How To Make Your Oatmeal 10x Healthier

Okay, “10x healthier” is just a rough estimate, but you get the idea.

I’m always looking for fun and easy ways to add a little bit of extra nutrition to whatever I’m eating.

A cool trick I thought of the other day while making oatmeal was to brew some tea in the same water that my oatmeal cooks in! I know—I’m blowing your mind right now.

This is an excellent way to add an herbal and medicinal component into your diet. Why would you want to do that? Because

herbs help you adapt and thrive in a world of unprecedented environmental stresses and pollutants. Herbs are one of the oldest forms of medicine and have been successfully used for literally thousands of years. They fortify and protect your body from disease and can even help to reverse certain conditions.

Before I jump into exactly how to make this herbal oatmeal, let me just get this out on the table: I don’t use a microwave to cook my oatmeal (or anything else for that matter) and don’t recommend you do either. I use a stove top. Unnatural radiation of any kind weirds me out (yes, I even opt to get manually searched at airports) and there’s solid evidence that eating microwaved foods has less-than-beneficial effects on your health. But honestly, when it comes to things like this, I personally don’t need to see empirical data and scientific studies to prove to me why using a microwave is bad. Yes, the studies are out there but rather than spend my time perusing them, I instead tend to make decisions based on common sense and what I feel is the most natural choice. I believe this is an important mindset to have, especially when you’re first starting out on your journey to reclaiming your superpowers and having the best health ever.

Ahem. ** Stepping off soap box **

So here’s how you make “herbal oatmeal” (one serving recipe):

1) Get your hands on some good quality organic rolled oats.

2) Pick the tea you want to brew with your oatmeal. In the picture below, I used Pau D’arco, the bark of a South American tree which is a powerful anti-fungal and immune enhancer. It increases red blood cell count and also has strong anti-oxidant capabilities. But it also tastes great. I’ve found that teas made from barks or roots go particularly well with oatmeal. Examples of these are burdock root (an excellent blood purifier) and chaga mushroom (a longevity tonic that grows on birch tree bark). Each herb will impart a different flavor into your oatmeal, so play around with different ones to see what you like.

You can either buy loose bulk herb at an herb store or you can get a box of prepackaged tea bags. Either works. If you have loose herb, put 1-3 tablespoons of it in a muslin bag. If you use pre-bagged tea, use 2-3 tea bags.

3) Pour about 2 cups of high quality water (fresh spring water is awesome) in a medium sized pot.

4) Put tea bag(s) in pot, set to medium heat and cover.

5) As soon as water starts to boil (after about 5-7 minutes), add about 1 cup of rolled oats to it and turn down heat to low. For a stronger tea base, you can leave the herbs in at this point, or for a more subtle flavor and effect, you can remove the tea bag(s) here. Cover.
NOTE: In general, the longer you let the herb stay in the hot water, the more medicinal compounds will be extracted into the water and therefore the more bitter it will get.

6) After about 2 minutes remove lid and stir. Cover for another 2 minutes then let cool and sweeten (if desired). Garnish with your favorite toppings, serve and enjoy!

Pau D’arco tea bag brewing with my oatmeal. (I pulled the muslin bag out of the water for the photo op!)

Afterward I added yacon root syrup for sweetness and Fo-ti root powder for some extra kick!

I’d love to hear how your herbal oatmeal turns out!! 🙂

In abundant health,
Ruben Chavez