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Tuesday 15 December 2015

Improve Memory with a Pennywort Avocado Smoothie

Pennywort Avocado Smoothie
A while ago I listened to a webinar on teaching and on one of the interviews, a teacher named Mary Robinson Reynolds told the story of how, when she was able to convince parents of children with ADHD to take a special drink containing Gotu Kola, Bacopa Monnieri and green tea, they immediately improved. Apparently, the Gotu Kola and the Bacopa helped to improve memory and the Bacopa also improved intellectual activity. 

Since then I've always wondered what Gotu Kola and Bacopa Monnieri were. In fact, I did recommend them to one of my parents to try these herbs on her child but I think she was like "What in the world is that?" So much for that advice! 

But recently, I've just discovered quite by chance what Gotu Kola is. The other name for it is pennywort. I know pennywort! I used to drink it when I was younger. My mum used to blend it with water and sugar and gave it to us to drink. She always said that it was anti-inflammatory because it has cooling properties (the yin and yang, hot and cold of Chinese medicine). This is a typical cooling drink from Vietnam called Nuoc Rau Ma. (If I make this myself nowadays I would substitute the honey for the sugar.)

This was how I discovered it...I was shopping with my mum down in 'Chinatown' or Vietnamtown (keep in mind that we are in Sydney Australia). We were walking along the sidewalk outside the shops dotted with old Vietnamese grandmas hawking their wares. Mum stopped at one of them and asked me if I wanted any rau ma that this old woman was selling and I thought, 'oh yeah it's been a long time since I've had that'. 

Pennywort aka gotu kola
Later on while I was reaching for the usual spinach to go into making our daily smoothie, I thought 'why not try the pennywort?' Light bulb moment! In my smoothies, I've always either used kale or spinach so this was a breakthrough. I used about three handfuls of the pennywort so you can't really taste it as much as you can taste the avocado. My children drink all the smoothies that I make so I'm sure your children will like this too.

After I made the smoothie, I decided to do some research on the pennywort to see what health benefits there were apart from my mum's tale of anti-inflammatory. Everything pointed to it being a memory booster and that it was also known as gotu kola. Now I can recommend it to that parent again. 

If you want to boost your child's (and yours) memory (and cool your insides) then drink this smoothie daily.

Delicious, healthy and a memory booster
Instructions:
1. In a nutribullet, place one ripe banana, one avocado,  one tablespoon of raw honey, three small handfuls of pennywort and fill it up with almond milk to cover three quarters of the nutribullet.

2. Blend until smooth.

3. The avocado will make the smoothie quite thick so if it's too thick for you then dilute with more almond milk to taste.

4. Enjoy!

If you'd like more smoothie recipes, then check out the book below. It contains smoothies recipes. I've been on their subscription list for about 2 years now and the recipes they give out are delicious and extra healthy. They were the reason how I discovered smoothies and why my family loves smoothies.

Click on the books to have a look and order (they contain my affiliate links):


If you can't find any pennywort near you then you might like to try growing them from seeds yourself. You can get the seeds through Amazon (my affiliate link). I've read the reviews and it seems hard to grow from seeds (although once it's established it'll be like a weed). So please read the reviews to see what some people did to make them germinate (one person soaked the seeds in water before planting).


If the taste of a smoothie is too thick for your child then try Pennywort Juices - where you can combine one type of fruit with the pennywort. It tastes just like any fruit juice but with the added benefits of the pennywort. Click here to see the combinations that I recommend.

19 comments:

  1. Masha Allah, I sure will love to boost my memory and cool my insides.

    Although I'm not an avocado lover, the rest of the ingredients should make it enjoyable for me. Or perhaps I get an alternative for the avocado.

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    Replies
    1. Avocado is one of the superfood. It is so beneficial that you really should learn to love it. I think if you've been trying to eat it by itself it really doesn't taste all that great but if you mix it with other things it'll taste delicious like guacamole or smoothies.

      In smoothies, it gives it that creamy taste. If I had to substitute the avocado in this recipe (which I do when I don't have any avocado) is to use honeydew or rockmelon (cantelope). It won't taste creamy but very refreshing. Keep in mind that if the melons are very sweet then you'll have to omit the honey.

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  2. I so need a memory boost lol. I love avocado on toast, never tried it in a smoothie tho gonna try it. Great post thanks for sharing.

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  3. The smoothie looks really good... Even I need a memory booster thanks to the hectic life around... :) I would have to hunt around to find pennywort though, never seen them... It is good to know so many varieties of food... Good to connect...

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    Replies
    1. Yes, the world is full of amazing good and natural food that we should try. Alhamdulilah.

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  4. Wow I've never heard of avacado improving memory, usually its milk infused with almonds but this is new very interesting. Thank you for sharing :)

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    Replies
    1. It's not the avocado that improves memory but the pennywort although I've been told that it's good for brain development in children.

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  5. I have never heard of pennywort but the recipe looks great.. I think i should try this as I really need to boost my memory...

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  6. Never heard of pennyworth before but it definitely seems worth trying out! And isn't avocado just delicious :)

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  7. Oh this looks interesting. Currently looking for healthy recipes

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  8. jamilla JazakAllah,
    Avacado is quite rare here.

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  9. ASalamualaikum sis Thanks for the post .do you know where I can get the seed from?

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    Replies
    1. Wa alaykum salam bro. You're welcome. You might like to try Amazon. (I've added a link to my post above. It's my is my affiliate link which means that you still pay the same price but I just get commission.) Other than that I'm not too sure. My mum is trying to get one of the old ladies to sell her the potted plant of it.

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  10. I think I need to drink this because my memory is really getting weak. Now I just need to find out where to find pennywort in South Africa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If there's an Asian shop where you are then go there and ask them. They should know. Try both names pennywort and gotu kola. If you can't find any then try memorising some Quran because it helps improve memory as well.

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