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"    Photo: Courtesy of Peter Ash Lee   Each month, ELLE.com wades through the blogosphere in search of just the right guest blogger\u2014or in this month&amp;#039;s case, guest bloggers\u2014to post regularly on our site&amp;#039;s dispatch blog. In honor of our June Body Issue (starring Kerry Washington, on newsstands now), we tapped Alexia Brue and Melisse Gelula, the founders of WellandGoodNYC.com, who&amp;#039;ll bring us regular doses of their fitness and nutrition expertise. Sometime soon, your health-conscious co-worker may ask you if you want to do a shot. At noon. Before a big meeting. Don&amp;#039;t worry\u2014she&amp;#039;s likely not talking tequila, but a new school of healthy shots made from concentrated plant extracts and herbs. An increasing number of health food and juice purveyors are offering up tiny 1- and 2-ounce tinctures, each of which makes a functional promise\u2014from giving you an energy boost (hello, afternoon meeting!) to better digestion and glowing skin.   In portion size and in purported health benefits, &amp;quot;they&amp;#039;re like next-generation wheat grass,&amp;quot; says New York City-based Juice Generation founder Eric Helms. &amp;quot;Shots are a simple, easy, quick way to establish healthy habits.&amp;quot; Helms just launched a line of DD (Dynamic Do-All) shots, which includes selections like Sea Buckthorn, a hand-harvested Himalayan berry thought to have beauty-boosting properties, and Bee Pollen + Maca, which Juice Generation calls &amp;quot;nature&amp;#039;s multivitamin.&amp;quot; (You could also take this one before a date, since maca has, um, put-you-in-the-mood properties.) On the West Coast, Urban Remedy, which makes cold-pressed juices, is launching a range of spikes on June 18. And acupuncturist-herbalist founder Neka Pasquale created them to have almost medicinal benefits. The Detox Spike, for example, includes turmeric and milk thistle, and Pasquale says it supports liver detoxification, offers antioxidant protection, and lowers inflammation. All of her shots are also made with a probiotic base, so your gut gets a healthy boost, too. Organic Avenue has been serving a steady stream of booster shots for some time, including aloe for digestion and skin, and Enlivening E3, a blue-green algae loaded with energy- and immune-system boosting chlorophyll, vitamins, and minerals. &amp;quot;Booster shots have always been great sellers for us. Many of our customers have incorporated them into their daily routines,&amp;quot; says spokesperson Jessie Gould. The company recently released two new shots, Kumquat and an oregano oil-garlic blend meant to banish Candida. Of course, unlike your apple-sweetened green juice, many of these concentrated, potent formulas don&amp;#039;t exactly, well, taste great. And they&amp;#039;re not free either\u2014most cost about $5 a pop. So is it really worth downing them? &amp;quot;A shot of something concentrated will be absorbed more quickly through your digestive system,&amp;quot; says holistic health coach Alexandra Jamieson, the author of The Great American Detox Diet and star of Super Size Me. &amp;quot;Some people swear by them for quick energy.&amp;quot; Registered dietician and Foodtrainers founder Lauren Slayton agrees, but it can be more complicated, she says. &amp;quot;I advise clients to take energy-boosting shots like E3 on an empty stomach because it will produce a quick boost. However, quicker isn&amp;#039;t always better. In some cases, [sipping them] with food is better. Some nutrients require stomach acid for absorption.&amp;quot; Of course, whether you throw one back or dump one in your smoothie, unlike tequila, one of these shots certainly won&amp;#039;t hurt.&amp;quot; \u2014Alexia and Melisse    "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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