This week, I posted a video on Instagram and Facebook regarding this post. For about two months now, I've been starting my day with a nutritional powerhouse of a morning beverage. This "Super Coffee" is, in my case, actually more of a hot cocoa protein coffee fusion, as you will see from the recipe description below. 


This hot drink is amazing for whatever it is I need to do in the morning, whether it be training, a relaxed yoga session, writing a blog post, etc and is geared towards jump starting my energy levels, boosting immune and brain function, increase recovery time from training, and promote muscle growth.

In this post, I'll breakdown my steps and why each ingredient has found its place in my coffee cup. Give it a shot, adjust to your needs, and let me know what you think. If you use another beverage to start your day that you've found good success with, I'd love to hear about it in the comment section. Read on to learn all about my Super Coffee.

INGREDIENTS

-Ground cocoa nibs OR a few squares of extra dark chocolate
-Chocolate whey protein
-Coffee grinds
-Hemp protein powder
-Turmeric powder
-Sole water OR just pink sea salt
-Cinnamon 
-Grassfed butter
-Monkfruit
-Collagen Peptides
-Creatine 
-Ground black pepper
-Lion's Mane mushroom powder


Note: Ingredient measurements will be approximate. Adjust to your own needs.

I start by boiling water. Easy enough. Hold off on pouring the water just yet. Next, I start with ground cocoa nibs, which are whole cocoa beans that are bitter to taste but a great chocolatey treat for teas, coffee, on deserts, or just by the handful. I grind mine up all at once with my Ninja Blender, and then store the grinds in a large mason jar. 

I pour maybe a half to one tablespoon into the cup, this way I have some actual cocoa nibs in my drink at all time that I'll enjoy towards the end of my drink. I like to think it's constantly enriching my hot beverage all the while. 

Next, add a scoop of whey protein. Then, if your adding butter, drop in a tablespoon or so. I love butter in my coffee and do this to get fat calories first thing in the morning. It does wonders for the overall texture and flavor. This is my "cream" to the coffee, since I don't really use any true diary products to my drink. 

You can also go ahead and add a super small "splash" of sole water or a "dash" of pink sea salt. Sole water is made by taking a small to medium sized mason jar, filling it a quarter way with sea salt, and then filling the rest with water. Shake it and let it dissolve for one day. A little salt in the morning reups your electrolytes and kick starts osmosis in the body, as the positive ions in the salt reacts with the negative ions in the water and becomes more easily absorable in the body. Pink sea salt also has dozens of trace essential minerals. 

Add approximately a 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric. This is great for inflammation, immune health, and is generally regarded as a super food (much like ginger and garlic). At this point, I often add a small amount of ground black pepper to the mix, as this helps the body absorb certain minerals, turmeric especially, but I'm sure it helps for other ingredients used here. 

Add a dash your cinnamon for taste (and for the health benefits of cinnamon of course). I use about 1/2 a tablespoon of monkfruit to sweeten the beverage. Like Stevia, Monkfruit won't cause a spike in insulin (it has a zero score on the glycemic index), has antioxidents, and zero calories. Takes some getting use to but by far a smarter, healthier choice to sugar, which, on an empty stomach in the morning, is not what you want to put in your system. 

From here, I like to go ahead and save the last three ingredients and pour the boiled water onto what is in the cup now. Pssssssssssshh. That was the water going into the cup, complete with steam. Now, put in your steeper or coffee filter, whatever works for you and doesn't cause a mess, and place about 1 to 2 tablespoons of cocoa nibs in the basket to steep for...however long you like! I do about five minutes.

Still with me? Okay, now is the time I add my coffee grounds. I'm using Cavemen coffee for this recipe, but you can use whatever you like. I let the coffee steep 2-3 minutes, then dump the basket of cocoa and coffee in the trash. 

Next, I add the last three ingredients. Why do I wait to add them last? Well, maybe it's just my thinking, but I feel these ingredients probably breakdown at boiling heat, so I like to let the drink cool a little to get the most out of them. Maybe it doesn't make any difference, but it doesn't hurt to add them last, so I do. 

I put about 1 tablespoon of collagen peptides (for skin health, bone and joint function, and possibly muscle mass and heart health, among other potential benefits), followed by 1 teaspoon of creatine, then 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Lion's Mane mushroom powder, a growing popular superfood with huge medical applications in Asian countires. As stated by Healthline, Lion's Mane "contains bioactive substances that have benefical effects on the body, especially the brain, heart and gut."

Using an immersion hand blender, I then blend all these ingredients together for about 30 seconds. Now, all you have left to do is enjoy your labors. Drink up, it's good for you!

-Stefan

What you need to know first:

-All ingredients must be room temperature or the emulsifying process will be hindered. Set out your egg and lime ahead of time. I often pop my egg into the toaster over or Nuwave to heat it up for a minute if I forget, which I usually do. 

-You need EXTRA LIGHT olive oil so the taste is not so strong. Avocado oil works great too. I have been using the Filippo Berio brand and it has worked just fine for me. Will likely experiment with others in the future.

-You must pour slowly. It usually takes me about 3-4 minutes to pour all the oil into the blender. 

-It is recommended you use a pasteurized egg, that is, an egg from a chicken who has lived a relatively normal life of eating grass and free from factory farm cage practices. Your using the egg raw here, so you want to make sure the food your sourcing (the egg) is not going to run the risk of containing many of the contaminates that result from a factory farmed life. 

-If you have a hand blender (immersion blender) you can make this even faster with easier clean up. Read below.

-This mayo is good on almost anything.

-A big thanks to Mark Session, who I hold in high regard for his dietary research and prolific writings. His company Primal Kitchen was were I tried this mayo first before crafting my own. His blog Mark's Daily Apple is loaded with a wealth of helpful wellness and fitness articles I can't recommend enough. 


YOU WILL NEED:

-3 cups EXTRA LITE olive oil or avocado oil

-1 fresh lime

-1 pasteurized egg

-sea salt

-hot sauce or sriracha

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS:

-tablespoon of dijon mustard

-garlic

-herbs like rosemary or thyme

-paprika powder

-turmeric

-ground cumin 


STANDARD DIRECTIONS:

1. Place a quarter cup of the oil, the hot sauce, 1 squeezed lime, and in other additional herbs or spices in the blender or food processor. Crack the egg and add it to the blender. Add a little sea salt.
2. Pulse the liquids to mix. While the machine is running (I usually keep taping the pulse button but you may be able to run it low on your device) beginning SLOWLY adding the remaining oil to the blender or food processor. It should take you about minutes to pour it all in.
3. Check the mayo. Assess it's thickness. If you find it too thick you can add more lime juice or perhaps another egg, but I've never felt the need as it generally comes out fine for me. Taste the mayo and add whatever additional ingredients you prefer. Scoop the mayo into mason jars and store in the refrigerator. This mayo should stay good for up to 7-10 days.

HAND BLENDER VERSION:

Have a hand blender? Good for you. Now you can whip up this recipe in seconds. If you have WIDE MOUTH MASON JARS, you can just put the ingredients in and blend them right in the jar.

1. Put your ingredients in the mason jar. 
2. Place the hand blender at the very bottom of the jar and turn it on a lower setting. Blend the bottom for 30 seconds and the SLOWLY begin to pull up toward the top. Emulsification should take place as you bring the blender up.
3. Taste and add more of what you want, then seal the jar with the lid. Store in the fridge for up to 7-10 days.

Here you can see some of my meal prep from this week. See all my food work on my Instagram @Stefanlawsonmusic. From left to right: Cinnamon Raisin Cashew Sunflower butter, guacamole (which I use by itself or blend with cocoa to make a slightly sweet but healthy dessert), and a few jars of Chipotle Garlic Lime Mayo. All high quality fatty foods to get me through my work days and my workouts. Hope you enjoyed this post. Please comment and share. Would love to know what kind of mayo adaptations you make in your own home. Maybe a citrus variety? Let me know. 

Yesterday, I was sitting around wondering what I could eat, as I often do, as I often eat, because eating is important to staying alive. 

(Stay tuned for my next lecture on breathing air)

No, but seriously, I was freakin' hungry. Needed meat but was craving some greens too. I have recently started buying some of those single serving packages of semi-dry tuna and got the idea for this super simple but delicious salad dish topped with red wine vinegar and Italian olive oil. Here's how I made mine. The crab meat I used was actually imitation, made from Pollock, but still good. Feel free to add extra ingredients of your choice based on your likes. 

Ingredients :

     -Handful of steamed kale 

     -Handful of spinach leaves 

     -1 pack of Garlic and Herb tuna fish (Sunkist is pretty good)

     -Red onion slices

     -Crab meat or pollock slices

     -Olive oil and red wine for dressing


       First steam the kale, let sit in a dish for a short time or wash with cool water so it isn't too warm. Add spinach in the same bowl as the kale. Mix tuna fish with crab meat together. Add the fish mixture onto the greens. Top with red onion slices. Add pepper and, if you want a sharper taste, some garlic powder over the salad. Carefully pour some red wine vinegar over everything and then drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy. 

Stefan 

     I posted an article yesterday about beating your sickness, complete with tips on how to make a speedier recovery. One of my suggestions was the traditional advice of making sure you had plenty of vitamin C in your diet through the consumption of such products as orange juice. I was shocked when I followed up by doing some additional research shortly after I posted it, and found the entire first page of my search warning me of the dangers of orange juice. What! When did this happen? I thought orange juice was our friend. This demanded my attention. 
     
        I started scanning through blogs and medical journals and found a staggering amount of surprising information. Apparently, orange juice became the selling point for a lot of clever business men back in the day when people first started believing that vitamin C played a major role in boosting the immune system. This was largely due to American chemist and Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling writing the book, "Vitamin C and the Common Cold" in 1970, despite a lack of scientific backing for the text. Before long, marketers began promoting and selling orange juice because it was widely believed to be a super food that effectively combated the common cold and, of course, tasted great. And so, the campaign began. 

     Current claims, however, are showing a different story. Researchers are doing studies in which some groups receive set amounts of vitamin C supplements everyday and others do not. Results show that not much difference is noticed, unless you are someone who doesn't get near enough of these vitamins from your daily diet. Other studies that have given participates increased amounts of vitamins A and C have shown they can actually disrupt the body's natural balance of oxidants and antioxidants.

      If the claims are true, then taking vitamin C isn't going to help you much if you have a cold. This is why the company that produced Airborne got sued. They advertised a product that claimed to keep you from getting sick (largely due to its high vitamin C levels). Since the science didn't support it, they were taken to court and eventually settled for over $20 million dollars.   

     Another big problem with the orange juice myth, is that modern processing uses fructose in their production. Extra sugar in your diet is never good and can cause weight gain, high cholesterol, metabolic dysfunction and more. Fruits are also a carbohydrate and, in liquid form, has a much quicker effect on fat gain. The fact that fructose is found in so many other products because it is cheaper to produce than sugar isn't helping the matter. This is not to say sugar is a bad thing entirely. On the contrary, our body needs sugar to convert into energy, however, as a society we are taking in too much these days. Even people who live in regions where oranges grow such as Florida or California, only have them seasonally. This means that other food sources were needed to supplement for vitamins and minerals, but with modern production methods, people have access to these fruits almost all year round. 

     Enter vegetables. Many vegetables have higher levels of vitamin C and far less sugars. Take a look at some of these comparisons, one which happens to be the all mighty kale plant:

Amount of Vitamin C


1/2 cup of red chili peppers - 181mg

100 gram serving of yellow peppers - 184mg

100 gram serving of raw kale - 120mg 

1 cup broccoli - 89mg 


1 cup of orange juice - 98mg 


     Fruits are important, this isn't an article suggesting that you cut oranges out of your diet. I would simply suggest a little research into the matter yourself and consider eating more vegetables when you are sick or needing to boost your vitamin C intake. As I said, I'm a little surprised myself in my findings, but I'm glade I found it now instead of weeks down the road.  If you find any other information that confirms or refutes what I have discovered, please send it to me! Below our some of the websites I used to compile what I have written. 

http://modernhealthmonk.com/orange-juice-is-killing-you/

healthaliciousness.com

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2011/12/for-the-last-time-orange-juice-will-not-cure-your-cold.html

          Stuck inside, still attempting to get better, I've decided to construct a brief guide for, "Getting Well". My Denver trip is in two days, and I've been working diligently to stay in fair health as friends and family all around me fall to this God awful virus that's going about. Perhaps, if you suffer similar aliments, you can find some useful ideas to turn the tides.
          
         Rule #1- Keep the orange juice handy. I'm lucky in the fact that my family produces a fair share of these fruits this time of year. Nothing beats a fresh orange from the tree, but if its not available to you, get you some OJ in a bottle stat! Get a gallon or more if you think it will be a particularly bad sickness. The body isn't capable of producing vitamin C on its own, so getting it through oranges is a great way to go. They are also good sources for calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
         
         Rule #2-Drink tea. Make it hot to sooth an irritated  throat from sinus drainage. Green tea will boost your immune system provided by the plants abundance of flavonoids and catechins, particularly epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Like in orange juice, green tea is a good source of vitamin C, as well as vitamin E. Studies show time and time again that individuals who drink more tea than others are less prone to diseases, whether they are small colds or, in more serious situations, certain types of cancers. 
        
         Be sure to add honey if you can. Local honey is particularly good because small traces of pollen that you are exposed to in your area gets displaced in honey when bees are producing it. This creates an effect similar to when you receive a vaccine. Essentially, when you get a small amount of something in your body, antibodies are created to combat them and a defense is made against all other similar invaders. And so, the theory goes, small traces of pollen introduced into the body, will create a better defense for higher levels in the future. I highly recommend the article which I will post below. It enlightened me to the fact that bees actually make honey through a process that involves regurgitating nectar from their stomach into their honeycombs. As a fan of honey my whole life, all I can say to that is...delicious...
          
          Rule #3 - Have a balance of indoor rest and outdoor recreation. This one various depending on the severity of your sickness and the type. Some will argue the best thing you can do when experiencing a cold is kick back on the couch and "veg" out. Not a terrible idea for someone who is feeling...terrible, but I'd recommend a little fresh area during your recovery time. 
          
          After a few days of the worst part of my cold, I really felt like an early morning walk (this was right after I wrote my last post on the Supreme Veggie Shepherds Pie) so I decided to do just that. My cold was half due to my allergies and all the pollen in the air but I felt like taking a risk. It wasn't the best move. I took a hike through some woods and a nice neighborhood close by and when the sun started warming up I felt the heat, know what I'm saying? 
        
          I retreated back indoors and became more cautious of such actions. Instead, as lame as it sounds, I pace the house to get some movement while listening to podcasts, as well as dedicated time for stretching which helps in circulating blood through the body. Getting sunlight is important for recovery, so I make sure to stand or sit in rooms full of windows if going outside for long periods is difficult. Avoid gyms for the time being, where you can bet everything is covered in germs.
      
          Rule #4- Do things that make you laugh. Watch comedies, play some video games with friends online, flip through some old family photos, talk with someone who makes you smile over the phone, tickle yourself if your capable (and send me a video of it, because I won't believe you otherwise...You know, that could be a great YouTube compilation...a bunch of videos of people tickling themselves and laughing about it...could you imagine all the condescending comments that would be posted? All drop this stupid side thought now...). 
         
           A good laugh will relieve stress, decrease pain, drop heart rate and blood pressure, all made possible through the release of endorphins, the bodies natural pain killers. Studies also show that laughter lowers serum cortisol levels. All this adds up to suggest that laughter can actually raise your immune system. So go on! Why so serious? 
        
          Rule #5 - Stay hydrated with plenty of water which keeps your nasal passage moist and allows your body to rid itself of particles from bacteria. Continuously flushing your system with steady H2O intake is always important, especially when you have a cold.
       
          Rule #6 - Eat garlic...raw. I did this by making some white bean and chick pea hummus two days ago, which I plan on writing a recipe guide for soon. I made sure to throw three cloves in the mix. What's so great about garlic? Suzanne Hall says it best in her post for thechalkboardmag.com:

"Garlic is a powerful antioxidant with antimicrobial, antiviral and antibiotic properties. For colds and flues, it also provides decongestant and expectorant effects. While none of garlic’s components have been isolated by science as the sole explanation for garlic’s flu-busting effects, vitamin C, a slew of enzymes, and minerals such as sulphur and selenium, definitely play a role."
  
          Rule #7 - Get your sleep. Your body's best time for recovery is when its deep in REM sleep. Don't neglect it.

        These are only a few suggests of mine. Of course, you should always consider talking to your doctor before combating any infection or disease, and follow any recommendations he or she provides. Depending on your situation, antibiotics or other medications may be suggested to you. I hope this article is useful to some. As I'm finishing up outside with the last rays of the sun going down, I feel a little better myself. I hope you do too.

Stefan

Bee's & Pollen article:    http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/allergies/allergy-treatments/local-honey-for-allergies1.htm

September 25, 2013 

        I started making Kale Shakes almost every morning back in my junior year of college, after I heard about their incredible benefits that ranged from more energy, high levels of vitamins and minerals, guaranteed "regulation", and much more. My leafy drink generally consisted of: Kale, Greek yogurt, an apple, a banana (crucial to mask the strong, somewhat bitter taste of kale), blueberries, a carrot, flaxseed, wheat germ and one or two tablespoons of water and/or soy milk. There are TONS of other ingredients you can put in to your shake, thanks to the fact that there isn't really any bad choices when your combining different fruits and vegetables. Cucumber, celery, small chunks of ginger or garlic, tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, orange juice, coconut oil, a little honey for sweetener...You can't go wrong with any of these additions! Experiment for your preferred taste.  
      
        The power of the kale shake was so impacting in my daily health and fitness routine, that I began to suggest them to anyone who was looking to make a simple, healthy change in their life, especially if they were trying to lose some weight. I turned my family onto them, and now my mom drinks them about as frequently as I do. When my niece was less than a year old, I suggested we condition her to the kale shake by giving her small portions of our daily serving. By the time she could walk, if she saw us getting out fruits and vegetables with a blender, she would squeal with delight and run to the kitchen. She continues to drink them to this day and, as a result, will eat almost any raw fruits or vegetables presented to her.  
       
         Since the first days of making them, my recipe has changed very little. I have heard new research that suggests kale produces an acid called Oxalic to protect the plant from predators such as animals and insects and that too much of it can cause health problems in humans, such as kidney stones. Yikes...Researchers suggest cooking kale to boil out these acids, but then, like with most vegetables you cook, it tends to lose a lot of its vitamins and minerals. Plus, do you really want warm, soggy kale in your smoothie? I know I don't. To ease my mind on the matter, I began switching out kale with spinach for a while (which still has a nice taste), but felt like I was missing out on the powerhouse that is the kale plant. Nowadays, I mix half and half with spinach and kale or sometimes just plain spinach. If evolution is doing its job correctly, my body will handle that oxalic acid nonsense and build up an immunity, but in the meantime, I'll feel a lot better about my recipe alteration until more conclusive research comes along. That being said, I still grow my own kale, which has a sweeter taste, and enjoy it regularly. 
      
            All of this is bringing me to the main point of my article, which involves my new addition to the green smoothie. Last night, an ESPN documentary came on TV entitled "The Book of Manning". I was reading a book nearby but the story caught my attention and I began to watch with interest. The story progressed into the harsh training football players received at Ole Miss, with one player stating something along the lines of: If you could take the kind of running we had to do then you could, "run bare foot, naked through hell and come out on the other end without a sun burn". Intense, I thought to myself and made a mental note never to volunteer to train with Ole Miss players or attempt running through hell barefoot. Needless to say, the documentary got me pumped to workout and to train harder in the next few days. But there is an issue I often have when it comes to training that has been a big factor in my workout regimen: weight gain. I am in a minority of people who have a high metabolism for my age along with other personal factors (such as not being a huge consumer of meat after a six month vegetarian streak).  
       
         I wondered what I could do in the next couple of months to up my fat and caloric intake. Eating extra food, for people like me, can be a chore and harder to do, especially when you only try to eat healthy (I haven't been a "fast food" eater since high school). I regularly drink peanut butter almond shakes once or twice a day to try to up my intake, but even this only produces a little change for me. I've tried powders for years and have had only so-so results. The price of such substances can be a bit ridiculous too.  
      
         Still inspired by the Manning's commentary, I researched online (for what seemed like the hundredth time in my life) for something new that could help me out. I stumbled onto Bodybuilding.com, a site I have visited several times in the past, that had an article that gave me the one ingredient that I thought could put a change to my diet. 
      
        Canola and olive oils.  
       
        It seemed simple enough and further investigation lead me to see just how high these oils were in daily fat values, rich in monounsaturated and polysaturated fats, but pretty low in regular saturated fats. Plus, every tablespoon packs in 120 calories. Bingo. Here was a product that was cheap and I could easily mix to a number of shakes and recipes in the future. I ordered a protein mix I found on sale that contained plenty of good quality protein and calories, and vowed to make some killer shakes using my new knowledge.  
       
        Today, I dropped two tablespoons of canola oil into my green smoothie and hit blend. The shake did have that "vegetable" taste too it from the oil, so I put a spoonful of honey in the mix and a little dab of peanut butter to mask it. Success. The shake tasted good and with all the greens, my body would be absorbing what I needed and discarding (quickly) what wasn't. As I'm finishing this article, I'm downing the last of a peanut butter shake also containing two tablespoons of canola oil and flaxseed. Hopefully, I'll see some results with this new drink, especially when my powder comes in the mail. Before I can recommend this method of weight gaining for other "hard gainers" out there, I must first see what will happen a few weeks down the line. For this reason, drink canola oil at your own risk...Never thought I'd make a statement like that...
       
        I will continue doing some more research on the topic of ingesting these oils as I am doing. Keep in mind, these oils contain about 22% of your daily recommended fats, so ingesting lots of it, especially if peanut butter is involved, is bound to put it on you if you catch my drift. Proceed with caution. In the meantime, I will be observing and recording any changes, and will keep you updated through future posts. Cheers.  
        
       Stefan