because you know the food language that keeps me happy.

We’re in this together.

Love,

Gutty

P.S. A ‘lil sea salt helps me balance, as does fruit and spices.

So, here’s the recipe I promised…

This chocolate chip coconut bar is no-bake, easy to make, and low-sugar.

Print Recipe

Chocolate Chip Coconut Bar (No-Bake) - Low Sugar

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup almonds
3-4 pitted Medjool dates, finely chopped
1 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp applesauce, unsweetened
1 tbsp raw honey

Instructions

Combine ingredients together and shape into bars. Tip: for dates, use a serated knife to cut.

Alternatively, you can make this chocolate coconut bar recipe with a food chopper. Simply leave out combining the applesauce and honey until the very end after the other ingredients are chopped and blended.

Either way, here’s another tip: it’s easier if you tear up the dates into smaller pieces or cut with a small serrated knife (with jaw edges) before you add to the processor or chopper.

Then, when you have your final mixture ready:

Put on a plate or in a small container and shape your mixture. This is the no-bake version.

Cut the bars or cookie shapes you want to make using a pizza roller or sharper knife (so there’s no crumbly bits falling off that you can’t put back together).

Then drizzle your chocolate coconut bar or cookies you make with a pre-made chocolate sauce.

Or you can make your own: add chocolate and coconut oil to a bain-marie (double cooker) to heat and melt the chocolate.

Adding the oil will give you a better liquid consistency and more chocolate sauce using less chocolate (especially if you’re low).

Afterwards, you can put your bars or cookies in the fridge or freezer to eat in a few minutes or save for later.

They’re better served chilled from the fridge.

The ones in the photo above just came out of the freezer.

If you want to make them crunchy, use an egg instead of the applesauce, and then bake on a low temperature until you get the right baked crunch.

Now that’s super calm baking.. oh, how easy!

And if you don’t want to bake, you can make these easy cocoa balls with coconut oil. 🍫

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Biohacking Your Sweet Craving With Baking Substitute Tips

While you don’t need sweets to survive and would be better off without sugar, biohacking your sweet craving works if you work it.

And it works well when you bake your own goods and proof your own dough (like in the sweet veggie umami pizza that you can read about below).

I’m living proof it’s doable 🤗

…I’ve had a super sweet tooth since I was a child… candy, cookies, ice cream, you name it. Going to the dentist became so familiar, that now as an adult, I don’t have any dental office chair anxiety. That’s the good news.

…And I think that’s one of the places early on where I realized that no news is good news.

The happy sugar on the tongue and mind keeps dentists and doctors in business. Most (not all) people have a daily sweet hankering that’s hard to shake off (well, maybe with a milkshake or a rich smoothie!).

Especially us Vatas who love sweets. And if you get in the habit of eating sweets because those around you (or you) bring it in the house, then below are some biohacking your sweet craving tips that I use.

Plus, ingredients you could consider adding or substituting (and my personal faves!).

…Especially over the past few years, people have been more cooped up indoors snacking, and sugar is everywhere and part of irregular stress eating patterns, that lead to increased weight and growing health issues.

Health is what got me to change my sweet ways. But I feel like I haven’t missed a beat in sweet enjoyment making a few adjustments. You can change your tastes because of healthy desires.

Chocolate cake, for example, wasn’t one of my fave flavors and now is. It’s one of the healthier cakes that I call Cocoa Cake.

Because it’s mostly made with cocoa. It’s healthy without the rich buttery decadence we’re used to associating with chocolate cakes.

I bake with unsweetened cocoa and a flour blend that includes gluten-free flour and probiotic Greek yogurt, almond milk, unsweetened applesauce, and eggs.

Some of those ingredients are healthy, especially without full-on fat and sugar. A ‘lil dab of the bad will do you… or better yet, you could substitute with healthy fat and fruits that have fructose sugar…

Your sweet spot is “in moderation” relative to your body’s tolerances for healthy goodness. If you have a Kapha body imbalance you want to reduce sugar, and if you’re daily “getting addicted” to sugar. It’s common sense + building good habits.

You can use nuts, higher in fiber and protein. And you can use coconut oil or light EVOO that I use as baking oil to give a batter moistness, and also make consuming daily fat-soluble vitamins more bioavailable to the body.

And my personal favorite is fruit zests and spices to add sweetness. It’s not cheating… it’s being smart with your health and calories.

And here’s a savory example that most of us have a weakness for: french fries. Without frying oil, potatoes are healthy sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

So when roasting or cooking our potatoes, they’re then healthy. And even better if we add spices like turmeric, oregano, and pepper. Or my personal fave: tarragon.

And if you add proteins and veg to your plate, then you’re off to the races.

…Speaking of races, I’m still getting goosebump chills over the Kentucky Derby win over the weekend… the least likely to win (80-1 odds) horse, won. Maybe he got his winning oomph from the healthy grass diet too.

…Which btw, we too could graze on more plant-based foods for our human sustainable energy. And for world sustainability.

That’s what I did with this untraditional plant-based pizza. Or a pie, that we called it when I was a teenager working in a pizza-pie shop. 🍕

…And where I learned pizza-making techniques for 4 years. Most of the pies had tomato sauce, but occasionally, customers would order no sauce, light, or extra sauce. This pie has no tomato sauce.

It’s loaded with eating-from-the-rainbow goodness and flavors. It has beets, sweet potatoes, white cannellini beans, ricotta (goat or buffalo cheese also would be good too!), cilantro, garlic, and truffle oil baked into a whole wheat crust.

Then it was drizzled with balsamic vinegar for a sweet-umami flavor that “hit the spot” for lunch. I didn’t need a side dessert or sugar.

So this brings me to the first tip I have for biohacking your sweet craving:

When you eat less sugar, you crave less of it; and when you crave less, you eat less. So, you can use the cycle to your advantage.

And then your body resets to a “new normal” for the better, which helps you, your health goals, and prevents glucose spikes.

And you can more easily achieve this by baking and cooking that help change the way you look at the foods you eat. Because then you decide what ingredients to add and how much.

You get more choosy about what you put in your body and that can help you make healthier choices.

You end up making the extra effort and time when you know the health and tasty benefits. That’s what this girl did.

Besides the sweet-savory veggie truffle pie, I baked a pan pizza with spinach, tomato, and ricotta that was just as easy to make. Oh, Vata me… I forgot to take a photo. Next time.

There’s also a time for other options for all of us like selecting pre-made convenience, eating out, or ordering out.

The big healthy difference is many packaged goods have more than 30 ingredients (some you’ve never heard of and are hard to pronounce).

And you really only need 2-4 ingredients to make a healthy meal or bake a whole cake. (That’s another category of whole food.)

With fewer healthy ingredients, then you change your taste buds one bake and bite at a time.

Today, if someone handed me a sweet something, it’d have to be pretty darn good for me to eat an entire serving because of the changes I made and how I see food in general.

For sweets, a smaller bite is all that’s needed to be sweet and happy if ya know what I mean.

That’s true for most. At a grocery store or during any food shortages, you’ll never hear, there needs to be more sweet options.

Overall if we bought less processed foods, then the big companies would make more of the good-earthbound healthy-happy packaged goods.

I wouldn’t mind some healthy strawberry licorice …anyone else? 😉

And biohacking your sweet craving with baking substitutes is another good way to change your sweet tooth.

For baking, these are some ingredients I use just about every week. These are a mix of healthy ingredients and iffy in-between ones I use in moderation.

Applesauce

*Berry Jams

Cardamom

Cherries, Maraschino

Cinnamon

Cocoa, unsweetened

Coconut, shredded

Coffee/espresso

Dark chocolate morsels

Ginger

Greek yogurt

Fruit zests

Fruits, Dried (currants, dates, apricots, raisins)

Fruits, Whole

Honey, Raw (instead of maple syrup)

Orange pulp and peel

*Pineapple chunks

*use sparingly

Switching up your ingredients does your body good (encouraging a diverse healthy gut microbiome that is also a gateway to our brain health).

Our gut wants to be happy and healthy like we do.

If a recipe calls for refined sugar, say ¾ cup, and it’s great for emulsifying like in ice cream, I only use about ¼ cup or substitute with monk fruit sugar.

You can always zhugh it up later or to individual tastes.

You can also make your own sweet sauce, dips, glazes and frosting. These are a few other ideas:

Balsamic-chocolate sauce: mixing balsamic vinegar and melted to liquid chocolate is quick and easy.

Coconut cream frosting: Long gone for me are days of grocery shelf frosting and powdered sugar icing. You too can make your own frosting with coconut cream.

When you buy a can, the thick part can also be used for ice creams, and keep the liquid parts for your soups. After you open it, you can freeze what you aren’t planning to use within a few days.

Extracts: I used to add vanilla extract to everything sweet, but I usually skip the step unless it’s the dominant or only flavor, like in vanilla ice cream. Zests and spice flavors come through best, and mixing them together, and changing them up is even better.

The fun part of experimenting with less sugar and healthy bakes is creating your own faves.

Variety is the spice and zest in life. 🧡

And if you want to take it up a level from biohacking your sweet craving to biohacking sweet breakfasts, healthy eating, and fasting, then stay tuned to future blog posts.

Once upon a time, I couldn’t do without a non-sugary breakfast growing up on fortified cereals, and these days that’s all changed… and that was one-step at a time easy and something you can do! 🥣

This site is all about happy and healthy living and eating ways and inspiration. If this is your first time here, I encourage you to find out more about me and this healthy lifestyle blog.

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Anti-Inflammatory Drinks That Help You and Zero-Waste)

Anti-Inflammatory drinks are common and very good for preventing inflammation that can lead to some chronic diseases.

Like this special blue matcha ocean one that reminds us that we are small in calm chaos with climate change. This recipe is below.

To get in our calm we can make an ocean layered drink (recipe below)

And yes, your dry skin eczema and other symptoms could be related. Check out the anti-inflammatory blue matcha tea drink below you can make to have a cool and inflammation-free day. 🧋

an heirloom orange loaded with Vitamin C is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant goodness. — Look for heirloom, organic, or local farmers market produce as in-season (free of pesticides, good for us and the environment)

As we’re approaching warmer months, we like our soothing and cooling anti-inflammatory drinks. But that can depend on what helps balance our healthy Ayurveda body (and restore imbalances for our season).

Natural fruit-infused waters are usually a great option to flavor water, where you can simply add parts of whole fruits and veggies. Like orange, lemon, or lime peels for natural sweet-tartness. And are on a list of 200 anti-inflammatory foods you can checkout. 🛒

If you don’t have a home organic composting system (most people don’t), saving food scraps helps to cut down on waste before discarding in the garbage or the disposal. Plus, this eco-move prevents attracting unwanted house critters in warmer months.

For the little extra effort it takes, saving is so easy to do!

Take an orange. You can zest the peel of an orange that can substitute the “sugar” for your baking. Then use the skin and pith for your flavored orange water. It usually gets discarded even though it has higher vitamin amounts.

And of course, saving the best for last… enjoy the juicy orange slices for a snack, which is the only part that almost never gets tossed.

Now that’s a systemized orange habit 👏 where nothing gets tossed out, and you would reap all the healthy and other benefits.

These are some other Zero Waste-inspired anti-inflammatory drinks you can brew in a mason jar or recycled container jugs.

Kapha “Fire Up Cider” Anti-Inflammatory Drinks

Ideal Storage: Cool, dark cupboard or pantry

An off-balance Kapha body often has a need to intake fewer calories, especially if feeling heavy or sluggish after meals is a common natural symptom.

And when lacking energy, I love healthy fire cider drinks made with acidic ACV and lemon juice from a lemon. You can save the lemon zest and lemon pith and skin for lemonade. Or you can use pre-bought lemon juice.

Horseradish is the pungent ingredient I add in this fiery elixir, but that’s for you to decide if you can stomach it, and then top off with a kick of heat that can come from cayenne pepper. You can also sub the horseradish with garlic or onions.

And if jalapeno peppers are more your pack-a-punch vibe, that’s a good sub ingredient. You can also tone down the spicy twist with turmeric or a balanced hint of ginger.

This drink is good for Vatas too, but if you’re experiencing any slight Pitta imbalances, you’ll wanna turn down the heat!

Vata “Spice Digestion Elixir” Ayurveda Drink

Idea Storage: Refrigerator door or lower shelf in the fridge

An off-balance Vata can feel a sensitive or butterfly nervous stomach, and this drink can help.

Add Ginger, Cinnamon, Orange Peels, Allspice, plus your favorite spices and filtered water to a jar. Then shake up your mixture. Because of the peels, store this elixir in the fridge like juice if you plan on keeping it for longer than a week. These ingredients are anti-inflammatory.

I like to keep this in a repurposed plastic jar/container that was going to be sent to recycling (with a 9% chance of making its final destination… just sayin’ ♻️).

Pitta-Vata “Fermented Mother” Ayurveda Drinks

Ideal Storage: Cool cupboard or pantry (but not the fridge)

A Pitta or imbalanced Pitta can feel heartburn or upper GI tract symptoms. The ingredients in this drink all-in-all is a great elixir for high Pittas and Vatas.

Plus, this elixir is sweet and lasts in your cool cupboard with no expiration date!

Add organic ACV with “the mother enzyme” that looks like residue sitting at the bottom of the jar and mix with a few TBSPs of raw honey.

ACV improves digestion (increasing stomach acid production that tends to decrease as you age). Our internal body changes over time– a good message to share to younger friends and siblings who think they’ll stay the same forever! 😉

You can take a few spoonfuls of this before a meal and this helps glucose levels and prevents blood sugar spikes. The ACV smells can be off-putting to some, but the raw honey will smooth out the unfavorable ACV scent.

Honey is everything sweet in my opinion. So much so, here are some good storage tips:

Honey is best stored in a cooler, dark cupboard or sitting with a closed top in a pantry. By itself, raw honey never goes bad. It’s best not refrigerated or in changing (cooling) temperatures in a fridge that can speed up crystallization. And if you find the right honey and brand, it won’t crystallize at all in the right room temperatures.

Anti-inflammatory raw honey doesn’t have a hard rule expiration date that needs to be followed, as it has very low moisture content. I’ve never seen it go bad. But be sure to close the top or lid completely to eliminate moisture (and bacteria) in the air from entering over periods of time.

One popular honey dessert I remember was served up to many during my event planning days, is a dessert called Awamat, or Lebanese donuts, that is finished off with none other than honey and saffron as a glaze.

Because they looked more like donut holes they could be beautifully displayed as a croquembouche-style evergreen tree table display with a ‘lil engineering ingenuity and creativity… I’m sure recent GBBO contestants, Giuseppe or Juergen, could figure it out!

And besides food, “honey is medicine” as it’s an antioxidant and has antibacterial and antifungal (microbial) benefits. Our ancestors (the ancient Egyptians) and our modern Ayurveda practices have been using honey to prevent infections and help lower inflammation for ages.

It’s also a natural humectant, so whether you have dry skin or a dry throat when applied, it will also help with relieving symptoms. I can’t say enough about raw honey’s sticky goodness. 🍯

And you can add your honey to this calming anti-inflammatory butterfly tea 🦋🍵 drink that’ll sweeten your day.

Print Recipe

Anti-Inflammatory Blue Matcha Tea Ocean Drink

Course beverage

Cuisine American, Japanese

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

blue matcha tea (Butterfly pea flower tea)
coffee or black tea like English Breakfast or Early Grey
raw honey, optional
blueberries, optional

Instructions

Brew your blue matcha tea leaves for about 5 minutes in a mug. Be sure to use cooler than boiling water to not burn the leaves. Cool in the refrigerator.
Pour about 1/3 high tea to your drinking glass or rock glass for your "ocean." Add honey (optional).
Freeze.
Add a "sand" layer with coffee or black tea.
Freeze again.
Add milk or cappuccino froth for "cloud." layer. Zhugh with blueberries if desired.

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Cinnamon Biscuits – No Sugar

Cinnamon biscuits are a healthy way to welcome in May that’s Mental Health Month and remembered year round.

cinnamon biscuits

One way to do that is to add cinnamon to your diet to replace refined sugar (aka table or white sugar).

Cinnamon is good for calming anxiety. It’s a good sweet substitute instead of refined sugar. And it may not be the first sweet you ever knew or came to love… I know it wasn’t for me.

But over the years, the cinnamon sticks and cinnamon ways intertwined with me like in these bakes and makes. It was bound to catch up with me as I’m a Vata and maybe you are too?

Cinnamon is also good for our memory boost and because of the anti-inflammatory properties, helps our cognitive abilities to learn.

That’s the basis for healthy growth and how we can protect our minds from drifting away from good mental health or moving toward depression.

It’s worth a reminder to daily renew your mind and celebrate everything you have to be grateful for.

Changing perspectives and thoughts changes your day.

And if you’re like me who loves sweets and controls the sugar with low-sugar recipes, cinnamon biscuits are good for a May occasion, brunch, or afternoon tea. 🫖

Even if you don’t have your own… there are plenty going on globally. In America where I live, there are annual events like the Kentucky Derby 🌹, Mother’s Day 💐, Met Gala 🤩, Memorial Day 🇺🇸, or just celebrating life 🎉

The healthy type you can consume regularly is Ceylon cinnamon that you can add to your hot beverages.

It’s okay to use the traditional Cassia cinnamon (more reddish brown and powdery than Ceylon) common in stores, but not regularly.

Because it has a flavoring substance called courmarin that can damage liver in large quantities.

And we don’t want to hurt our physical health while we keep our mental health and mind-body balanced.

If you limit to using Cassia cinnamon to baking, you’ll be fine and also enjoy how it tastes divine with apples and pear pairings.

Easy No Sugar Cinnamon Biscuits

This recipe is for two sandwich size biscuits so multiply the ingredients for the number of biscuits you want to make.

Course brunch

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup combined flour (whole wheat and almond flour are recommended
1 tbsp cinnamon (or adjust to taste liking)
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1-2 tbsp cold butter, small pieces
buttermilk (or milk and apple cider vinegar)

Instructions

Combine ingredients until they are combined and dough is cohesive and not too moist. You should be able to easily make a ball without much effort.
Tip for liquid: start with 1/4 cup of milk and look at the dough. If it's too dry, add a little more milk. If it's a little too wet (milk is coming out of the dough after mixing), then add a little more flour. Do this until you have the right consistency dough (not too moist).
Use oil to coat a pan and then bake in oven on 350°F/180°C for about 25 minutes. About 10 minutes before finish, check the bottom. If toasted, you can flip so the bottom is on the top so it gets baked evenly through.
Fill your sandwiches with seasonal fruit and ricotta or Greek yogurt.

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