My Low-Glycemic Experiment (w/ bonus cacao shake recipe!)

When I saw Christian Bates‘ low-glycemic Superfood smoothie demo at the Santa Barbara Raw Spirit Festival in June 2009, I was struck by the possibilities of eating a lower sugar diet. I was in the front row watching the demo, every move on how to create a *super* delicious smoothie that wasn’t loaded with bananas, dates, and agave.  My mouth was watering and I was in total awe after tasting the low-glycemic Superfood cacao smoothie. It was out of this world – and he made it seem relatively easy! Although the process of making the smoothie seemed a bit more complex and time-consuming, I realized a new world was opening up to me – just like when a cooked foodie begins to eat raw, a new world emerges.

I never thought I could get through a day without a banana – how freakin’ weird is that?! My smoothies (shakes, blendies.. whatever you want to call them!) always had 1 (typically 1 frozen banana) and I was certain I couldn’t create a good consistency without this hybridized fruit. I was sooo wrong… now my drinks are beyond heavenly when before they were already pretty off the hook! It’s really exciting to share this new nutritional approach with you because if it could work for me (I thought it was impossible, no fun, and extreme – just months ago!), it can work for you. Start with making just 1 smoothie a day (w/ healthy sweeteners) and let that be the beginning of eating the lower-glycemic way.

Low-Glycemic Sweeteners: To sweeten smoothies, and elixirs use organic stevia extract powder (the NOW brand is the only organic source we know of), xylitol (start with small amounts & let your belly get used to it) and agave inulin (this may give you the toots though, so be mindful of how much you put in – test it first to feel your reaction!).

Make a Nut Mylk: choose any of all of: Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, raw almonds, coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds (I use teeny amounts, if ever any, of sesame and sunflower – I prefer the others – soaked and dehydrated IF you can). If you know how to make a nut mylk, great – if not, look for a post (next post!) titled ‘How-To Make Smooth, Delicious & Balanced Nut Mylks’.

This is the liquid base for your drink. Now add (to your Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender) your Superfoods (raw chocolate powder, maca powder, camu camu/vitamin C powders, blue green algae, MSM powder, beauty elixirs or herbal tinctures, etc, etc, etc)… and sweeteners of choice. If you’re not vegan, try local raw honey, yet knowing that this is not on the low-glycemic protocol – however, it’s a healing choice in comparison to agave. If you do use agave, use CLEAR agave and not the other crap (agave that’s been cut with high fructose corn syrup & labeled as ‘raw agave nectar’) on the market! No bananas, dates or agave needed. This kind of a smoothie has a thinner consistency, is ultra-smooth going down, and easy to master once you’ve played around with it a few times.

Thank the cacao Goddesses I went to the festival even though I had last minute plans to cancel. Gatta love destiny and how the Universe works to your favor! I now am blessed with more level, less erratic moods (thanks to much less sugar), an alchemical approach to health mastery, and the love of my life!

Christian and I will be making videos at our home chocolate factory and sharing them with you on the Edible Goddess blog, our Facebook pgs and YouTube (our own videos coming SOON). We get asked often if we’ll share the decadent smoothies and desserts that we create – of course we will! Expect to see plenty of ridiculously fun videos (educational, too!), blogs and eBooks like you’ve never seen before in the upcoming weeks and months. Cheers to cultivating the best health ever!