Non Dairy Creamer + Super Skin Food. Sold.

If you've been reading le blog for a while you may remember a post about collagen powder. (If not read that HERE) and how I am all about eating superfoods for my skin (also to like, feel good and be healthy and stuff but mostly, skin.)

And while I'm no longer making protein shakes in the morning (I tend to avoid ice cold drinks when it gets cold. Weird, I know) I'm always interested in finding ways to incorporate super foods in my everyday life.

I wrote about this Hum Nutrition Raw Beauty Powder in a post a while back and it is chock full of green superfoods, antioxidants, probiotics, adaptogenics and fiber. So, you know, it's pretty good for you. But I'm realizing I'm consuming it less and less recently because the only way I've found to enjoy it is in an ice cold glass of almond milk.

So recently, I fell into an internet hole one evening and happened upon an article that discussed tocos, or rice bran solubles. I did some more digging and found that bonappetit.com called them the next big "skin food":

"Tocos, short for tocotrienols, is a fat-soluble relative of Vitamin E that's commonly found in certain oils, rice, wheat, barley, rye, and oats. You'll usually see it in the form of brown rice–bran solubles: It's just the fat- and water-soluble portions (minus the carbohydrates and fiber parts) of the hard shell that surrounds a grain of rice."

Blah blah blah. Basically what you need to know is that they are a really good source of protein, minerals, vitamins and fatty acids. They're so good for your skin specifically because they have a high proportion of Vitamin E and CoQ10, which promotes cell turnover.

And the best part, they don't taste like shit.

I don't drink coffee (gives me migraines) but I do drink chai tea. So I snagged this tub of powdered chai tea:

I mixed in a teaspoon of the chai tea powder (all that's in it is powdered black tea and spices), added a heaping tablespoon of the tocos, a little bit of honey to sweeten it, added in 8 ounces of hot water, mixed it all together and enjoyed a really incredible cup of piping hot chai tea. The tocos totally replaced the almond milk I usually drink with it; it added a really nice creaminess to it. Better than almond milk, actually. And because tocos have so many more health benefits than almond milk, it's just stupid to continue with it. (And FWIW, I am not dairy free because #cheese but I do try and avoid when possible.)

The taste: eaten by itself, they have a slightly sweet vanilla-y, oatmeal-y taste. But at least for me, cannot replace sweetener.

TDLR; It can absolutely replace creamer and it's really good for you.

Have you heard of tocos?