[Gut Health] The Ultimate & Easy Cocoa Recipe for Breakfast

After experiencing cancer, I think most people start searching for ways to improve their diet or take some kind of action. I was the same!
Today, I'd like to introduce a recipe that I've tried many things and still continue to use today!

Here is what I've personally experienced by drinking this cocoa:

① Improved bowel movements (no more constipation)
② Better stool quality
③ Feeling warmed up
④ Better skin condition due to improved gut health

In my case, amazake is what really works for my bowel movements. When I run out of amazake, my digestion gets a bit irregular...
It's hard to tell at a glance that cocoa has antioxidant properties, but compared to my skin in the past, it is definitely in better condition.

Also, regular store-bought cocoa starts to taste too sweet to drink 😂 Most common cocoa sold in stores has a lot of sugar, after all.

It might feel like a hassle at first, but if you transfer it to a container or find ways to make the process easier for yourself, it's very simple.
You can also get black sesame, which is otherwise hard to incorporate, so it's recommended for health and beauty.

■ Ingredients

Pure cocoa powder
Milk or soy milk
Amazake
MCT oil
Ground black sesame

■ Instructions

1: Put 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder into a cup
2: Pour in a small amount of hot water and mix into a paste (I use a single chopstick 🙈)
3: Pour in an appropriate amount of milk or soy milk and heat in the microwave
4: Add your preferred amount of amazake, black sesame, and MCT oil to the warmed cocoa
5: Mix well and it's ready

There is a trend among breast cancer patients (especially those told they are hormone-positive) to avoid milk. I avoided it at first too, but I love milk, so I've just kept drinking it as usual!

▼ I've always bought this cocoa. It used to cost about 1,000 yen, but the price has gone up 😢 Still, this is the best value and tastes the best! (I've cheated on it with others before 🙈)

I transfer this into a Ziploc screw-top container, so making my daily cocoa is quick and easy ◎

▼ I make amazake using these two types of koji depending on my mood.

I use a yogurt maker, and it's very easy!
I put the koji and water at about 60 degrees Celsius into a protein shaker, then set that in the yogurt maker. It's done in about 9 hours, so I blend it with a blender and store it in the refrigerator.
It feels like a waste to leave the amazake on the blender, so I make a banana smoothie with it right after lol. The added sweetness makes it delicious 😋

▼ I use this yogurt maker. My only complaint is the appearance 🙈 It's a good, easy-to-use product at a reasonable price, just as you'd expect from Iris Ohyama.

If it breaks, I'm thinking of switching to a Vitantonio yogurt maker 🙈

▼I currently buy large quantities of MCT oil at Costco, but I started by trying this one first! Since it involves drinking oil, I was a bit hesitant to try a large container right away😅

As for black sesame, I don't stick to one specific type since there are various options like plain black sesame, ones with kinako (roasted soybean flour), or ones with black beans. I just use whatever is sold at the supermarket😆

I drink this every day for breakfast along with a banana. It's a great combination, so I highly recommend it.

In the summer, it's a bit hard to drink, so lol, I take a break from the cocoa and make banana juice using the other ingredients instead. It's plenty sweet and delicious thanks to the sugar content in the bananas and amazake, so I definitely want you to try it!