Forget coffee and have a SUPERFOOD SUMMER

Sarma’s One Lucky Duck goodies (raw and vegan crackers, cookies, truffle butter, nuts and more) are now in the Crazy Sexy Shop!

It’s been six years now that I’ve been a mostly raw-vegan, most of the time. In my books, blog, and elsewhere, I openly admit to being relatively open-minded when it comes to what I eat. But sometimes being very relaxed about it—particularly in the context of stress and other distractions—leads to the formation of habits before we even realize what’s happened. My own example of this: coffee! What a hypocrite I am. A whole page in my first co-written book Raw Food Real World is devoted to how bad coffee is.

My transgressions started a few summers ago as one of my early oneluckyduck.com investors was frequently drinking coffee around me in my office. I wasn’t sleeping much then and particularly freaked out about a lot of things going on, and the smell of it was very appealing! First I’d ask for a sip, then I’d have a few sips, then I’d just grab the whole cup from him and he’d have to go get another for himself. Before I knew it, I was hooked again. It was that easy.

I felt like an addict with a secret. I’d run to the coffee shop for an iced coffee, then head back towards the restaurant thinking that I really shouldn’t walk in this neighborhood drinking coffee! What if one of the regulars from the juice bar saw me! What then? Making it easier for me, my assistant at the time became my “enabler” offering to fetch me a fresh iced coffee anytime I wanted. I truly felt like a “user” when I finally bought my own ground coffee. At least now it’s organic, I rationalized. Still, alone in my own kitchen filling the filter (made of unbleached recycled paper, of course!) with the aromatic grounds, and waiting for the water to boil, I felt a bit like a crack-head with the spoon and lighter.

My conflicted and tumultuous on and off relationship with this substance has led me to a few conclusions. I simply do not do well on coffee at all, tempting as it is. Not to mention, it gives you yucky coffee breath if you don’t brush your teeth right away. I also have a theory that it makes me sweat and in an odd funky kind of way. Not sexy! But the worst issue is the dependency and crashing. I might feel uplifted for a bit, but then before long sluggishness sets in. Is it not also widely known that it dehydrates you and inhibits the absorption of iron and many other minerals, and is acidic in your body? Further, it must certainly be the case that when you get to the point where a massive migrane is the consequence of trying to stop suddenly, something is really wrong with this very popular habit.

Luckily, I finally feel I’ve weaned myself off for good. If I get very little sleep and crave a sweet and creamy jolt, I mix in my VitaMix some raw cacao powder, nut milk (or, heaping tablespoon of cashew or almond butter + water = milk), stevia or agave nectar, vanilla, ice, and some frozen banana if I have any, and pour it over more ice. So refreshing, much better than iced coffee, and its breakfast too. There also seems to be something magically energizing about the combination of goji berries and raw cacao. My favorite breakfast is One Lucky Duck chocolate crispies with a handful of raw cacao nibs and goji berries, maybe some sliced banana, and hemp or nut milk. It’s crunchy cereal power breakfast.

Superfoods may be a very overused term these days. I love goji berries and they seem to keep you full for hours. A famous New York cosmetic doctor was quoted in a fashion magazine years ago saying that the goji berry is the number one anti-cellulite food, because of how loaded they are with antioxidants. I read this and immediately wanted to hoard them as I expected a sudden worldwide surge in demand and subsequent scarcity, but luckily they still seem readily available and affordable.

I’m also completely in love with green shakes. I’ll always love green juice, particularly when I don’t want to get really filled up. But when I want to get filled up, I make a green shake. Fresh cucumber in the blender makes an excellent base, to which I add grapefruit or pineapple, lemons and limes, sometimes a little mango. To that I add a whole bunch of fresh cilantro, kale, chard or spinach, sunflower sprouts if I have them, along with stevia, a pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla. I like shakes because they make for the ultimate superfood party. I love to add a splash of aloe vera juice, a toss of tocotrienols, a spoon of blue green algae, some green tea extract, and yes, maybe some more goji berries—which blend easier than you might imagine if you have a VitaMix.

Aside from being so nutrient dense, what I love about these crazy concoctions is that they taste really good. Sometimes I add strawberries or blueberries, or nectarines or white peaches. And if I don’t feel like having it in a glass, then I’ll chop a fuji apple into a bowl, pour my amped up green shake over it, sprinkle it with bee pollen and some whole goji berries and eat it with a spoon like cereal – superfood cereal. When this is what I’m taking in, I feel as if I could not eat for days and I would feel fine. As if I’ve truly nourished myself and am a well oiled machine.

With so many variables, it’s always tricky to evaluate how something specific is affecting you. I have given up coffee only to fall back into the habit enough times that the overall conclusion is clear to me. I might crave that initial high and the flavor, but it’s a quick fix that quickly makes one dependent. The funny part is, I would slip back into drinking coffee with a full awareness of feeling very unclean about it, and I think in some way that was part of it – I was being almost rebellious, or thinking that I just needed it to get me through a particularly sleep-deprived and work crazy period of time. Now, when that urge for a cup of coffee – even just one – starts to gnaw at me, I take a deep breath and think about the characters in Trainspotting. That always does the trick.

Sarma

*This article was originally published in Get Fresh! Magazine.