How To Make Chia Seed Tonics

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Seamus Mullen knows what it's like to turn your life around. After a near-deadly battle with an autoimmune disease, he took it upon himself to overhaul his lifestyle.

The award-winning chef of NYC's Tertulia and El Colmado turned to nutrition and exercise, and is now an impressive cyclist who's made his way across Italy on two wheels and clocked in hundreds of miles for the annual Chefs Cycle charity ride. During colder weather, you'll find him doing strength training in the gym (you know what they say about summer bodies being made in the winter) or riding the season out on his bike trainer indoors.

In his latest cookbook, Real Food Heals, Mullen writes about how to make the kind of food that fuels him, like healthful tonics he swears by. And, no, not the kind you're dousing with a three-second pour of gin: Refreshing, nutrient-packed concoctions that are engineered toward bettering your health.

Take his lime and maple chia tonic (get the recipe), which proves that even if you're laying off the stacks of pancakes for a bit, it doesn't mean you can't still get your fill of maple syrup. Lime juice keeps the end result from being cloying, and chia seeds turn drinking to your health into a textural sensation. Use this one for post-workout recovery, as the manganese, zinc and potassium in maple syrup make your muscles as happy as the syrup does your sweet tooth.

There's also a rosemary-grapefruit number (get the recipe) that'll have you feeling your best, thanks to the immune system support compounds rosemary is said to have. But perhaps the best part of these drinks is how adaptable they are—it's easy to pivot these recipes into an orange-thyme version or to add a touch more maple for a sweeter drink.

"I realized early on that refined sugar needed to come out of my diet, but that left a hole, particularly with beverages." He saw this as a way to make something healthy—but that still actually tasted good. Refined sugar inevitably makes its way into many packaged drinks, so Mullen prefers to make his own.

All we can say is if that's the secret to moves like this . . . we'll have what he's having.