Live n Cultured

I was pretty darn thrilled when a cosy organic grocer called ‘Vegie Monster’ popped up in Woodside a few weeks back, just a thirty second walk from our apartment door. Since my hiatus away from New York, not only did Vegie Monster arrive out of nowhere, but the 24 hour pizza joint next to it had gone out of business.

There was hope for me yet.

The carb and beer diet I’d been riding on for some time was beginning to counterbalance and threaten my natural equilibrium. Since then I’ve been keeping regular, pumping my body full of interesting sounding nutritious compounds like antioxidants and live cultures and other things that swim around your system that aren’t sausage based.

Here are two of my favourites indulgences of late, ever reliable and guaranteed to rejuvenate the dustiest of noggins.

KOMBUCHA

According to some it tastes like a foot and is akin to drinking a douche, hippie juice ‘Kombucha’ (pronounced Kom-Boo-Chah) is tangy, tart and probably not what you’d immediately label a ‘tasty’ beverage.

Though refreshing and bubbly, it has the piquancy of juice that’s gone bad in the sun. Basically it is Chinese tea that has been fermented for 30 days and despite it's unfavourable press and acquired taste, it's mighty good for what ails ye.

My preffered concoction is G.T Dave’s Multi-Green, chock full of enzymes, viable probiotics, amino acids, antioxidants and polyphenols crammed in there together to keep your shit in gear. Hipster bars in Brooklyn have started to sell it over the counter, so you know, it must be cool.


YERBA MATE

When Kombucha started to make my stool look queer I made an astute decision to opt for an alternative. Staring me in the face from the window of the Vegie Monster refrigerator was my future new best mate, Yerba.

Yerba Mate is produced by a green company called Guyaki and not a herd of bogans from Frankston (its actually pronounced mahtay - not maaaaaayte). Though not bubbly, it tastes a lot more like tea that hasn’t gone off, which is a good thing. Plus it’s got just as much goodness and healthy stuff in it as it’s stinky cousin above.

Yerba Mate comes from the stems and leaves of a South American plant, a natural stimulant revered as ‘drink of the Gods’, good for health, vitality, and longevity. It tastes great, clears my mind and makes my poo look relatively human.