Back when I used to spend 10 hours a day at my desk, I wish I had known about these. Making my own healthy drink in the office took too much time, the local “health food” bars and cafes were either not all that healthy at all, overpriced, or tasted awful. At least we got together eventually - Bumblezest have brought something to the market that tastes good, is small enough to travel with on flights, boosts my energy and gets my skin glowing even when I’m tired and overdoing it.

When the body is in a state of inflammation, everything is harder (to say the least). So, how do you reduce inflammation? You can do it with sleep, boosting your immune system, with DIET and watching your stress + activity levels (not enough can be too little, but too much can also be too much). I can’t always control the amount of stress I have to deal with (said the yoga teacher!) but I do manage this using diet. Anti-inflammatory foods (most often plant-based foods) are how I do it.

By the way, when your body is in a lesser state of inflammation, this means it can respond more positively to flexibility and/or strength training - you are able to recover more quickly after training. You know what that means? Less DOMS, you can train a little more, and the more you train the better you become at your chosen practice.

GREAT FOR WHEN YOU’RE BUZZING ABOUT

The last year has been constant travel, moving between countries and then moving between houses, organising "At Home" Cleanses for clients. Getting a pot or pan, let alone my juicer out to make myself a nutritious meal has been tough. It helps working in the wellness industry, but train journeys and flights in between have meant I’ve had to keep life minimalistic. Most of my cooking equipment has been in storage and I don’t remember the last time I went food shopping or was “home” long enough to actually use all of the produce before it walked its own way out of the fridge!

ABOUT BUMBLEZEST

Bumblezest’s founder, Battersea-based Daniel was, like me, living and working in the city juggling numerous things and trying to find his way as he navigated between a stressful job and finding balance with his health- a stress in itself! The drink comes in little 90ml glass bottle (a nod to reducing carbon footprint) which makes it quick to drink (though I do try to make it last as it tastes so good!) and fine to travel with - it would be a very sad day if I had to leave a bottle behind at airport security.

HOW I HAVE MINE

I drink these in the morning (as it feels good knowing that the first thing to hit my digestive system is a food that nourishes). You can have it as a health shot on the go, or dilute with filtered water or even nut/seed milks, if that’s your thing. Sometimes I mix it with something fancier *vodka ahem* to share with friends and trick them into drinking something that’s a little “better" for them; it’s a way to find balance. Besides, there’s no point in being super healthy unless it make you super happy.

WHAT’S IN IT

Gluten, nut, dairy and lactose free, colouring, additives and preservative free. I love the shots that contain Hydrolyzed Marine Collagen (from wild caught fish). Collagen supports healthy skin, bone, hair, joints, muscles, organs and other connective tissue. Did you know that collagen is a protein our bodies already know how to make? Good sources to help boost our body’s production of collagen are: dark green veg, red/orange veg (Vitamin A helps restore collagen that has been damaged), citrus (Vitamin C is required in the process to make collagen, as well as zinc and copper) fish, meat (broths in particular), and eggs.

SWEET STUFF

The ingredients, elixirs such as maca, ginger, turmeric, spirulina, pair up with lemon juice as the main fruit base. Fructose, which is fruit sugar, has been getting a lot of bad press recently (save that for another journal post). Lemon has a very low fructose level so if that is something you’re worried about, you don’t need to. For flavour, the shots are sweetened with natural ingredients- a drop of honey, maple or stevia. Honey, by the way, is full of natural vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients. It has its own microorganisms which make it a powerful natural antibiotic. This is becoming all the more important what with the disappearance of bees on our planet and the increase in antibiotic-resistance. Bumblezest work with British bee keepers and use only ethically sourced honey, ensuring that all their honey comes from hives where honey is left for the bees all year round so that the bees are able to survive the winter.

‘If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left’ - Albert Einstein

There are lots of flavours you can try, these are the ones I am buzzing about:

REVIVE + RESTORE ginger, turmeric, collagen (hydrolysed Marine Collagen from wild fish)

To lift you if you are ill or feel a cold coming on

NOURISH + NURTURE cacao, maca, collagen (from wild fish)

Your alternative to coffee, sweet treat, and has a sprinkling of cayenne to give your workout or metabolism a kick when you need it

CALM + COMFORT camomile, lavender, spirulina

To calm and comfort you, florals and superfoods to relax and restore if you’re feeling stressed, anxious or having trouble unwinding

If you’re really into juicing, get yourself booked onto a week at Juicy Oasis or Juicy Mountain. Don’t hang around because I’ve spent most of 2018 telling my mates I can’t bump them up the loooooooooooong waiting list- if it’s fully booked, it means fully booked.

www.bumblezest.co.uk

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