The Magic of Blue Majik!
Blue Majik is definitely the new Acai - everywhere I look, blue smoothie bowls are popping up! Move over berries, smurf-looking meals are the most instagrammable trend at the moment! But, what is Blue Majik & what makes it so amazing? Is it just a fad, or does it actually bring some real benefits to our body?
When I was a child, there was a blue ice cream flavor every kid wanted to get, and my mom always forbid me from asking for that blue scoop of happiness because she knew it was just chemistry. Today, when you see a blue smoothie or ice cream, it actually may even be an amazing addition to your diet (well...most regular ice cream places still have the blue chemical pints, but you know I'm talking about #healthyfoodcafes anyway) The blue color in Blue Majik comes from its natural blue pigment, and it's absolutely chemical free. Now I know how to drive my mom crazy - I'll just make myself a blue smoothie bowl and start eating it in front of her! :)
All jokes aside though, Blue Majik is a proprietary extract of the algae Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) and it contains both phycocyanin and non-phycocyanin compounds. This combination is what differs it from the standard Spirulina powder you can find in the supplement aisles. Phycocyanin is an amazing antioxidant full of Vitamin B12, A and iron, supports brain health, helps fight inflammation, and it's clinically shown to relieve physical discomfort and detox the body of heavy metals. It also goes by the name of E3Live, so you might have seen it on the menu of a variety of health food places all over the world. The taste in itself is not very delicious (as it is an algae), and it smells a bit seaworld-ish (just like regular spirulina does), so mixing it up in different food creations is definitely the thing to do. And like with spirulina, one tsp goes a loooong way, so make sure to not go overboard, as your smoothie will be a bit...fishy :)
How I like to use it?
I love anything colorful, and adding a pop of blue is a new challenge in my kitchen. In addition to the obvious - adding it to smoothies, ice creams and smoothie bowls, I also love:
making my almond, hemp & blue majik nut butter which pairs SO GOOD with roasted carrots, beets and butternut squash
mixing it in my gluten free pancake batter to make blue pancakes
Blue Beauty Adaptogenic Protein from MoonJuice
adding it to kelp or shirataki noodles so they turn blue ( I get mine from Thrive Market, and you can get $20 off your first 3 purchases if you shop through this link!)
blending it up with cashews to make a blue raw vegan cheesecake
sprinkling it in my vegan cheese dressing to make a blue Cesar salad
eating my favorite Sakara blue Detox bars as well as one of their notorious meals, the Blue Mylk Granola bowl (pictured above) which I always need to order once I see it on the next week's menu! (if you want to find out why I talk about Sakara all the time, check out my review here & get a discount on your first order!)
So yup, that's the magic of Blue Magic and now all you have to do is start playing with it! I honestly always feel like I'm making some kind of a crazy potion from a fairytale :)
Oh, and in case you wanted some of the recipes I wrote above, stay tuned for my ebook coming out soon! I promise you, it's gonna be colorful and fun!
