Ugh

I decided the apple hadn't done anything mean to me and it wouldn't be fair to contaminate it with that horrible taste.  So I juiced one granny smith apple, then mixed the burdock root with water, chugged it, and then drank the juice as a chaser, which did effectively push away the taste.  

So I think 6 ounces of water was too much.  I did gag though when I got to the bottom of the glass because some of the powder had already settled.  Tomorrow we'll see how 4 ounces works.  

THIS is going to be an adventure, I see.

Burdock Root Powder Tastes Gross!

Okay, so I haven't posted in almost two months.  Okay, so I'm not living up to my blogging standards.  Okay, so I'm not sure "vegan for me" was the best name for this blog.  OH WELL.  Moving right along...

I have a fantastic internal medicine and medical herbalist doctor, Astrid Pujari, MD, who I began seeing after I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder of the liver called PBC.  Following Dr. Pujari's recommendations, beginning in mid 2008, a year later all of my liver enzymes were back within normal ranges.

Life being life and me being human, however, I passed through some very challenging times in the winter of 2009/2010 and did not maintain my good health habits nor my herbal supplements.  All that challenging stuff is perhaps fodder for a different blog entry.  Suffice to say, when I came out the other side, my liver enzymes were measuring too high again, I no longer had health insurance, and I was without the financial means to get back on the regimen of supplements which had proved so helpful.

Dr. Pujari reminded me that the best gift I could give my liver was to get more exercise and eat the best diet possible, which would naturally but slowly reduce my weight - excess fat is a huge strain on the liver.  She also recommended burdock root powder as an affordable means of helping my liver in its detoxifying work.  She warned me that it was going to taste bad but it was certainly a cost-effective alternative to pre-mixed herbal supplements.  I said "No problem, I'm not a wuss." But now that I've finally got the stuff, well, EWWWW.

I thought I could just throw it in my strawberry/banana smoothie and chug it down.  That works great for stuff like kale, and canned pumpkin (a great way to get vitamin A) or hemp protein powder.  Uh, NOT with the burdock root.  It made my smoothie taste so gross that instead of being an enjoyable part of my day it was a chore to get it down.

Today I tried mixing it with carrots I'd just juiced.  I juiced a granny smith apple into the mix thinking that would have a strong flavor that would fight the burdock root, and I threw in some red grapes for sweetener.  I would have to say it was perhaps not as disgusting as the smoothie attempt, but quite gross.

I need to find a way to make this easier; I procrastinated buying it for a ridiculously long time - for no good reason; I don't even understand why since I'm really anxious to heal myself and not end up needing a liver transplant - and I don't want to find myself skipping the burdock root.

Tomorrow I'm going to try juicing just the granny smith apple, mixing the powder in and chugging it.  The thing is the taste is not so disgusting that I gag on it; it's just so incredibly chalky.  It thickens the liquid quite a bit too.  If the apple juice is still thin enough to be drinkable without leaving half the powder stuck to the glass (ugh just thinking about this) then I guess I'll try to chug it down and immediately juice something else to wash the taste away.  

Since I've been juicing rather sporadically this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise; I hoped to drink one juice a day and since I need to take the burdock root daily, I may work out a routine.

We'll see what happens with the apple tomorrow...