Thyroid-Loving, Spicy Cacao Pudding (V/GF)

As promised, IsaTales is back with an exclusive recipe and offer for the UWM fam. Her program, The Lazy Thyroid Diet is choc-full-o goodness for our health and cravings, like this smooth and gorgeous 3-Step, Thyroid-loving Spicy Cacao Pudding. It's 100 percent vegan, gluten-free and yummy.

I am a firm believer in that there is never a wrong time for chocolate, and for multiple reasons. The two most important being that chocolate is filled with nutrients like fiber, magnesium, antioxidants, selenium and zinc (particularly great for a lazy thyroid) and because it tastes darn good, but maybe I’m biased.

There’s this small niche superfood smoothie shop down the street from my family home in San Diego that serves this G.D. amazing “Sexy Mayan” smoothie that’s basically a chocolate shake infused with cayenne, cinnamon, maca and nutmeg. I’m addicted, but due to my “chocolate is a superfood” obsession and my “save money and make it at home” personality, I decided it’s time to make my own rendition.

Any natural food with ingredients to support the function of a lazy thyroid is a superfood in my book. If it tastes good, it moves to chapter one in the book and is generally filed under “Gifts From Mother Nature.”

Sometimes, however, there’s just not enough time in the day or room in your stomach for a smoothie. On the other hand, there’s always room for a make-ahead nutritious dessert in your fridge and in your stomach. So instead of recreating the Sexy Mayan smoothie to a T, I decided to turn the concept into a pudding that is easy to make; infused with thyroid-loving ingredients like brazil nuts, coconut and raw cacao; and so nutrient-dense that you only need a single tablespoon to reap the benefits.

Okay, enough of the chitchat. To the pudding recipe!

IsaTales’ Thyroid-Loving, Spicy Cacao Pudding.

(Serves 2, or 1... if you know what I mean. Wink wink, nudge nudge)

Ingredients

• 1 whole, early ripe avocado

• ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk

• ¼ cup cacao

• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (I personally use Lakanto’s Maple Flavored Monkfruit Syrup from Thrive Market to reduce the glycemic index and prevent inflammation)

• 3 raw brazil nuts

• 2 Deglet Nour or Medjool dates

• ½ tsp cinnamon

• ¼ tsp cayenne

• pinch of sea salt

• 1 tsp cacao nibs (optional, for garnishing)

instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor or multi-speed blender.

2. Blend on low speed until the mixture reaches the consistency you desire. If using a VitaMix, blend at 2-3 speed for ideal pudding texture. It shouldn’t take longer than a minute.

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (minimum), then serve!

This pudding will last up to three days in your fridge, possibly longer, but I’ve yet to have any left in the fridge to test this theory :)

Brief breakdown of the thyroid love.

Cacao – Heavy on the magnesium, which synergizes the function of the parathyroid and is responsible for converting inactive thyroxine (T4) into active triiodothyronine (T3).

Brazil Nuts – Loaded with selenium, which regulates thyroid hormone synthesis and protects thyroid tissue from oxidative stress.

Coconut – Healthy fats are crucial for regulating hormones and delivering thyroid-supporting nutrients to the cells in the body, such as vitamin D.
 

For more information on eating right for your thyroid and more nutrient-dense, thyroid-loving recipes, click here and use “UWMFAM” for 20% off The Lazy Thyroid Diet!

photos by: isatales, delphine hourlay, Thought Catalog & Jasmine Waheed.

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IsaTales (Isabelle de Burgh) is a plant food connoisseur and holistic wellness advocate. Her journey to health is motivated by her own struggle with hypothyroidism and a central desire to bring awareness to the varying forms of natural healing and the "food as medicine" movement. 

She received her B.S. from the University of Southern California and has extensive training in health coaching through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and a background in public relations and community entrepreneurship.