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Nut Milk: How to make your own & recipe

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Why make your own nutmilk?

  1. Many store bought nut milk brands contain additives to prolong their shelf life and to help keep a consistent texture like carrageenan which is destructive to the digestive system and causes inflammation in your body. Carrageenan is hiding in many store bought nut milks, dairy-free ice creams and dairy products. For example, So Delicious is a popular brand in the dairy free world which has carrageenan in their nut milks and DF ice cream products.  Its safer to make your own nut milk (and nice cream-link to nice cream recipes) to avoid consuming additives.
  2. Making your own nut milk has a creamier texture and tastes better.
  3. Just like juicing, there is leftover pulp after milking your own nuts. Another reason to make your own Nutmilk is that there are multiple uses for the leftover nut pulp, which I get into below.image1(1)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups raw unsalted organic hazelnuts
  • 6 cups filtered of purified water
  • 2 tbsp local raw honey or manuka honey
  • 1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1) Soak raw hazelnuts and vanilla bean (if using bean and not extract) in filtered water for 8 hours.

2) Discard soaking water. Rinse the hazelnuts and the vanilla bean.

3) Place soaked hazelnuts, honey, vanilla bean and 6 cups of water in a blender. Cover and blend on high for 1-2 minutes. It will be milky and have a bit of foam on the top.

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4) Strain milk through a nut bag. I use Ellie‘s Best.They are good quality and BPA free. If you order from them, for 10% off, use Coupon Code: Deanna10 at checkout. They also have a free nut milk recipes E-book on their site.

5) Add raw cacao powder, cinnamon, banana to the Nutmilk and blend together. Note: I have seen people add the cacao/cinnamon before using the Nutmilk as well (in step 3).

  • I do not recommend using the cheesecloth, strainer or any other method. These methods are messy and require multiple passes to strain out the bits. Also, it is not as creamy as when I use a good nut milk bag.

What to do with leftover pulp?

  • Add it to smoothies or your morning oatmeal
  • Add it to dips, homemade granola, to the batter of your cookies or muffin
  • Make crackers
  • Dehydrate it and blend it to make almond meal
  • Add it to DIY cosmetics, Ex: body scrubs, face masks. See my DIY  Hazelnut Body Polish
  • Compost it.

Check out my Instagram @dshamptonorganics for more.


References

“Our Nut Milk Bag.” Ellie’s Best. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

Yang, Bo, Sumit Bhattacharyya, Robert Linhardt, and Joanne Tobacman. “Exposure to Common Food Additive Carrageenan Leads to Reduced Sulfatase Activity and Increase in Sulfated Glycosaminoglycans in Human Epithelial Cells.” Biochimie. U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.   Web here

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Hormone Balancing Body Scrub

What we put onto our body is just as important as what we put into our body. The epidermis, or skin, is the largest organ in the human body and everything we put on topically gets absorbed into our body. In today’s western society, many people have hormonal imbalance due to toxic environmental factors and the food we eat. There are many skin products on the market which also have ingredients that can disrupt your hormones.  Also, artificial hormones are given to beef and dairy cattle to make them grow faster. When we eat the meat or dairy from an animal, we are consuming vitamins as hormones or steroids that were fed to the animals, disrupting our endocrine system in our own body. This causes many health problems and disease when ingested over extended periods of time. Some (more intuitive) symptoms from hormonal disturbances include PMS, period cramps, breast tenderness, irregular periods (for women) hormonal acne and more.

This scrub is made with Ylang Ylang essential oil and Primrose Oil. Both help regulate the hormone balance in one’s body. Below I listed all of the ingredients. I also went into further depth of the benefits of Primrose Oil and Ylang Ylang.

Ingredients

  • Coconut Oil- 1 cup
  • Avocado Oil- 3 tbsp
  • Sea Salt- 1 cup (or until desired scrub texture)
  • Primrose Oil – 3 tbsp
  • Ylang Ylang Essential Oil- 10 drops
  • Citris Bliss Blend Essential Oil – 10 drops

Ylang Ylang:

  • Helps balance hormones
  • Promotes healthy skin and hair
  • lifts mood while having a calming effect

Primrose Oil:

Primrose oil, obtained from the seed of the evening primrose plant. This oil is best known to help balance out hormonal levels.

Hormonal Health: This helps with hormonal related problems including PMS symptoms like menstrual cramps, breast pain, acne, depression, irritability, unclear thinking or menopause disorder. Primrose could also help with Polycystic ovarian syndrom (PCOS) which is an endocrine disorder that could occur in women who are of reproductive age. This can impact a women’s fertility and could lead to ovary cysts, irregular menstrual cycles, acne and other irregular symptoms.

Evening primrose is a rich source of Omega-6 fatty acids, which is one of the main reasons it helps with hormonal function in the body. This includes gamma linolenic acid (GLA) which is essential for the proper functioning of the body. In particular, those who have lower levels of GLA are alcoholics and diabetes patients. This deficiency can cause rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and cardiovascular disease. Taking primrose can help with alcohol withdrawl. The human brain is prompted by GLA, which makes prostaglandin (a type of hormone). This helps in managing alcohol withdrawal symptoms like seizures and depression. It indirectly protects the nervous system and liver.

Skin Health: Evening primrose oil is considered the best remedy to cure eczema and many other skin-related problems. GLA, mentioned in the previous paragraph, a fatty acid content in this oil is essential for skin health. The oil is safe to apply to sensitive skin to help with skin hydration.  Primrose can also boost blood circulation, which prevents and treats tired looking skin and under the eyes when applied topically 2x a day. This oil also helps to nourish hair, scalp and nails.

For more, check my Instagram at @nychamptonshealth


References

“Evening Primrose Oil Treats PMS Pain & Infertility.” Dr. Axe, draxe.com/evening-primrose-oil/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

“Essential Oil Usage Guide A-Z.” Essential Oil Usage Guide A-Z, doterra-oil.blogspot.com/p/essential-oil-usage-guide-z.html. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.