**CROSS POST** That Sparkling Juice From Aldi’s…

(I posted this in my blog on CKD but... I know that a lot of people would enjoy this sparkling juice so I will share it here. The only person I've met that doesn't like this is one of my SILs. I think she has twisted tastebuds or something!) 

I know I have issues when something as simple as a beverage can cheer me up. Tonight, I ordered groceries from Aldi's just so I could get this deliciousness. 

Aldis Nature's Nectar
Sparkling Juices

I love this stuff so much that I want to dedicate this song to it.

Doesn't take much at all to make me happy. 

I tried this sparkling juice just once before and it was so yummy. The problem is, everyone else loves it as much as I do so it tends to sell out about 2 minutes after it hits the shelves. It's been on Instacart a few times since that first time but by the time I see it, every can is absolute ghost.

Tonight, I was in luck. I saw the juice while browsing Instacart for some pasta sauce and a few other groceries that I was only thinking about buying. Hah. I immediately threw together an order with that juice at the top of the list. When one of my favorite Instacart shoppers texted to say Aldis not only had that flavor but a bunch of variations, I told him to just grab what he could. 

The best thing about this juice is that it is not too CKD-unfriendly. As long as you don't go overboard... According to Cronometer, when I checked the minerals for one can...

(minerals) Nature's Nectar

Because the drinks are sweet, I find that I can drink half of one and save the rest for later. My sweet tooth has abated a lot in the past few years. Sometimes, I will empty the second half of the can into a glass of San Pellegrino - my other favorite drink when I'm craving bubbles and fizz.

(minerals) San Pellegrino plain

One can every four or five days is plenty. I haven't had soda pop in years and don't know how I ever drank so much Dr. Pepper and Coke. There are times though when I want something flavorful and bubbly. This juice hits the spot. It's sweet but not sickenly so. It's bubbly without having that irritating burn of some carbonated drinks.

Ever since my last thrilling doctor's appointment, I have had no trouble sticking to this eating regimen. It's keeping me healthy but, as the doctor reminded me, I can lighten up every now and then. She approved of my coffee drinks with the macadamia milk and she loves the Cronometer app that helps keep me on track.

Tonight, I am going to break my nothing-but-water-after-7 rule and have one of these drinks. I might even have a piece of cheese toast to go with it.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: By the way, when I couldn't find this particular juice a long while back, I looked for alternatives. I made the HUGE mistake of trying that over-hyped WTRMLN drink. All I can say about that is that it's great but only if you like the taste of rank watermelon rind water.

**REVIEW** Cascara (aka: Coffee Fruit Tea)

**UPDATE** I have CKD stage 3b. I have learned that that I have to be careful using this coffee product. As always, you should check with your medical care team before adding or trying anything new in your diet. Every healthy thing is not healthy for everyone. 

So, way back about this time last year, I was talking about coffee and some of the brands I like drinking black and sugar-free. Luzianne was my favorite for that but I haven't been able to find it lately. Well, I can find it all over Amazon but only if I want to use my entire grocery budget to pay for it.

Anyway. I'm not here to talk about regular coffee.

I might have mentioned it in that coffee post or in another of my rambles but the product I am talking about today is cascara - also known as coffee fruit and coffee fruit tea. So, coffee but not coffee the way most of us are used to it. Actually, cascara is the husk of the coffee bean. It kind of looks like extra-dry raisins.

It's an interesting thing, cascara. Nothing like coffee and nothing like any tea I've had. The taste of it is more of a fruity-syrupy-tasting beverage. As a matter of fact, I just realized that the taste reminds me a bit of raisin. Hmmm.

Hot or cold, the taste is about the same but I do prefer it cold. If I drink it hot, I am tempted to add honey to it for some reason.

As a beverage, it's referred to as cascara tea. Odd, right? Since it's the husk of the coffee bean. The husk is actually considered a "waste" product. Eat Cultured is more concise and precise, saying:

"Cascara, which translates as "husk" or "peel" in Spanish, refers to the outer husk of the coffee cherry that wraps around coffee beans. Since it's essentially the "fruit" of the coffee tree, it's also a valuable source of fiber and antioxidants." (source)

I am drinking the tea because of those antioxidants. I've been talking about ORAC values again recently and I am happy to say that cascara tea is the best-tasting thing I've tried from that list. 

By the way, this happens to be the brand I am trying. I ordered from Amazon but the coffee is from Twin Engine Coffee. 

They do have a Facebook page and they were super-responsive to questions and requests for info.

I think it's a shame that cascara has been getting tossed away all this time. We all ingest a lot of silly foods and beverages and we've been trashing something as ORAC-packed as cascara. Makes me wonder what all else has been going to needless waste...

Anyway, I have been replacing about half the daily coffee I drink with the cascara. I will either drink it cold and solo or add it to one of my sparkling waters. Last week I had a dry night-time throat so I sipped on some of the hot tea with raw honey before bed. It didn't keep me awake and it was soothing to my throat. 

One of the benefits I heard the tea offers is a mild laxative effect. I have not found myself with a huge change to my, er, movements but I do feel a bit more regular. I also pee a lot. That's because I tend to drink a lot of clear or sparkling water with the tea or after having some. I've read reviews where other people feel more of an energy boost.

I am always fairly fatigued, even on the best of my days, and I haven't noticed a prolonged boost of energy but I do seem to be a little more focused for a few hours after drinking a couple cups of tea. 

Now that I am used to having the tea as a staple, I am learning that the best way to prepare it is by soaking some beans overnight so that I have the drink on hand for the next day. This is not a brew-and-go tea. Even when steeping in hot water, it takes a while to get a decent cup. It's just easier for me to always have some soaking and ready to either heat up or drink cold.

It didn't come in that tacky jar.
I just wanted to show what it looks like

If I start noticing any better energy effects over time, I will update this post. Keep in mind that the drink might be more energizing to someone with more normal health.

The price of the tea is reasonable and I am sure that as I shop around, I will find even better prices. One thing I plan to do is to dry the remains of the used husks and dry grinding them to add to smoothies. I want to get every last bit of use from the tea.

Until I have an update, that's it for now.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: Since I wrote the draft of this post a few weeks ago, I do have an update. I have been baking a lot of bread and have a couple of times added the liquid from the tea in place of water. Results are not bad.

I hope the post makes sense. I went back in and added a little info and photos just now so. Please forgive any errors.

You Hearda Yerba?

I'm a coffee fanatic. Love my java. I probably drink too much, but I usually back off when I start feeling my blood flowing through my body.

A long while back, I noticed something new in the coffee/tea section of the local health food store. Of course, once you spot something new, you start seeing it everywhere. That's they way it was with this tea:

Yerba Mate tea

                                           
Tea is another favorite of mine - green tea, black tea, chamomile and honey, Chai and, sometimes, even lemon tea (so I can add a little whisky for, uh, medicinal purposes)... When I saw the Yerba Mate (especially this particular brand) at the local Carrs/Safeway store, I decided to check it out online first. I actually asked some friends about it, but no one I knew had tried it yet.

This is what I learned about Yerba Mate in general:

• It's a traditional South American beverage.
• It's a tea (I thought it was coffee at first)
• It comes from a plant in the Holly family (not Buddy, just a plant)
• It's supposed to have various health benefits, but...
• ... frequent and prolonged intake is associated with some cancers

On the one hand, I was thinking: Well, damnit! On the other hand, I guess it's like anything that tastes or feels good: it's all about control and moderation. From what I had read here about the taste, I didn't think I was going to be overdoing it.

Coffee is my main squeeze, so I decided to just flirt a little with Yerba Mate. I picked this one because of the labelling:

I went over to the Guayaki site to learn more, and there's quite a nice (and very idealist kind of) story behind the brand and its founders.

For me, the taste was going to be the main thing. At first. Then I realized that, just as I do with lots of other healthy stuff, I could probably just add the Yerba to my coffee. That's what I do with coconut oil, tumeric, nutmeg, and cinnamon. With the Yerba Mate, I steep a bag of the tea dang near overnight, then I just add a little to my coffee throughout the day. Coffee masks the taste of just about anything, so I couldn't tell what Yerba tasted like on its own until last night.

When I drink a hot cup of the Yerba, I mix in some of my Almond Joy creamer. The taste, in my opinion, is like a nutty-flavored coffee. Maybe I'm doing the brewing wrong, but it's actually weaker than a rich black tea. If the flavor of Yerba is icky, my creamer must mask that. I like it. I still prefer adding it to my coffee.

What I figured out from looking at the Guayaki site is that I can get the Yerba in different packaging: cans, bags, bottles, loose leaf, and even in energy shots. For now, I'm okay with the tea bags.

As far as how this tea makes me feel, I have to say that the energy I get is much the same as from coffee (maybe a blonde roast coffee), but there are laxative effects. It's decent stuff, and I'll probably be drinking it off an on (you know, to keep down any risks to health).

Last thing to mention is that I noticed lots of info about using Yerba Mate for weight loss. From what I have read so far, that is a minimal thing and, like most other plans, depends a lot on a person's overall diet and exercise regimen.

Raising my cup of Yerba (and coffee) to you.

Peace
--Free

UPDATE:

I've been drinking the tea (a bag in my coffee) a couple times a day for the past week. What I notice at this point is I do feel more focus, but my energy level is still about the same (kind of low). I also notice the mild laxative effect of the tea. The biggest effect that the tea is having is on my appetite. I'm not a big eater anyway (just lots of soups and maybe a flatbread/turkey sandwhich for lunch), but I now have to remind myself to eat. Since this is not a bad thing, in my opinion, I've just added more kale and other greens to my diet and cut back some on the soups. Another thing that I need to do is keep up my water intake. The Yerba seems to satisfy my cravings for anything I normally ingest. I will try to update again later on what weight loss benefits (if any) I experience.

***REVIEW* Mama Chia Vitality Beverage

Was up way too late last night (2am) and made a store run for something to drink. Water just wasn't going to do it for me and coffee is the whole reason I was probably so wired in the first place.

Picked up two things: some chai  and coconut milk (that I will review later) and this right here -

Mama Chia "Vitality Beverage"

I found the "Seed Your Soul" a little cheesy-sounding ~shrug~

The name is cool. Mama Chia.

I was thinking about picking up some Naked Juice or Pom, but the seeds in this drink are what caught my attention. And I love the flavors of coconut and mango - blended or separate.

Of course, the older I get, the more interested I become in diet and nutrition. If I can only tolerate but so many calories a day, they better either do my body good or make my mouth happy. So, I checked out the label:

Didn't taste like 14 grams of sugar, but what do I know?

And then I checked the hype on the label - just like I checked the hype on Naked before they got busted for exaggerating. (I hope you got your claim filed before the deadline. I did.)

They keep their claims pretty verifiable

Not bad - if true. (Damn you, Naked. You ruined my innocent belief in liquid miracles. Wine: you're still safe.)

When I paid $3.00 for the 10 zo bottle (I saved $0.99 with my store savings card), I was thinking "there goes a whole case of water." Since I just refill water bottles with tap for a couple weeks, I wasn't too mad.

The very first taste of this is... odd. Hard to describe. It has a very faint taste of sweetness. The texture is what threw my mouth for a loop. Sort of slippery-feeling - not slimey, just slick-ish. The seeds are gel-covered. With the second mouthful, I chewed to see how the seeds would be. They just cracked under the  bite, but still had no real taste. Maybe their natural taste is covered by the flavoring in the drink.

By the third or fourth mouthful, I found myself neither in love or repelled (repulsed?). Halfway through the bottle, I was okay with the taste. It's not bad, but I wish the flavors were more pronounced. (Listen to me, sounding like a expert!)

+Ben Johnson on G+ told me that he's tried the cherry flavor. I might go for that the next time. For now, I'm not feeling the urge to run out and get more but, if I'm ever wandering the store with an extra three bucks - well, maybe.

As for the claims made on the label, I have to give them points for keeping it simple. Of course, I've heard other things about chia seeds, such as how they provide appetite control and support weight loss. I headed over to WebMD to see what they had to say.

First, I'm no professional. Do your own research so that you don't have a health or other problem.

Now, since there are warning's I've seen, it's good to know that "chia seeds" are known by other names:

• Chia as a Fresca, grain, oil, seed, sprout
• Germe de Chia
• Graine de Salba
• Huile de Chia
• S. Hispanica
• Salba Grain
• Salvia hispanica
• Salvia Hispanica L

Some of the chia seed hype that's trending is that it According to WebMD, there's "insufficient evidence" for any positive effect of chia seeds on diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and "other conditions."

LiveStrong details the nutritional benefits of ingesting chia seeds.

By the way, I started this post day before yesterday. I didn't finish the entire Vitality drink. When I pulled it out this morning to finish it for breakfast... I'm not sure if it's because it's so much colder than when I first tasted it, but I definitely don't like the texture. It seems a little bit more gummy. Ugh. I'm going to let that sit out for a little while before I finish it off.

Of course, everything comes down to personal taste. As to how the drink made me feel, I didn't notice a huge difference in energy, but that may be because I didn't finish the bottle. One thing I can say is that, unlike after drinking coffee, soda or, on rare occasions, an Rockstar/Monster- type drink, I didn't feel like I needed to gulp down a gallon of water. ~shrug~

If you do get this beverage, try finding it on sale. $3 bucks or more is sort of pricey - especially if you fall in love with it and want more.

Now, I'm going to grab a good old cup of java and go smack the day around.

Peace
--Free