One Twenty Over 80: Healthy Ayurvedic Chocolate

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

I’m great. How are you?

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

So maybe let’s, do wanna talk a little bit about your journey of your health, like how did you get to where you are now with your interest in Ayurvedic medicine?

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Yeah, so I’ve always been interested in health. I’m a chiropractor. I’ve been in practice now for 10 years. And so I’ve always been into like the natural healing type of thing. And then with Ayurveda, it’s funny. I’m of, like, East Indian descent. And I remember growing up, my grandparents would always kind of like have a remedy for us. Like whatever was going on in our lives. Like whether it’s just like a cold or, you know, just anything. And they would always say, “Hey, why don’t you take this?” Or, you know, do this sort of thing. And we would always like argue with them and we’d say like, “What are you talking about? You’re not a doctor. You shouldn’t be taking things that you’re like bringing from over there, over here.” 

‘Cause we’re born and raised here, right? And so they would be coming back and forth from like living in India, living here sort of thing. And then like over the last few years, I started to kind of like hearing more about these herbs and these like ancient remedies from India. And I realized that they were the same things that my grandparents were trying to like get us to use and they’ve been using them and they had been using them for years and it really worked for them. 

So that’s kind of like where it started. And I realized that, wow, there is actually a benefit of taking things that are not, you know, the standard of what we take here, like the medications that we take here and that sort of thing. So that really piqued my interest. And then I just from there, I started like learning more about it. I’m also very much so into like food and like healthy food. And I’m also a chocolatier which you know. So I wanted to kind of try to incorporate all of that good, the good ingredients of the herbs into my, into my work. So it kind of, just kinda snowballed into like this love for learning about these, these natural things that are really, really good for us.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

So let’s okay. Let’s take a step back for the listeners about to talk about Ayurveda, what itis. I mean, I think people may have a sense that it’s a type of you know, traditional medicine from, from India, but if you could kind of give what’s the basis of it and how does it work?

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

So Ayurvedic medicine or Ayurveda is the world’s oldest holistic healing system. I mean, it was made or created in India over 5,000 years ago. And people in India have been using it for, from time, like from, from that time period. And basically Ayurveda is a combination of two root words, Ayu, meaning a life, and Veda, meaning knowledge or wisdom. And when you bring those two things together that gives you the wisdom of life. And that is essentially how, like the premise of Ayurveda. It’s very different from conventional medicine where our focus here is disease. It’s not diseased-focused at all. It does treat disease. It does do preventative measures for certain diseases but the premise is to treat or work with a healthy being and keeping them healthy and then getting them to their optimal. 

An example of it would be, in Ayurveda, they feel that, you know, you are, if one can treat a disease or condition, diagnose and treat it, they would be considered, you know, an inadequate doctor. If someone could, I would say diagnose and treat a condition before it manifests, they would be a good doctor. But if you can, you know, preserve health and eliminate all disease-causing factors then you’re an excellent doctor. And that’s how like the Ayurvedic practice is. But they’re not trying to, you know, just focus on you once you have this, this condition. They want to look at your whole body and they want to look at your, you know, they look at the mind, the body, the soul, and kind of from there, figure out what you need to kind of be at your optimal, maintain your optimal. And then for sure, like not get a disease and fight whatever you know, is currently going on in your life that may not be a benefit to you in terms of your health. And, and yeah, it’s really important to understand that it’s, you know, even with prevention, like prevention with these preventative techniques that we do here, they are, again, are usually centered on disease. And in Ayurveda, that’s like not the first aim. Again, first aim is preserve health, and then second treat the sick.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

So let’s, let’s try to deep dive into that a little bit. So it’s more than just the potentially herbs. So it sounds like it’s like giving herbs or these medicines are one aspect, but then it’s potentially like a body work or could be energy. Like, is there, is there, how would you classify that? I know there’s these three doshas that our vet is built on. So if you want to maybe talk about. What’s your thoughts about that?

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

So basically when treating with Ayurveda, there’s so many different techniques. Again, everything is more nature based and natural based. So the techniques, yes, dietary changes for sure is one and that’s where the herbs come in. And yes, that’s where my interests lie. However, there is more of a physical aspect too. Physical therapy which is very different from the physical therapy that we do here which is more like modality based and exercise based and that sort of thing. It’s more like they do massage there and they do acupuncture. And then a lot of their therapy has to do with meditation, yoga, breath work. So all stuff that is one can kind of do on their own sort of thing. 

You don’t need, you know, guidance is great and you can get that guidance because there’s professionals in this domain. However, it’s all like natural type of, types of things that you can kind of take into your control and you can handle on your own sort of thing. But yeah, my interest more so lies with the herbs, just because I’ve seen that, you know, now there’s like more and more research on the herbs and it’s being backed by science. So it’s something like living in the Western world, I can really appreciate. I’m in medicine. I mean this field and I kind of do feel like I need that to kind of say, “Okay, hey, like I think, you know, this works and you should do it,” or even for myself. And there’s so much more research now on this topic of these herbs that are treating all sorts of conditions. Then you know, I’m talking things from mood and sleep disorders and that sort of thing, all the way to actual conditions. There’s research out there on things like blood pressure.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

So maybe let’s, let’s take, let’s go each by one by one. Maybe we can start with the, what are the top herbs and where people you would see benefit from taking them.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Okay, so the top herbs would be the ones that we are now seeing in our health food stores here, and those are also the top herbs that are obviously used over there and they’re making their way over here quite quickly. The top three I would say are probably ashwagandha, turmeric, and tulsi which is also known as holy basil. So it’s probably like, it’s probably, it’s probably advertised here as tulsi. and, or holy basil. It’s nothing like the basil that we’re used to, which is, you know what we’ll find in our marinara sauce or something. It’s quite different.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Right. I understand it’s related, like holy basil is related to basil.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

They’re related in some type of the same family. I mean, so like these herbs would be the top herbs I would say, that we’re seeing. We’re probably see a lot more coming up, like there is amla which is Indian gooseberry. All of these herbs have these amazing benefits. And actually they are categorized as adaptogens in modern science. They’re technically like herbal pharmaceuticals I would say. So like non-toxic to the body. Of course, you know, you don’t want to take a leap, like a heap of them but they regulate stress. They were rejuvenate the body. They normalize, you know our bodily functions. They provide amazing immune support against diseases. So they have so many, so many benefits. 

But you know, going back to the core principles of Ayurveda, Ayurveda is a natural way of healing and it believes in nature, so it treats with nature. So again, these herbs come from the ground, they use them. And if you think back to like, you know when we see movies or films from the past, like how were we treating, you know, how were we treating people? They were like, they had their mortar and pestle and they were grinding away and applying these herbs you know, making little concoctions and cocktails using these herbs. So yeah, I would say there’s a vast array of them but ashwagandha would probably be my number one. If you want to get into…

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Talk about, yeah. Ashwagandha is like an adaptogen. I know I’ve seen some research that potentially could help increase testosterone levels, but how should one take ashwagandha and, you know, it’s pretty bitter.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Yeah, it is very bitter.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

How would you recommend?

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Yeah. So first of all, yeah, ashwagandha is honestly, I would say it is, you know, it’s known as the grandfather of herbs in the Ayurvedic world. It’s the top tonic. It’s an energizer of the body. And yes, it definitely works on testosterone and that sort of thing. But it is the ultimate, like, adaptogens. It promotes healthy response to stress in the body. So it’s one of the most popular herbs. And when I think of ashwagandha, I more so think about its response on the brain and all of the benefits that we can get from it because it has these great effects on the nervous system, brain cell function. It can relieve physical fatigue, nervous exhaustion. 

It actually, and research has shown that it can help with depression and anxiety because it increases the GABA receptors and serotonin or enhances GABA receptors and serotonin in our body. And then that means that GABA can connect more easily to the GABA receptor and in turn that decreases our anxiety. And that has been backed by research. Like there’s a lot of research on ashwagandha now and it’s showing that it actually has these effects in the brain. They’ve also done actually a lot of research on ashwagandha and its effects on patients that have Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. And they’re using it as a treatment mechanism now because they’re finding that what it does is it improves the set of choline levels in the brain. Because it’s, I believe it inhibits the enzyme responsible for breaking down a set of choline and that in turn then improves our brain function and our memory. So we’re seeing now that these supplements are being used probably in conjunction with, you know, medicine. But it’s having a great effect on patients that have a lot of, you know different neurological issues and issues to do with the brain. 

So when I think about ashwagandha, that’s my first thing that comes is, I think, hey, this is a great thing to have clarity of mind and all that sort of thing. But again, it’s an amazing herb and it does so many more things. It’s an antioxidant. It like seeks out and destroys free radicals. And we know that free radicals are very much so related to you know, these age related diseases. So that’s one thing. It also helps to kind of normalize our entire metabolism. It helps with hypothyroidism. It helps with balancing blood pressure, blood sugars, your hormone levels, like all these metabolic functions. So it’s really great. How you would take it? Different forms. Definitely the easiest way is, it comes in capsule form and that’s what you’ll see the market. But then you see powder form. I really like the powder form. 

And you know, you can mix it into anything. You can mix into your coffee. That’s what I do. I mix mine into my coffee every morning. It gives a little bit of, a little bit of a bitter taste to it. But I mean, it’s quite nice. You can mix it into, you know, your smoothie, whatever it is. Like it’s so easy to use and it’s not like you’re taking, like the dosage is quite small itself. I think it’s about like I do about half a teaspoon twice a day sort of thing. So I do it with my morning coffee, but then it’s also very calming and relaxing. So I also do in the evening with my tea and it helps to put you to bed and relax you. So it’s a really good one.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Okay. And let’s talk about turmeric then, which I think is also curcumin, right? It’s the same.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Yeah, so curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. And turmeric is, if ashwagandha is not number one, then it’s turmeric for sure. And turmeric is probably the one that we hear more of, right? So turmeric is…

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Starbucks. Every Starbucks latte is now turmeric.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Exactly. And that’s a great way to take turmeric. It’s the easy, it’s probably one of the easiest ways of taking it. So turmeric is really amazing because the effects of turmeric it’s an anti-inflammatory. That’s essentially what it is. And it’s one of the most popular herbs from the East that’s made its way to the West. It’s very, very popular in like our Indian cooking. But again, it also comes in supplement form. So it’s super easy to use. Turmeric capsules, what essentially all they are is just turmeric. But you will find that when you look at the supplements on the market, you’ll often find it’s turmeric plus something and that’s something is usually black pepper. 

And the reason why you will find that and when you are shopping for turmeric, you want that. Because as I said, the bioactive compound, the main ingredient in turmeric is the curcumin. And so curcumin, it’s the active ingredient, but it’s great because it works on a cellular level. However, the problem with it is it’s not, like the bioactivity of it doesn’t work as well. It doesn’t get absorbed in our body. And so it requires another ingredient to kind of help it absorb more. And so the black pepper has an active ingredient in it called piperine. And piperine, when it combines with the curcumin, it increases the bioavailability of the curcumin, the turmeric by 2000%. So to the body absorbs it better. And that’s when you get all of the benefits of turmeric. So reduces inflammation. That is the main one, right?

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

So is it? I’m jumping ahead to the chocolate. Have you added black pepper with the turmeric in the chocolate?

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Yes. Yes. It has to be like, so if the levels have to be, you know, the abundance of the black pepper has to correspond with the amount of turmeric you’re putting in. But absolutely. If you want the benefits, if you want the benefits of turmeric and you must put black pepper to kind of get that. Because that curcumin is the main component of the turmeric. It makes it, you know that it gives it all that anti-inflammatory effect. So it’s really great, turmeric. You know, there’s, they’re, we’re using it on osteoarthritis patients, rheumatoid arthritis patients. It’s helping with pain. It’s helping with inflammation. So yeah, anti-inflammatory effects are probably number one but I mean, turmeric too, it helps with your mood, memory learning. You know all these herbs just do so much. It’s quite interesting. It prevents cell damage, reduces the free radicals as well oxidative stress. So it’s really something. And turmeric is probably the easiest thing to implement because, you know, you can add it to your cooking. You know, if you add it, if it’s like one of your main spices, the way you, we add, you know, salt and pepper and then, you’re solid. You don’t have to take it in supplement form.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Eh mm. Okay. And then what’s the third one you mentioned? You mentioned a third, a Ayurvedic herb.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

So I would say, you know, one of the most important herbs that we should really, really, and now’s the time for this herb, because it’s all about immunity and you know, the climate of the world right now with COVID and all. Tulsi. So tulsi is…

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Oh, yes.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

holy basil. And it is probably the best herb in terms of immune response because it has broad spectrum antimicrobial activity. And that’s what really interests me with tulsi. Because again, those, he is one of those herbs that you know, growing up in an Indian household, we hear about because… Sorry, my internet thing is going off. But, so basically with tulsi, you’ll find in India and whatnot that it is considered like the queen herb. It is actually, you know, holy basil is a holy earth. It’s in all Hindu households. There’ll be growing it inside, or there’ll be growing it you know, outside of their house.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

We have the plant.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

We used to have the plant and we use to take, eat a leaf off that plant.

Yeah and that’s it. And you know what, you can. You can just totally take a leaf off of it. And actually with tulsi, you can use every part of it, like the stem, the leaf, and they have different effects and whatnot. But the leaf for sure, is probably the most, you know, the most used. And it’s so versatile because again, yeah, grind it down. You can just eat the leaves. You can put it in your tea and make it, you know, make whatever you want. But it really is great because it can work against a range of human and animal pathogens. 

It’s considered to be antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory as well. And an analgesic painkiller. Tulsi is also extremely high in vitamin C and zinc. And therefore it acts as a natural immunity booster. In fact, the extracts that are made of the leaf, they say, you know, they increase your T helper cell and natural killer cell activity. So it really boosts our immune system. So, you know, they’re using tulsi in, you know enhanced sanitizer and like antiseptic, like mouthwashes. There was a study that showed, you know, taking tulsi I think twice, twice a week or so, would help you to fight like tooth decay and like plaque build up and whatnot. It helps with, and really yeah it’s amazing because it helps with infections and wounds. 

So really healing like ulcers and skin conditions like acne, keloid, scars. So that’s where I really think back to like, you know these topic-, these, these herbs that are grinded down and use as a topical agent. And that’s what they did back in the day. And we can use these herbs to kind of help with our healing and speed up healing. They say that tulsi like will, when there’s a wound, it will really like speed up the healing and the strength of, you know, the breaking strength you know. So it’s, it’s really amazing. I think tulsi’s probably, now’s the time for tulsi to shine. If like, you know, ashwagandha and turmeric are really popular, but I think we will be hearing more of tulsi. And it’s gonna start showing up in a lot more of the supplements that we’ve been seeing now you know, in the West.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

What do you think are the next in the upcoming year? What are the ones that you’re going to be focusing? Other Ayurvedic herbs that you’d like to, you think are becoming and have benefit.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Okay, so there’s, there’s tons, but the one that I think is really, really great, it’s called giloy. And there’s another one, which is amla which is Indian gooseberry. Now these two are, you know, I think that they’re really even like, just even more standout superstars when it comes to these herbs, because they, the benefits that those two herbs have, they’re like a universal, you know. They’re both seen as like a universal type of herb because they can help with high blood pressure. They can help with, you know, energy stimulation, that sort of thing. It’s a natural way of, you know, functioning better sort of thing. High cholesterol, all sorts of types of, you know, again, preventative types of things. Or, you know, if you’re on like the borderline type of thing like, you know, take this and, you know, it will kind of help you without having to go with the route of medicine that sort of thing. So those two are really great. I’ve I’ve already started working with them. Amla actually is, it’s not an herb, but it is a, it’s a fruit.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Yeah that is very tasty. It’s a tasty, tasty fruit.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Yeah, it’s a very, it’s sour. It’s a sour fruit, a sour fruit but it has, it’s very interesting. Like, I think you get like all of the senses in there in terms of like taste story. So like it’s a little bitter than a sour. And then the after taste of it, it’s there, it’s sweet. So that’s an easy, you know, they dry it up. It’s very easy to eat. And I think that’s something that we’re going to kind of be, you see a lot of. Amla actually has eight times the amount of vitamin C than an orange. So, you know, when we think vitamin C, we think oranges. So, I mean, I think it’s, it’s, it’s much more of a super food than a fruit even, you know.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

So maybe just that I know you’ve tied it. How did you, how did you, you marry? You’ve married chocolate now in Ayurvedic herbs. If you want to tell our listeners about that and you know, it’d be great.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Yeah. Okay, great. So, yeah, so I started making chocolate I want to say eight or nine years ago and it started off just because it’s my favorite food in the whole world. Willy Wonka is like my, my dream to be like him. And so I started off making, you know, just typical, just very tasty, rich sweets, good flavored like delicious chocolate, you know. And then over the years I kind of, you know, realized that, “Hey like maybe I should tie in my love for like health and chocolate together.” And that’s kinda where it started. And then my interest piqued because I was working with a manufacturer in India and I would travel to India a lot. Like I would, prior to this pandemic, I would go every single year. And my uncle there is also a pharmacist. And it’s funny because he’s, full-out a pharmacist. 

They work with all the medications that we have here that our doctors prescribe us. But at the same time at his pharmacy, he had all these herbs. Like this is the first time I got my hands on ashwagandha was from his pharmacy. And then I had gone back to the factory where we were starting to produce our chocolates. And I said, “Hey, listen, like I want to implement the stuff from here. Like my chocolates are being made here. I want to implement all the goods that you guys have. And then we started kind of working away on on these, these ingredients. Like I, I amended my chocolate recipes. And then it kind of snowballs into where I want to take this. This snack that everybody here like, you know, it’s one of, I think, it is the world’s most popular snack. They say that 50% of the population, eat it every single day. Like that’s, it’s one of the most popular foods. And I wanted it to be where, you know, it can have, it can be a positive thing. 

You know what I mean? Like eating, chocolate’s always seen as, okay, it’s unhealthy and dah, dah, dah. But chocolate itself is very healthy. You know, if you get the right chocolate, if you get, you know, a dark chocolate, it has health benefits itself. So I said, “Hey, we’re going to take this healthy version of chocolate. We’re going to mix them these herbs. And we’re going to target specific conditions or types of, you know, moods. We want to, you know, we want to work on the brain. We want to work on giving you energy. And I’m going to take the best ingredients for each of those purposes and put them together. And here we are, and we’re ready to kind of get this healthy chocolate that I hadn’t really seen on the market out there, so.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

That’s awesome. So you have four different types of chocolates. I understand, right? So don’t you just take the people through it. And what site, what website can they go to?

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

So my website is www.onetwentyover80.com. So that is 80 in digits, but one-twenty-over is written out. And yes, we have four flavors. We have Vitality, Power, Clarity. And so these are all targeted using these amazing ingredients that I spoke on. We have turmeric in there. We have ashwagandha. We have the giloy, and the amla and the tulsi. And then we have all, all sorts of other beautiful ingredients like coconut. And we have goji berries, and we have strawberries and blueberries, and just really… If some of the ingredients you think these don’t really go together but they really do. So it’s giving you like some of that bitter flavor of the, of some that the herb gives you, but we’re combining it with really tasty ingredients, sweeter ingredients that really just give you that little kick, that kind of melt in the mouth type of thing. And they really come together nicely, so. And then you get all these health benefits by eating them. So it’s really great.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

And it’s dark chocolate as well.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

It’s dark chocolate. Yes, it’s absolutely dark chocolate. You got to go dark. If we’re talking health, you know, it’s gotta be dark. And you know it’s also the quality of the bean that is used. So we’re using a very, very high quality bean. So it is that, that texture really that mouth feel really helps. And… it’s delicious. I mean, I think that everyone’s really gonna like it.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Okay. I’m a big fan of myself. I have my bag as well.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Okay, perfect. So there you go then.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Okay, I think that’s awesome. Anything else you want to end off with? Like any what’s the next, what are the next chocolates coming or anything? Anything specific…

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

– Yeah, so we’re launching next week. The chocolates are available on our website. We also are, what we’ve done is we bottled up the herbs that we’re using. So you can actually just purchase those as well. So ashwagandha, turmeric. We also have bottled up which our next line of chocolates is also going to work on adaptogenic mushrooms. So we have some reishi mushroom. And that’s what our next phase of chocolates is looking like. We are adding in all those amazing mushrooms as well. 

They have great properties. So I think that’s something that we need to get out there. So yeah, everything is going to be available on the website. The supplements are easy to use powder form, mix them in. We have great recipes on the website, and that’s pretty much it. And yeah, I’m just excited about these herbs because honestly, like, we’re just like, we’re at the tip of it. It’s starting to be a big thing in the Western world. But I think in the next years is really going to blow up. And I think that everyone really needs to start learning about these because the benefits that we can get from them. It’s unbelievable.

Sanjeev Goel, MD, FCFP (PC), CAFCI 

Thank you so much. Thank you so much to Naeha. I really appreciate your time today.

Naeha Sareen​, D.C.

Okay, great. Thank you.