Get through the holidays like a superhero with these 5 superfoods that will keep you healthy, strong, and ready for action!
The holiday season is full of superlatives. It’s a mix of super fun, super cozy, super exhausting and super stressful. And while we all know that (just like we do every year) we can and will get through all the festivities and come out the other end in the new year, what we all might not know is that there are some handy plant superfoods that can actually help us get through it super easily and healthfully. I’m here to share my top 5 super healthy holiday helpers.
Matcha
If anything is needed during the dark, busy, stressful holiday season, it’s energy. And if energy is what you’re after, matcha is what you need! Just like Rudolph the head reindeer who helps lead the gang to Christmas delivery success, matcha can help lead you to success by giving you a huge boost in energy. Matcha is a highly concentrated form of green tea powder (it’s literally just ground up green tea leaves), making it wildly high in caffeine. BUT! Matcha won’t leave you jittery like your jug of highly caffeinated coffee because it has these guys called “catechins” in it that slowly release the caffeine into our systems, so we get a steady stream of energy without the crash. Yes, matcha is as awesome as it sounds, and making yourself a matcha latte is a great idea.
Chia Seeds
Just like Santa probably eats a balanced dinner before going out to face the hordes of cookies, it’s wise for a holiday-party goer to only go to parties with a little something in their system and chia seeds are a great something to have in a holiday-party goer’s system. Chia seeds are ultra-high in fiber which means they can really fill you up (which means you’ll eat less pie at the party). Chia seeds are also high in vitamin C (great for keeping your immune system strong during the holiday shuffle and travel), potassium (great for bloating, hydration, and energy) and protein (great for filling you up!). What to do with chia? Toss them into a smoothie or turn them into a pudding!
Mushrooms
If any plant was made for the holiday season, it’s the not-so-glamorous mushroom. Mushrooms are adaptogens to the max, which means that they have the ability to help your body adapt to stressors. (Um, hello the entire time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s!) Mushrooms just give a buffer to your body. The mushrooms themselves don’t necessarily help you, but they do something even more important: they help your BODY help you! That’s talking about mushrooms as a whole. There are specific ones that do have specific super properties as well. Take reishi, for example, which can help you and your body significantly chill out during the day and sleep well at night. And there’s lion’s mane (which, no, doesn’t come from an actual lion’s mane) which can help with cognitive (brain) function and your nervous system. I also love to up my chaga mushroom consumption during the holiday season, as that’s the mega-immune-boosting shroom which is chock-full of antioxidants!
Cacao
Surely, you’re loading up on the chocolate treats during the festive gatherings (or festive movie watchings) so might as well be loading up on the highest quality superfood version of chocolate: cacao. Cacao is simply the raw, antioxidant-rich form of chocolate. It’s the healthy form of chocolate. It contains a ton of magnesium which helps keep you and your muscles relaxed, helps you have good bowel movements, and even helps you sleep well!
Sunwarrior Protein Powder
It may not technically be a superfood, but Sunwarrior’s plant-based protein gives me superpowers, and that can’t be argued. Protein is especially important around the holidays when we need the endurance to push a little harder at work to prepare to take time off, push a little harder at the gym to burn off those cutout cookies and push a little harder at home to keep it clean and organized for guests. Having EASY TO DIGEST protein is even more important because you don’t want your body to expend energy that it could be spending on gift wrapping, winter wonderland walking or holiday baking-and-then-digesting instead!
During the holidays, I love to add Sunwarrior to all of my smoothies, yogurts, and even baked goods to make all the food I consume give me even more long-lasting, steady energy. And here’s a high-protein gingerbread bread that’ll be sure to get you into the healthy holiday protein spirit!
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