For almost two years now I have been drinking a “drink”, elixir, or concoction or whatever you want to call it.  I came across a recipe in a Naturopathic Column in a newspaper.  The syndicated column is written by Joe and Teresa Graedon who also  have a website: www.peoplespharmacy.org.  The recipe was sent in by a reader, Lisa, as “Lisa’s Weight Lose Elixer”.  I read through the ingredients and research has shown that most of them have rock solid proven benefits for us.  I thought I’d make the drink and give it a try – for a month.  In order to see the benefits of any regiment, one has to give it a sizable time period and be diligent.   So, I mixed up the recipe as printed:

“Put five decaffeinated green tea bags in 5 cups of water and bring to a full boil.  Let steep 5 minutes, remove and discard tea bags.

Add 2 level tablespoons baking soda and stir (tea will foam).  Add ⅓ cup ground cinnamon and stir briefly.  Cover and let steep.

Cool the tea and move it to the refrigerator.  Allow it to settle for at least two days.  Then pour off and save the liquid and discard the solids (unless you know a 10-year-old who needs a science-fair project on slime with attitude).

Add one packet Certo Liquid Pectin, ½ cup cider vinegar, ½ cup lime or lemon juice, 5 cups unsweetened juice (any combination of pomegranite, black or sour cherry, sugar free cranberry or grape) and add ⅓ to ½ cup Splenda to taste.  Stir.  Keep refrigerated.  Drink ⅓ cup before each meal or snack.  Lisa avoids high-glycemic foods (white stuff like sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice).  She suspects that this works for her because she is insulin-resistant and cautions that it might not work as well for others.  Insulin resistance may contribute to excess weight.”

Over time the recipe has changed for me because I’ve tweaked it for the better.

Ingredients for your Good Health

Before making the elixir you will need:

• 4 empty liter bottles with caps (I use empty glass bottles with snap-on Zyliss stoppers)

• A ½ gallon jug with a lid (I use a ½ gallon Mason Jar)

• An EXTRA large mixing bowl

• 5 decaffeinated Green Tea Bags

• 3 True Cinnamon Sticks (or ⅓ cup ground cinnamon)

• 2 T Baking Soda

• One 3-ounce Sachet Liquid Fruit Pectin

• ½ Cup Lemon or Lime Juice

• 1 Cup Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

• 5 Cups 100% Varietal of any of any combination Cranberry/Blueberry/Cherry/Pomegranate Juice (no other added juices ie grape, pear, apple)

Here’s how you make my version:

Boil 6 cups water; take your ½ Gallon Jar and drop in 5 decaffeinated Green Tea Bags, pour the 6 cups of boiled water into the jar with the tea bags.  Let steep for minimum of 5 minutes until lukewarm.  Remove tea bags, add two tablespoons of baking soda and ⅓ cup True Cinnamon (I take three True Cinnamon Sticks and grind them in my spice mill), cap the jar and put in the refrigerator to settle and infuse for a minimum of 2 days.

Step One of PH Balance Good Health Drink will look like this

Two or more days later, grab your Extra Large Bowl, take the jar from the refrigerator and pour off the liquid into the bowl.  Toss out the muck at the bottom.  (Wash the jar and make the tea/baking soda/cinnamon base again to put in the refrigerator so it will be ready for next batch.)  To the liquid, add a 3-ounce sachet of liquid fruit pectin (found in the grocery store by the canning supplies).  Then, add a ½ cup of lemon or lime juice (it will foam up – a lot – hence the extra large bowl).  Next add 1 cup of raw organic apple cider vinegar (it’s better tasting than regular).  It will foam up even more.  Add the unsweetened fruit juices.  Don’t use any that are “blends” or “cocktails”.  Use only 100% of the fruit.  Don’t use any blended with pear juice, white grape juice, or apple juice – they’re too high in sugar.  I use a cup each of only 100% pure cranberry, pomegranate, blueberry, cherry, and açai berry (10% cane sugar).  You can use any combination or just one of them.  The foaming with eventually will settle down.  Grab a funnel and fill the .750 ML bottles (it will fill 3 ½ or so bottles).  Drink ⅓ cup of the elixir with every meal and snack.  I eat 5 snacks/meals a day so I have a cup and ⅔ every day.  I went to The Container store and found some small leak-proof plastic bottles and I carry it with me wherever I go.  If I have a snack, go out to lunch/dinner, or am a guest at someone’s house for a meal – I bring it with me.

Finshed Bottles of Good Health PH Balance Drink

Enough for today!  Next post will tell how I make it when I travel . . .

Happy Tripping,

Carter

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 6:52 pm and is filed under fitness, Food, health, Healthy Eating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.