About 60% of clients that I see are taking a prescription drug for depression or anxiety. Could our food supply be affecting our brain health? I KNOW so! It is not your fault for these low moods. We just need to start eating quality "food" rather than fill our stomach with "substance."
Certain foods make us feel better by boosting brain neurotransmitter levels such as serotonin and dopamine, and some foods make us feel terrible, one of which is trans fats. Trans fatty acids lead to biological changes that are linked not only to heart disease, but also to depression. Trans fats have a HUGE impact on LDL (bad) cholesterol which blocks blood flow to the brain. In the brain, substances secreted by inflammation interferes with neurotransmitters that affect mood.
This is for all of those Girl Scout cookie lover's out there who don't want trans-fat!
GIRL SCOUT THIN MINT Ingredients: Enriched flour, sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa, caramel color, contains 2% or less of cocoa processed with alkali, invert sugar, whey, leavening, cornstarch, salt, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavoring, oil of peppermint.
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1/4 cup Swerve (or Just Like Sugar )
1 egg
4 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp mint extract, divided
3 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
CHOCOLATE DIP:
2 TBS grass fed butter or coconut oil
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
10 TBS heavy cream
1/4 cup Swerve (or Just Like Sugar)
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and sweetener together. Add the egg, mint, salt, and baking soda to the bowl and blend well. Slowly add in the almond flour and the cocoa powder.
Make 1 inch balls using your hands, place on baking sheet and flatten ball to make a round cookie. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the start to brown along the edges. Remove from oven and cool the cookies completely before removing from the cookie sheet.
CHOCOLATE DIP: Place the butter and chopped chocolate in a double boiler (or in a heat safe dish over a pot of boiling water). Stir well until just melted (don't burn the chocolate!), add in the cream, and sweetener. Stir until smooth and thick. Use chocolate to dip the cookies (*Note: it works best to dip frozen cookies). Set on parchment paper to cool. Enjoy! Makes 32 servings.
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per cookie) =
Girl Scout Thin Mint = 160 calories, 22 carbs, trace fiber
"Healified" Thin Mint = 134 calories, 3.2 carbs, 1.6 fiber
Certain foods make us feel better by boosting brain neurotransmitter levels such as serotonin and dopamine, and some foods make us feel terrible, one of which is trans fats. Trans fatty acids lead to biological changes that are linked not only to heart disease, but also to depression. Trans fats have a HUGE impact on LDL (bad) cholesterol which blocks blood flow to the brain. In the brain, substances secreted by inflammation interferes with neurotransmitters that affect mood.
This is for all of those Girl Scout cookie lover's out there who don't want trans-fat!
GIRL SCOUT THIN MINT Ingredients: Enriched flour, sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa, caramel color, contains 2% or less of cocoa processed with alkali, invert sugar, whey, leavening, cornstarch, salt, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavoring, oil of peppermint.
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1/4 cup Swerve (or Just Like Sugar )
1 egg
4 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp mint extract, divided
3 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
CHOCOLATE DIP:
2 TBS grass fed butter or coconut oil
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
10 TBS heavy cream
1/4 cup Swerve (or Just Like Sugar)
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and sweetener together. Add the egg, mint, salt, and baking soda to the bowl and blend well. Slowly add in the almond flour and the cocoa powder.
Make 1 inch balls using your hands, place on baking sheet and flatten ball to make a round cookie. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the start to brown along the edges. Remove from oven and cool the cookies completely before removing from the cookie sheet.
CHOCOLATE DIP: Place the butter and chopped chocolate in a double boiler (or in a heat safe dish over a pot of boiling water). Stir well until just melted (don't burn the chocolate!), add in the cream, and sweetener. Stir until smooth and thick. Use chocolate to dip the cookies (*Note: it works best to dip frozen cookies). Set on parchment paper to cool. Enjoy! Makes 32 servings.
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per cookie) =
Girl Scout Thin Mint = 160 calories, 22 carbs, trace fiber
"Healified" Thin Mint = 134 calories, 3.2 carbs, 1.6 fiber
