Cherrry Coconut Trail Mix

Cherrry Coconut Trail MixBoth dried cherries and coconut have some natural sweetness with their own strong, distinct flavors, making them perfect additions to trail mix. Cherries are a great source of fiber, vitamins A and C and several antioxidants, and these nutrients are still plentiful when the cherries are dried. However, there is some discrepancy amongst the two main types of cherries- sweet and tart/sour. There is one phytonutrient (“phyto” means plant) in particular in the tart cherries that seems quite interesting, it has anti-inflammatory properties paralleled to over the counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs  like ibuprofen and aspirin so it can be helpful for recovery from post exercise muscle soreness. Tart cherries are also one of the foods that naturally has melatonin, a hormone produced by humans in the pineal gland to help regulate the circadian rhythm, or our sleep and wake cycles. Taking melatonin in pill form is a homeopathic remedy for jet lag and insomnia but adding in some to our diet on occasion can be beneficial. Natural melatonin production can decrease with age and can be suppressed by artificial light at night- especially the blueish light from televisions, computers and cell phones.

This trail mix also features sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and brazil nuts. Sunflower seeds have high amounts of vitamins E, B1 and B6 and the minerals copper, selenium, phosphorus, magnesium and manganese. Pumpkin seeds are also high in copper, phosphorus, magnesium and manganese, along with zinc. These plentiful minerals carry out many functions in the body, some of the most notable are muscle contraction, nerve function, wound healing, and maintaining a strong immune system and pH balance. Brazil nuts also contain several minerals and they are well known for being one of the best dietary sources of selenium. Selenium has important antioxidant functions and is needed for thyroid function and a strong immune system. Selenium works best when accompanied by vitamin E and both sunflower seeds and brazil nuts also contain this fat soluble vitamin, an example of why real food is better than synthetic supplementation.Cherrry Coconut Trail MixTested on muddy mountain trails

Cherrry Coconut Trail Mix
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 10
INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 cup dried tart/sour cherries (without added sugars, oils or preserving agents like sulflur dioxide if possible)
  • ½ cup brazil nuts
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup pumpkin seeds a.k.a. pepitas
  • ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut or unsweetened coconut ribbons
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container in the fridge to keep the fragile oils in the seeds and nuts from going rancid.

Cherrry Coconut Trail Mix

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