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Super Healthy Coffee and Delicious ‘Fat-Burning’ Chocolate Pudding Recipe
Most people don’t think of it as a ‘health drink’, and it’s certainly NOT healthy the way most people make it, but I’ll give you my tips here on how I make a healthier cup of coffee and what to watch out for…
First, you may have seen debate in the past about how brewed coffee has some compounds in it that could have negative health effects such as some tars or other possibly inflammatory compounds. But, the good news is that coffee has such high concentrations of beneficial antioxidants, phenolic nutrients, chlorogenic acids, and other healthy compounds, that it more than counteracts any bad compounds.
In fact, coffee provides the biggest source of antioxidants for most Americans. Although a lot of that has to do with the fact that many Americans don’t get enough antioxidants from fruits and veggies, so coffee ends up being their biggest source.
So what’s the best way to make a healthy cup of coffee?
Well, here’s my three most important tricks to maximize the benefits of coffee and minimize the negatives:
1. First of all, you need to AVOID adding any refined sugar or harmful artificial sweeteners. What I do instead is use either a very small touch of organic maple syrup or a half packet of natural stevia to just lightly sweeten my coffee. If you like your coffee black with no sweetener at all, that’s the healthiest way.
If you’re getting your coffee at a coffee shop, make sure to avoid all of those fancy specialty coffees (sweetened flavored lattes, frappuccinos, etc) as they are almost ALWAYS loaded with extra sugars or artificial sweeteners. Some of those fancy coffee drinks at Starbucks or other coffee shops can have 300-400 calories in just one coffee! Definitely not good for your body or your blood sugar or insulin levels.
A latte or cappucino can be okay as long as you make sure to ask for it unsweetened, and then use your own stevia if you need a light sweet taste.
2. Try to AVOID at all costs any artificial creamers (liquid or powder), which are usually made with corn syrup solids and hydrogenated oils (harmful trans fats). Instead, use a little bit of REAL full-fat cream (organic grass-fed if you can find it, as the CLA in grass-fed cream is very healthy).
Or, better yet, what I’ve been using for a while now is coconut milk/cream as one of the healthiest creamer alternatives. I get this by buying cans of organic coconut milk, after opening the cans I store the coconut milk in the fridge in a container. Note that the cans of coconut milk are much creamier and better as a coffee creamer than those cartons of ‘coconut milk drink’ which are just watered down coconut milk.
The thick creamy coconut milk is the healthiest option for coffee creamer because it’s loaded with super healthy saturated fats called medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are known to boost your immune system and your metabolism! Plus, coconut milk in coffee is just plain delicious! It’s the best healthy creamer option by far.
When people visit and we make a pot of coffee, I’ll have them try the coconut milk/cream in their coffee and almost everyone always comments how much they love it!
3. If you want to load your coffee up with more healthy antioxidants and good taste, consider adding some cinnamon to your coffee (cinnamon can help control blood sugar and has many other health benefits). It’s also really tasty in coffee!
I also sometimes like to add a teaspoon of organic cocoa powder (non-sweetened) to my coffee to make my own sort of mocha coffee (but without the loads of sugar in a typical mocha you’d get at the coffee shop).
The added cocoa powder also gives you great taste and a good dose of extra healthy antioxidants (and cocoa is also known for helping to lower blood pressure!)
4. Lastly, it’s extremely important to choose organic coffee beans, as conventional coffee is one of the most heavily treated crops with pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Remember that one of the many health risks with these chemicals is that some pesticides can act as ‘xenoestrogens’ in your body, disrupting hormone balance for both men and women.
Chronic xenoestrogen exposure can also be one cause of ‘stubborn abdominal fat’ in both sexes as well as ‘man boobs’ in men… so choose organic as often as you can with most foods, but especially with coffee!
Try this delicious fat-burning chocolate pudding
I always look for ways to make seemingly unhealthy foods into healthy fat-burning versions, and today I want to show you my recipe for an amazingly healthy fat-burning chocolate pudding that’s high in fiber, healthy fats, protein, and low in sugar, with ZERO artificial sweeteners and NO added sugars!
I know… I’m like a mad scientist with this stuff. But I actually got the idea for this recipe from Mens Fitness magazine… however, I changed it all around because I didn’t like some of their ingredients, plus their recipe was too high in sugar in my opinion…and I added more protein and healthy fats.
Some of the ingredients may sound weird for a ‘pudding’, but trust me, everybody I know that’s tried this has loved it!
(This recipe will make 2 – 4 servings and is a great healthy dessert or late night snack)
- 1/2 of a ripe avocado (soft to touch)
- approx 3 tablespoons of almond butter (preferably raw if possible)
- approx 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk (preferably organic)
- 2 heaping tablespoons of organic cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1 packet of stevia (or enough to your desired sweetness level)
- 1/2 to 3/4 of a scoop of chocolate protein powder (my new favorite protein)
- just a small pinch of sea salt
Put the avocado and almond butter into a bowl and mash together with a fork until smooth. Then add all of the other ingredients into the bowl and mix together vigorously until all is mixed and smooth. If you’re good with a food processor, you can use that too, but I just mash everything together by hand.
If everything went right, the consistency will be similar to pudding… except normal pudding makes you FAT with loads of sugar! My healthy pudding recipe will actually HELP you to burn fat and control cravings, and will also satisfy your body’s need for micro-nutrients, protein, healthy fats, and fiber.
If the pudding ends up too thick, simply add a bit more almond milk or coconut milk for more moisture until the consistency seems right.
If you want to get a little wild and add some more nutrient-rich additions, feel free to add some chopped pecans, chia seeds, rice bran, or walnuts at the end. And it tastes great to top this dish with some sliced strawberries.
