Bad Coffee Makes You Weak

www.bulletproofexec.com - January 28th, 2013

Good coffee is magic.

It can promote brain function, memory, and energy levels.  It can serve as a massive source of antioxidants and is associated with all sorts of positive health outcomes.  Coffee can even effect your body and mind like Chi Gong exercises.  It can even help you build muscle without exercising. However, the wrong coffee can sap your health and hurt your performance.

When I started using espresso in college, I got the highest calculus grades of my life. However, I also had severe joint pain, jitters, anxiety, and (although I didn’t know it) I was about to get brain fog. Even bad coffee was an improvement for me then. But after I biohacked myself, I got used to feeling great.

The only problem is that I didn’t feel so great when I drink coffee anymore. Sure, I would get a caffeine driven burst of energy but then I would feel edgy, cranky, and often my joint pain would return. And when the coffee wore off, I was useless mentally.

I thought the negative effects were simply a compromise I would have to live with in order to enjoy coffee.  Strangely, I didn’t get these problems with every type of coffee.  When I traveled to Europe, I could more often enjoy coffee without any of the negative side effects. So I gave up coffee for 5 very long years.

After years of researching ways I could return to the hot, bitter arms of my great love (coffee, ahem), I finally uncovered the secret to my acute onset coffee malaise.

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Gluten Free Banana Crumble Cake

Cake:

2 cups gluten free flour blend

1 1/2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup coconut sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3 large ripe mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 350 F

Whisk all the dry ingredients. Combine all the wet ingredients including mashed bananas and add to the dry.

Pour into a greased round 9" cake pan. 

Crumble:

1/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour blend

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup cold, diced butter

Cut butter into the flour and sugar until it resembles crumbs. Scatter over the top of the cake.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a stick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Gluten Free Vanilla Raspberry Chocolate Cake

4 cups Mia's gluten free cake flour blend

4 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

2 teaspoons guar gum

1 1/2 cups powdered/icing sugar

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 cup milk

1 cup butter, room temperature

4 eggs, room temperature

2 cups dark chocolate chunks or chips

1 cup raspberry preserve

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well in between. Using a separate bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chunks.

Combine milk and yogurt in a small jug. Fold flour and milk mixture, alternately to the batter, making sure to start with flour end with flour.

Divide batter equally into two lined round cake pans (9"). Drop tablespoonfuls of the raspberry preserve randomly over the top of the cake and use a knife or the tip of a rubber to gently swirl preserve in a circular motion. 

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a stick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and put directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This process makes the cake lovely and moist.

Leave to cool completely in the pan.

Confused by Ingredients?

"More of us are reading labels than ever before. We look to see where our foods come from — China, or a farm 20 miles away? Do our foods contain trans fats, or is the sodium level, or sugars, too high?"

"There are ingredients we know and can easily identify — such as olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and sugar — but then there are those we can only guess at. With food allergies on the rise, it gets even trickier."

"Let’s start with what a “gum” is. According to the International Food Additive Council, food gums are “complex carbohydrates which are derived primarily from plants and used as thickeners, gel-forming agents and/or stabilizing agents in food.”

Read More from the Website Article: http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/food/4700344-423/shopping-smart.html