Quickies

My world has become crunched in the fist of time. Still I'd like to take a few minutes to share with you what I've been consuming lately. After all, that's why I started this blog in the first place.

Back in September, I decided to focus on improving my digestion. Here are some little tricks and gems I discovered on the path to a clean healthy gut.

Cayenne Pepper and Ginger Tea

Okay. Hear me out. I've been listening to a slew of herbal podcasts lately. What I learned: Cayenne, as well as ginger, cardamom, tumeric and coriander are FANTASTIC for digestion. Most people think that peppery spices cause IBS. According to the peeps at Herb Mentor Radio, that's not true. Peppers and spices help increase the amount of acid in our stomachs. More acid means better digestion. There is a difference between too much (Irish whiskey plus 3-alarm chili) and too little (farts).

My cayenne pepper tea contains soothing ginger and is sweetened with stevia and licorice root. It's a spicy sweet tea. I love it - so warming and wonderful as the weather gets colder.

Trader Joe's Whole Grain Drink

TJ's calls this a drink. But it's thick and milky and delicious. Made with amaranth and quinoa, this stuff has much more dick to it than rice milk. It holds up nicely in tea, coffee, and cereal. It's also very gentle on the guts. Recently I read that soy can aggravate gut problems. So this grainy drink has been my new substitute. Interestingly, I've completely lost my taste for soy milk.

Here Comes the Sun Dressing

Fats, I realized, are a huge part of my digestion problem. Whole nuts and seeds have been killing me. The only reason I keep eating them is because they are healthy and I love them. They are such a stress reliever too! Nothing beats the crunch-crunch-crunch of pecans and cashews in my mouth.

So I took the nuts off my salad. (HA!) I replaced them with Here Comes the Sun dressing.


I discovered this in an attempt to create a gluten-free version of my favorite Woodstock Dressing by Annie's Naturals. It's tahini, lemon, nutritional yeast, salt, evoo, and almond milk. No, I didn't write down the amounts. Usually about half a lemon for each tablespoon of tahini works well. Then pour and taste. Make it different every time; make it taste better every time.

Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness

I dream of the day that I can afford to buy Bolthouse smoothies on a regular basis. Green Goodness and Veg are my two favorites. They are filling and so tasty. Both give you enough Vitamin C to knock the swine out of your flu. The Green Goodness is packed with spirulina, which gives you protein and regulates the bacteria in your guts. Some of their other smoothies, like the chocolate hazlenut, contain sugar. I don't touch those. But their all-veg and all-fruit smoothies are well worth five bucks a bottle.

Dandy Blend

Want to quit drinking coffee, but not quit drinking coffee? Dandy Blend is amazing. With a little non-dairy milk, it tastes just like a latte from Starbucks. It also contains lots of nutrients and minerals. Dandelion is well known for promoting healthy liver functions. I've often neglected it, thinking: Who cares about my liver? Well, the brilliant Ed Smith of Herb Pharm pointed out on his podcast, HerbalEd, that a sign of an unhealthy liver can be the inability to digest fats. So, yeah. Tone me up!

And about that tincture...

It's friggin' awesome. When I remember to take it, my IBS completely disappears. I can digest foods like I did when I was a kid. This is not your kid's tummy medicine though. This particular tincture has alcohol in it. It definitely makes me feel a little buzzed after I take it. But whatever. I never complained about feeling buzzed before. Bring on the alky and bring on the food. A couple drops of this stuff and I'm healed.

For those of you interested in tinctures, not all of them are made with alcohol. Check out companies like Simplers and Herb Pharm to see about non-alcoholic varieties. Use me as your guinea pig. I'm proof. The stuff can work and it can be safe for you.

On that note, I hope to be back again soon - with a massive blog about herbs.