My mom's side of the family has a history of Alzheimer's. My mom, her mom, and her grandma, all died from complications of this horrible disease. Now my siblings and I are next in line to see if Alzheimer's will pass along to us. It's an unpleasant thought, I don't dwell on it, but I am being proactive with my lifestyle to keep my brain and body healthy. Diet and exercise, enough sleep, hobbies, socializing...all those factors contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
Today is the Friday Feed and I found a fun recipe that uses summer produce - blackberries and basil. The bold blackberry flavor combines with fresh herbs for a brain friendly drink. Blackberries deliver antioxidants to enhance memory and improve blood flow to the brain. The tea adds inflammation control and the honey adds a dose of sweetness as well as supporting restful sleep.
Bright Blackberry-Basil “Sangria”
Ingredients
- 4 cups blackberries
- 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 cups fruity herbal tea
- 1 cup sparkling water
- 2 limes cut into 1/4 inch rounds
- 2 cups ice
Directions
- In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups of the blackberries, 1 cup of the basil leaves, the water and honey. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Let cool and strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup. You should have roughly 1 cup of syrup.
- In a serving pitcher, combine the blackberry syrup, tea, and sparkling water.
- Add the limes slices, remaining 1/2 cup basil leaves, remaining 1 cup blackberries, and ice.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
- Serve and enjoy!
The Alzheimer’s curse
runs in my mom’s family.
Food as medicine.
This is a refreshing, tasty drink on its own but...it makes a great cocktail, too! I like mine with tequila and Todd likes his with vodka. Versatility is a spice of life.
If we stray down that path, I hope we enjoy it. My mother's mother largely had a pleasant slide into dementia, she relaxed and enjoyed life, even if she didn't remember her only child, and thought her grandsons were her long dead brothers. She shocked me one day, by sitting down and playing the piano, something she learned as a child and hadn't done in 30+ years, then there was the time she chased a man down the hall in the nursing home an loudly propositioned him, "it cold in here, want to come snuggle in my bed tonight?"
ReplyDeleteThose with dementia have a new reality and we're the ones who have to join their reality rather than telling them they're wrong.
DeleteThat sounds delicious and healthy too! I just heard a story on NPR about brain exercises to keep the brain active.
ReplyDeleteIt is delicious, healthy, and refreshing! All your activities around Phoenix and blogging about them are good brain activities.
DeleteWell, I have the vodka, now all I need is all the other ingredients!
ReplyDelete