The Moon Juice Cookbook, Superfoods, iHerb and Ayurvedic Toothpaste

One of the books I’m looking forward to reading this year is Amanda Chantal Bacon’s The Moon Juice Cookbook out in the autumn. Not because I’m a huge fan of superfoods, powders and supplements with often vastly inflated price tags (my vote is always to prioritise eating the best local organic or biodynamic fruit or veg you can find) but I recognise the place that minute spoonfuls of pretty powders and the cracking open of a glass ampule for an energising elixir can play in kickstarting or supporting a healthier daily lifestyle. If you are spending £££ on a fancy supplement it can inspire you to think more carefully about the rest of your daily intake.

On that note I’d been meaning to try iHerb for a long time. I’d been inspired by these two UK write-ups but it wasn’t until I was nearing the end of my favourite toothpaste, Herbal Crème de Anise by Nature’s Gate, that I was pushed into action. I do stir up batches of my own toothpaste powder, however when I travel, due to spillages, powders give way to more conventional toothpaste tubes. I always look in every health shop I enter but Nature’s Gate seems an elusive brand in the UK, limited in my experience to Uhuru in Oxford and I wasn’t planning on visiting Oxford in the near future, so I turned to iHerb (which seemed cheaper than an online Amazon splurge).

I also turned, inspired by a few flashes of sunny rays, to my trusty guide to all things ayurvedic and was reminded about changing toothpaste flavours for the seasons – the recommendations are fennel for spring, neem or peppermint for summer, liquorice for autumn and cinnamon or clove for winter. In the end I plumped for aniseed, liquorice/mint, neem/cinnamon and neem/pomegranate. All vegan and with varying combinations of fluoride free, paraben free, gluten free, etc. There was one major disappointment as it seems that Nature’s Gate have changed from aluminium tubes to plastic (all the other brands pictured were plastic too). Yuk. Yet more plastic in the world.

The key to iHerb as this guide helpfully outlines (the site itself give minimum information on international shipping) is to keep your order to under £15 (be sure to include shipping too, which is extremely low) to avoid charges on entering the UK. Be especially careful with iHerb discounts of $5 off here or there as whilst these are given (and gratefully received), the full price (from the evidence of my recent order at least) shows up on your shipping label.

Next on my list is vegan vitamins …