Amla Berry Energy Balls with Ginger and Flax

🌟 Spiced Amla & Date Energy Balls

Looking for a snack that does more than just beat the afternoon slump? This recipe combines the legendary antioxidant power of **amla powder** (Indian gooseberry) with a zesty kick of ginger, sweet dates, and creamy cashews.

They taste like a rich, spiced cookie dough—but they are 100% raw, vegan, and packed with cellular defense. 

Learn about AMLA and cholesterol, also there are currently 245 results in nutritionfacts.org for a search of amla (also here you can see a link to the HNTD documentary at the top). Preview of video: reduced cholesterol, arterial stiffness, and inflammation (CRP cut in half!).

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Equipment: Food processor

Yield: About 24 bites

🛒 Ingredients

1 cup Raw cashews

⅔ cup Pitted dates (if they're on the drier side, soak them in hot water for 5 minutes first!)

⅓ cup Ground flaxseed (ground required for nutrient absorption)

1 tbsp Amla powder (your daily dose of Vitamin C & antioxidants)

1 tsp Ground ginger (for a warm, digestive-boosting kick)

🥣 Instructions

Add the cashews, dates, flaxseed, amla powder, and ground ginger to your food processor. Process on high until the mixture starts clumping together into a cohesive dough. If it feels a little too dry to roll, add a teaspoon of water. Scoop out tablespoon-sized portions and roll them smoothly between your palms. Enjoy!

Tip: Put dough in plastic bag and form balls from outside the bag. Also, crumbly mixture is great stirred into oatmeal before or after cooking oats.

Why this Combo Works

Amla powder is naturally quite tart and slightly bitter. Blending it with sweet, caramelly dates and rich cashews completely balances the flavor, leaving you with a delicious, zesty treat that supports radiant skin and immune health!

Comment below or on FB if you whip up a batch of these superfood gems! 🌿✨

Try other Laraball (energy ball) flavors! Many flavors

Where to buy Amla Powder? Here is an option if you live on the eastside of Cleveland: Lakshmi Plaza. Otherwise, look for your local Indian food Grocer, or find on Amazon. Be sure to purchase as a food, especially on Amazon, rather than as a supplement/extract/capsule. Oddly, the product from our local shop was labeled as a supplement, even though it is clearly a food in powder form.

This is a great product I've purchased from Amazon: Amazon.com : Organic Amla Powder - 1.1 lbs or 17.54oz | Amalaki, USDA Organics, Non-GMO, Kosher, Halal - 100% Raw and Natural, by SHOPOSR : Everything Else 

(notice the label provides "Nutrition Facts" and it is an organic product)

New Nutrition Guidelines!

I have been anxiously waiting a whole year for this final document! The day after a lawsuit from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the guidelines were finally published! Thank you, PCRM!

2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have a few exciting changes:

1) The guidelines recommend that all Americans consume as little cholesterol as possible. Since cholesterol is only found in animal foods, this is a wonderful piece of advice for those promoting a whole foods, plant based way of eating!

2) Boys and men are warned to consume less protein. Should I repeat this? Males should eat less protein! Since men and boys get most of their protein from meat, this sounds like another impressive recommendation to eat fewer animal foods. It should be a relief as well, since this population is always especially worried that they aren't getting enough. 

3) Among the still present dairy recommendation (boo!), soy milk is listed within the category (yay!). I really owe you, my readers, an article about this. For now, I will leave you with one aspect, bone health. Among people across the world, taking into account many studies (meta analysis), the people in countries who consume the least amount of dairy, experience the fewest fractures. There are countries all in between that follow the same relationship, as dairy consumption rises, so too does bone fracture! The people in countries who consume the most dairy have the highest rates of bone fracture.

I was going to give you a visual of this, but instead I will just show you a Google image search for "milk intake and hip fracture". Notice all the lines are going up and to the right, whether the studies are looking at calcium intake, dairy intake, or animal protein, as these intakes increase, fracture rates increase. In summary, the less dairy you consume, the lower your risk of bone fracture.

Along these lines, it's a good time to share:
Trans Fat Ban in US ...this is separate from the guidelines, however, related, and super-noteworthy! The FDA decided in June 2015 that based on all the nutrition research available, trans fat is not safe for human consumption. It has therefore been taken off the Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) list, and so may not be added to processed foods. I couldn't find any new information regarding this ban which occurred in June, but I am hopeful that companies are in the process of bettering their products so that they will be safer to eat. Wahoo!

Here are is a post about trans fat. Among the myraid of reasons to avoid meat (here are two posts: 5 reasons! and Plant Based is Powerful!, it must be noted that there are actually trans fats in animal fat, so once trans fat is out of processed foods, the only way to get it completely out of your diet, is to eliminate animal foods from your diet.


Stay tuned! I will be sharing more and more with you about all that I learned at a life-changing course I attended in February 2016 (McDougall Advanced Study Weekend). I just end by sharing my impression from deep in my heart that my totally unreal experience that will inspire me forever! With time, you all will no doubt benefit as well!

Chocolate for your Heart?

Chocolate is beneficial to your HEART HEALTH in so many ways!

• Chocolate contains FLAVONOIDS, also in green tea, red wine, cranberries, apples, peanuts, onions, and many others
• Chocolate reduces your risk of heart attack and stroke by:
• LOWERING your blood pressure
• Improving blood flow to your heart and BRAIN
• LOWERING cholesterol
• Flavonoids are rich in ANTIOXIDANTS -- antioxidants munch up free radicals -- free radicals are destructive chemicals partly to blame for heart disease and other health problems.
• Chocolate's antioxidant activity helps heart health by decreasing cell damage in the tissues of the heart and arteries, and by preventing LDL oxidation (Oxidation of LDL (lousy) cholesterol often causes a heart attack to occur.)
• Chocolate makes platelets less sticky, thins blood, and reduces likelihood of clotting or clumping (the way ASPIRIN helps your heart!), preventing artery plaque formation

So you see chocolate can really help your heart health! Here are a few tips to be sure you get the benefits described above!:  CHOCOLATE EATING TIPS

For more on the HEALTH and MOOD benefits of chocolate click HERE!

Here are some healthy CHOCOLATE RECIPES!

Chocolatey Oatmeal, 5-minute Brownies, Chocolate Berry Smoothie (add 1/4 c unsweetened cocoa to 3-Ingredient Super Shake), Skinny Mints, or Chocolate Cherry Torte Laraballs!

Or you could try a chocolate PUDDING!

Also, visit www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com for some great treats! You can see some of my favorites HERE!

Happy snacking!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Do you watch Dr Oz?  What's the coolest thing you ever learned on his show?

Trick Yourself into Eating Less!

Try a small handful of nuts or a slice of whole wheat bread or topped with avocado slices before dinner. You’ll stimulate cholecystokinin (CCK) production. CCK tells your brain you are full and slows down stomach emptying, keeping you full longer.

You will feel satisfied while eating less! As a bonus, these healthy fats clean and unclog your arteries by lowering your bad LDL cholesterol and raising your good HDL cholesterol!  Click here to see why else healthy fats are so cool!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Do you cook more or less on the weekend?  We go both ways, sometimes the work week gets so busy we don't get to cook as much as we like, other times, we take a break from cooking on the weekend, going for leftovers, out, or frozen options!