Product Review: Mila by Lifemax

It's gluten–free, trans–fat free, and sugar–free. It's also high in fiber and high in protein (24.4g for 100g) and contains more than considerable amounts of omega 3s (8 times more than Salmon), calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, selenium, phosphates, and antioxidants. And last but not least: it's very easy to prepare and to eat.

I tried Mila (a mixture of Salvia hispanica L. seed) for a month, eating a scoop daily, and observed 4 things I found worth noting: 

Smarter Sugar Recipe: Sticky Toffee Pudding

Every time I go back to England I have to have this dessert: it's spongy, gooey and crispy all at once, soft, warm, sublet and definitely not bland. Since I moved to London I decided it was time I learned how to make it, and realized that compared to many other cakes (think angel food, pound cake, cup cakes), sticky toffee isn't that harmful: for one thing, it's free of refined sugar, and is instead sweetened with golden sugar and minced dates (for more info on sugar check out my Halloween blog on palm sugar). In a nutshell, it has a high sugar content, but it's high fiber, and more nutritious , digestible, and mineral rich than refined sugar based desserts.

The butter used for it is unsalted, so yes it still contains plenty of saturated fats, but at least it'll be lower in sodium (beware cakes demanding salted butter!).

Before I give you my recipe, let's remind outselves it's still a treat and best made on a Sunday and eaten no more than once/twice a week!

A Healthier Nutrient Pack Sugar for the Best Halloween Treats...fudge recipe included

Sugar is the fuel of our energy but as any fuel, too much is hurting and it's the quality of the product that makes or breaks our performance.

All my life I explained to not use sugar substitutes but high quality cane sugar and organic and unadulterated raw honey from a defined origin, in limited quantity.

The search for a high quality organic sugar made Palm sugar the new darling of the natural food market, due to its very low glycemic index at 35 when sucrose is 65, its high nutritional content, and its original taste.

My first experience with Palm Sugar took me back decades, to the “Fondants”  from m childhood. Fondants are French candies with the same texture due to an identical preparation from premium quality cane sugar  sirup. These candies possessed an exquisite aroma, flavored with flowers,  moka coffee or fruit spirits.

Palm sugar is used in countries whose population tend to be lean, such as Thailand, India, Java, China, and Malaysia.

How to keep warm while not turning into the incredible cake monster

Whether you're in the US, Canada, France, England....to name a few, the season's probablygetting cold and rainy (especially if you're in New York and London, that I can vouch for!). 

Getting out from under that cosy duvet is getting increasingly challenging each day, and you've started to press the snooze button a bit more often. And when you're up, you're stiff from your ankles to your neck, and you're cold. Same thing as you go you home after a long day or running around too much, or sitting too long at your desk. Cold bones, stiff muscles. And the ideal cure is....

My idea cure for a long time was a lovely hot chocolate or latte with whipped tea on top, and a nice slice of cake, a cupcake, shortbread, truffles, you name it. I'd get up to a hot breakfast with tea, and get home to a hot chocolate and cake. But my joints and muscles still ached, I was only warmed up for 30 minutes, and by Halloween I would already have gained six pounds...on a good year. Worse, my energy level would drop and I would need more and more cakes and hot chocolate to give me that boost and keep me warm.

So I stopped and tried something else which I will now share with you:

Morning routine:

As soon as you're awake in the morning, roll out of bed (literally if you have to) and stretch: neck rolls, cobra, child's pose, downward dog, hip rolls, ankle rolls, knee rolls, wiggle your toes, don't forget your hands, and massage your face, scalp and ears.  This will get your blow flowing and soothe tense areas. It'll warm you up a bit already.

Second, get yourself a caffeine-free hot drink: this will warm you up and hydrate you at the same time.  Mixing warm water and lemon juice with a teaspoon honey or maple syrup is great.  Herbal teas such a South African red tea, nettle, clover, or mint are also wonderful. Eat a spoonful of bee pollen and/or raw cacao nibs with it, and before your typical breakfast, go move 10-30 minutes. Do pilates, Tai Chi, aerobics, dance, go for a run, bike, swim, whatever you prefer. By the time you're done you'll be warm, energized, and ready to begin your day.

Then, throughout the day, make sure you stay hydrated: if you crave a hot drink, prefer low or no caffeine hot drinks to the caffeinated ones, and try to avoid the ones who are high in sugar and fat (let's discuss them again once it's REALLY cold). I suggest green tea, red tea, oolong and herbal teas of your liking. Make sure you also drink plenty of still water, which you might want to start drinking at room temperature.

Spicier habits will help you keep warm too: dishes cooked with chilies, cayenne, ginger, garlic, onions will all do the trick. Balancing them with fermented foods (helps us keep hydrated and build a string immune system through their active live cultures) is a smart addition: raw kymchee, kefir, yoghurt, kombucha, sauerkraut...all great.