HEALTHY DISH

Light Summer Refresher

Take a break from hot weather with this antioxidant-packed, cooling treat.

BY JONNY BOWDEN, PHD, CNS, AND JEANNETTE BESSINGER, CHHC

Green tea, ginger, and mango—the combination sounds intriguing and tastes even better. The light ginger notes help showcase the creamy rich flavor of fresh mango, which is more like ice cream than a sorbet (especially if you put it in the freezer for a bit). This treat is a bone-builder if there ever was one, with polyphenols— the technical name for healthy plant compounds—from the green tea combined with antioxidants and minerals from the fruit.

For those who are watching their sugar intake, it’s perfectly possible to use erythritol or stevia to sweeten this recipe. In this version, Chef Jeannette decided to go with honey, about which I have a few things to say. I absolutely love the stuff, think it’s one of nature’s delicacies, and am happy that the real, local, cold-pressed, organic kind contains not just sugar, but quite a few healthy enzymes, minerals, and other components of “real” food.

But I’m also aware that it’s sugar, and that the body treats it as a sugar. So if you’re anywhere on the insulin- resistant spectrum—and 88 percent of us are—you might want to lose the honey and stick with erythritol.

I’ve tried this recipe both ways— with honey and with erythritol—and it’s delicious either way. It’s fresh and tropical, and you’ll find yourself swirling it around in your mouth before swallowing.

—Dr. Jonny

make it!

Gingered Mango and Green Tea Refresher

Serves 4

Dried mango is tough and leathery. It’s easier to use kitchen shears than a knife to snip it into pieces. For this recipe, loose tea leaves are preferable because there isn’t enough water for the required number of bags. If you have bags, tear them open and use just the leaves.

½ cup unsweetened dried mangoes, chopped 2 Tbs. loose green tea leaves (about 4 tea bags) ½ cup boiling water 2 Tbs. raw honey, to taste ¹/3 cup grated ginger, or more, to taste 3 cups ripe mango (about 4 fruits), peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks

1. In small bowl, cover dried mangoes with water and soak about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place tea leaves into mug and add boiling water. Set small plate on top to cover and steep 4 minutes. Remove plate and gently strain tea through double mesh sieve into small bowl.

3. Whisk in honey until completely dissolved. Squeeze grated ginger so that juice runs into tea. 4. Drain dried mango and place in food processor. Add fresh mango and process until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. 5. Pour prepared tea syrup into mango purée and process until smooth and well incorporated. 6. Eat immediately as a pudding, chill in fridge to thicken slightly and enjoy later, or run mixture though ice cream maker, following the factory directions.

Per serving: 160 cal; 2g prot; 0.5g total fat (0g sat fat); 39g carb; 0mg chol; 0mg sod; 3g fiber; 33g sugar

FEATURED INGREDIENT Green Tea

If you want just one fast takeaway about green tea that you probably won’t forget, here it is: Green tea could save your life. No kidding. In a study that followed more than 40,000 adults in Japan for 11 years, those who drank 5 or more cups of green tea each day were significantly less likely to die. Period.

But green tea’s resume goes even deeper and wider. It’s absolutely loaded with catechins, flavones, and flavonols, biochemicals that exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. Green tea also has a positive e ect on both diabetes and obesity. One particular compound in green tea—epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)— has shown remarkable promise for fat burning and is even sold in supplement form as a weight loss aid. It inhibits the proliferation of fat cells, increases fat burning, and even increases energy expenditure.

Green tea—and the cornucopia of polyphenols it contains—has long been associated with weight loss through a variety of mechanisms. One of these may be that green tea helps stimulate the production of brown fat, which is associated with fat burning in the human body.

For a long time, we’ve thought that amazing foods—green tea, broccoli, kale, red wine—did most of their work by being powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, and for the most part, that’s true. But now we’re finding that compounds such as green tea help the body at an even deeper level that can’t be explained by its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties alone.

Within just about every cell in the body are structures called mitochondria—ground zero for energy production, fat burning, and other metabolic processes. Green tea helps repair and strengthen mitochondria by activating mechanisms that force the cell to make protective enzymes that ultimately stimulate production of more mitochondria. And healthy, functioning mitochondria lead to a healthy metabolism, which leads to more energy, greater clarity, and even weight loss.

Note on ca eine: All the great studies on green tea were done on the ca einated version, and it’s worth noting that green tea drinkers rarely get the jitters that co ee drinkers do. That’s because green tea contains an amino acid called

L-theanine, which is one of nature’s great relaxers. It produces a sense of calm and focus that o sets the jittery e ects of ca eine.

Notes from the Clean Food Coach

If you want to freeze the pudding but don’t have an ice cream maker, pour it evenly into a deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with a layer of plastic wrap. Freeze 2–4 hours, depending on preferred consistency (2 hours will give you a slushier consistency, like a thick frappe, while 4 hours will give you a consistency more like a sorbet).

To serve, set the pie plate on the counter for about 5 minutes, until you can remove the mango. Break it into chunks with a heavy knife and process in food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds. If you refreeze processed portions, wait 10–15 minutes before serving.