BIG pot of carrots cooked then pureed, eaten as a thick soup with some ginger and sour cream, yum. I'm actually stuffed. On carrot soup! Hardly any calories.
I was going to do a post on the wonderful carrot, carrot juice which I love, and the lore I'm aware of about people curing themselves of cancer on the stuff. I could repeat a couple anecdotes but it probably deserves more research.
I did at least find a website on the glorious carrot for anyone who might be interested, and a page linked from that one that discusses the relative merits of cooking them versus eating them raw . In a nutshell: Cooking makes the beta carotene more available than eating carrots raw, but there are good and better ways of doing it, and juicing the carrots is even better for releasing the nutrients.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Down Off the Green Smoothy Cloud, Part 2: Adelle Davis and the history of Nutritionism
Really bogged down on this Green Smoothy topic, haven't I? Have versions of other posts I thought I'd have put up by now waiting in the wings. Don't know if I'll even get them finished now.
I think I started this diet change at the wrong time of year. Not only does the cold make it difficult but my finances are extra low now too and although they say it's not an expensive diet, for me it is. A green smoothy takes enough greens and fruit for three or four normal meals. That's of course what gives it such a powerful nutritional impact. And if you buy organic produce it's even more expensive. And other changes go along with it that can also get expensive as you get deeper into the dietary requirements. It would be nice to be able to give it a serious try, but it isn't going to happen for me right now. Maybe some other time.
As I've been reading about the Raw Food Diet of which the Green Smoothy is a big part I've also been getting into the general Health Food lore, and was reminded of Adelle Davis who is really the grandmother of the whole alternate nutrition world. There were a few faddist health food places in the 40s and 50s -- I know because I had an aunt who was into them. I remember going with her to a health food bar as a child and getting a carrot juice. But Adelle Davis gave all that a big boost and now there are health food stores in every town, and the big market chain Whole Foods. It's become quite the industry and Adelle Davis should get a big share of the credit. I read at least one of her books back in the late 60s - early 70s and was enough of a follower to use her advice when I was pregnant. Gained WAY too much weight packing in the protein and vitamins her idea of healthy eating required.
As I've been reading along about these things it's struck me how these days some nutritional ideas that are going out of favor with the Health Food people are ideas she originated, although these are not attributed to her but to the evil "food industry" or the evil "medical profession" or the evil FDA -- the nutritional enemy of the day whatever it happens to be.
For instance, protein is no longer the big deal she made of it. I don't really know why it was in her day either. If the American diet is low in anything it's not protein. We've always been a bunch of meat eaters and milk drinkers too -- it's why Americans were known even in the early part of the 20th century to grow taller than others around the world. But Adelle carried on as if Americans were suffering from protein malnutrition, and just like all Health Foodists blamed the "food industry," whatever that is, or some other favorite boogyman. Her nutritionist heirs have picked up the blame habit although now they may be complaining about something she actually originated and not know it.
For instance, now saturated fat is making a comeback after years of being regarded as bad for health, but who gets the blame for that assessment of it? The "soy industry," or the evil "medical profession" or some such, when it was Adelle Davis who started that notion, the nutritionists' own Great Lady. She had a recipe for mixing unsaturated oil with butter to cut down on the saturated fat in the butter. It was a big thing with her. And if the "food industry" or the evil "medical profession" picked up on that and made it the staple of a "heart-healthy" diet, it's because of her and those who followed her lead. I remember Davis talking about certain oils as if they were poison itself because they are saturated fats, the very same oils you may find recommended along with the Green Smoothy diet these days, coconut oil for instance.
Also, in some areas soy is going out, some even calling it a "poison" after years of its being considered a great health boon. Guess who started the soy bean craze? No, not the "soy industry," Adelle Davis -- because of her protein mania, soy being supposedly this wonderful cheap source of protein. The soy industry was created as a result of the clamoring of those who followed Davis' and other health-foodists' advice, just as the unsaturated fat industry was created from the same influence. Specially advertised unsaturated fats started appearing in the supermarkets in the late 60s or early 70s.
So did yogurt start getting big about that time, another Adelle Davis favorite (as was milk in general with her, which now is rejected by the Raw Foodists). Of course Americans had to have yogurt sweetened, so it was only a compromise and plain yogurt has remained a low seller by comparison. But business gets created where there is a market. The market first of all caters to habits and to taste, that's why we get SO much sugar in everything. People LIKE it so it sells. But nutritional information also has an impact, and Adelle Davis was probably the biggest influence on that market for years. Organic foods were pushed by nutritionists and most big stores now carry them. Now I think I see signs that the Raw Food diet may be catching on as well.
I think I started this diet change at the wrong time of year. Not only does the cold make it difficult but my finances are extra low now too and although they say it's not an expensive diet, for me it is. A green smoothy takes enough greens and fruit for three or four normal meals. That's of course what gives it such a powerful nutritional impact. And if you buy organic produce it's even more expensive. And other changes go along with it that can also get expensive as you get deeper into the dietary requirements. It would be nice to be able to give it a serious try, but it isn't going to happen for me right now. Maybe some other time.
As I've been reading about the Raw Food Diet of which the Green Smoothy is a big part I've also been getting into the general Health Food lore, and was reminded of Adelle Davis who is really the grandmother of the whole alternate nutrition world. There were a few faddist health food places in the 40s and 50s -- I know because I had an aunt who was into them. I remember going with her to a health food bar as a child and getting a carrot juice. But Adelle Davis gave all that a big boost and now there are health food stores in every town, and the big market chain Whole Foods. It's become quite the industry and Adelle Davis should get a big share of the credit. I read at least one of her books back in the late 60s - early 70s and was enough of a follower to use her advice when I was pregnant. Gained WAY too much weight packing in the protein and vitamins her idea of healthy eating required.
As I've been reading along about these things it's struck me how these days some nutritional ideas that are going out of favor with the Health Food people are ideas she originated, although these are not attributed to her but to the evil "food industry" or the evil "medical profession" or the evil FDA -- the nutritional enemy of the day whatever it happens to be.
For instance, protein is no longer the big deal she made of it. I don't really know why it was in her day either. If the American diet is low in anything it's not protein. We've always been a bunch of meat eaters and milk drinkers too -- it's why Americans were known even in the early part of the 20th century to grow taller than others around the world. But Adelle carried on as if Americans were suffering from protein malnutrition, and just like all Health Foodists blamed the "food industry," whatever that is, or some other favorite boogyman. Her nutritionist heirs have picked up the blame habit although now they may be complaining about something she actually originated and not know it.
For instance, now saturated fat is making a comeback after years of being regarded as bad for health, but who gets the blame for that assessment of it? The "soy industry," or the evil "medical profession" or some such, when it was Adelle Davis who started that notion, the nutritionists' own Great Lady. She had a recipe for mixing unsaturated oil with butter to cut down on the saturated fat in the butter. It was a big thing with her. And if the "food industry" or the evil "medical profession" picked up on that and made it the staple of a "heart-healthy" diet, it's because of her and those who followed her lead. I remember Davis talking about certain oils as if they were poison itself because they are saturated fats, the very same oils you may find recommended along with the Green Smoothy diet these days, coconut oil for instance.
Also, in some areas soy is going out, some even calling it a "poison" after years of its being considered a great health boon. Guess who started the soy bean craze? No, not the "soy industry," Adelle Davis -- because of her protein mania, soy being supposedly this wonderful cheap source of protein. The soy industry was created as a result of the clamoring of those who followed Davis' and other health-foodists' advice, just as the unsaturated fat industry was created from the same influence. Specially advertised unsaturated fats started appearing in the supermarkets in the late 60s or early 70s.
So did yogurt start getting big about that time, another Adelle Davis favorite (as was milk in general with her, which now is rejected by the Raw Foodists). Of course Americans had to have yogurt sweetened, so it was only a compromise and plain yogurt has remained a low seller by comparison. But business gets created where there is a market. The market first of all caters to habits and to taste, that's why we get SO much sugar in everything. People LIKE it so it sells. But nutritional information also has an impact, and Adelle Davis was probably the biggest influence on that market for years. Organic foods were pushed by nutritionists and most big stores now carry them. Now I think I see signs that the Raw Food diet may be catching on as well.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Down Off the Green Smoothy Cloud, Part 1
I want to do a series of posts now that are going to stir up some dust as I want to raise some doubts and criticisms about the worlds of alternative medicine and health foods.
Just to be clear, I'm not going to be objecting to Green Smoothies or even the Raw Diet as such. I have no reason to doubt any of the testimonials about this form of nutrition and there are many out there.
Nutritionally there's nothing wrong with the smoothies in concept or in practical application that I can see. It's all good food in concentrated form and it's bound to have good effects for those who stick to it, maybe even some very dramatic effects as some have in fact reported. I don't doubt this at all, and I happen to think there's something to the claims for the healing power of carrot juice as well, and eventually I want to write about that. (Carrots are not a part of the Green Smoothy concept, they're a pet food of my own).
I may myself be giving up on green smoothies, however, although maybe not completely, and the reason has to do with getting my head straightened out about a few things. I've had some "aha" experiences in the last day or two that led me to this.
First, although I really like the idea of the smoothies and I like the experience of drinking them too, I was running into problems. Some of it has to do with my addiction to coffee, as it conflicts with the smoothies in various ways. The bitter taste in my mouth has not gone away, and while I know that's from the coffee I also know it's somehow affected by the greens in the smoothy. From time to time I give up coffee for long periods because it's so acid in my stomach and it's about time I gave it up again, and that may make the smoothy project a lot easier. Right now, however, it's very cold out, I'm out of tea, and there's so much snow I really don't feel like going out to the market to get some. So that just puts the smoothies on hold for a while.
AHA! experience #1: You don't need smoothies to get enough vegies:
Meanwhile I got into using up the ingredients for the smoothies in ways I really have been enjoying and this is boosting my intake of good vegies for the better. The potato and chard dish I made night before last was beyond delicious. Last night I made a carrot soup that was so good I gobbled down what was left of it straight out of the refrigerator this morning. Hardly any calories, a ton of beta carotene and total yum!
Tonight I plan to make a spinach soup on the same basic plan -- saute some onion in a little olive oil and butter, add some water, part of it chicken broth, then as much of the sliced/diced/shredded vegie as will fit just under the liquid - or shrivel down to that level in the case of spinach. Simmer until soft, then puree in the blender. I also added some garlic powder to the carrot soup at the end, may do the same with the spinach.
Unless you are really convinced of the raw-foodist idea that cooking food ruins it nutritionally (and I am not -- more to come on this subject), this has to be a power-packed soup, carrot or spinach to the max, and if the blender does help to make nutrients more available for digestion, as the green smoothy lore says it does, it ought to do the same to the hot soup as well. The aha experience in this was the recognition that the raw smoothies are not the only way to pack in the nutrition from greens and other vegetables that we tend not to get enough of. I just hadn't been eating them this way in a long time, and I want to get back to it, and in fact I want to increase this kind of eating. And for that I can thank the Green Smoothy camp. It may not have the dramatic health benefits of the smoothies but it has to contribute to health overall.
Then I also have been increasing my intake of vegie salads, which I love anyway. In this case I'm not using up smoothy ingredients -- except apple -- just eating more vegies in general which the smoothy idea inspired. Crunchies starting with cauliflower, celery, bell pepper and apple. Oil, vinegar and garlic dressing I make myself.
Then I had a 4-oz piece of New York steak with it, beautifully browned, pink inside. They're on sale for 3.99 lb in the Family Pack, the same price as the frozen tilapia I also like to stock up on. Cut them into 3-or-4-oz pieces and freeze them and I can have steak for two weeks if I want.
I do get Carb Craving with just meat and vegies though, and having none of the usual carbs around at the moment -- like potatoes, rice and pasta -- I had a piece of toast with butter. It works.
On to AHA! Experience #2: Raw is good, but so is Cooked
Just to be clear, I'm not going to be objecting to Green Smoothies or even the Raw Diet as such. I have no reason to doubt any of the testimonials about this form of nutrition and there are many out there.
Nutritionally there's nothing wrong with the smoothies in concept or in practical application that I can see. It's all good food in concentrated form and it's bound to have good effects for those who stick to it, maybe even some very dramatic effects as some have in fact reported. I don't doubt this at all, and I happen to think there's something to the claims for the healing power of carrot juice as well, and eventually I want to write about that. (Carrots are not a part of the Green Smoothy concept, they're a pet food of my own).
I may myself be giving up on green smoothies, however, although maybe not completely, and the reason has to do with getting my head straightened out about a few things. I've had some "aha" experiences in the last day or two that led me to this.
First, although I really like the idea of the smoothies and I like the experience of drinking them too, I was running into problems. Some of it has to do with my addiction to coffee, as it conflicts with the smoothies in various ways. The bitter taste in my mouth has not gone away, and while I know that's from the coffee I also know it's somehow affected by the greens in the smoothy. From time to time I give up coffee for long periods because it's so acid in my stomach and it's about time I gave it up again, and that may make the smoothy project a lot easier. Right now, however, it's very cold out, I'm out of tea, and there's so much snow I really don't feel like going out to the market to get some. So that just puts the smoothies on hold for a while.
AHA! experience #1: You don't need smoothies to get enough vegies:
Meanwhile I got into using up the ingredients for the smoothies in ways I really have been enjoying and this is boosting my intake of good vegies for the better. The potato and chard dish I made night before last was beyond delicious. Last night I made a carrot soup that was so good I gobbled down what was left of it straight out of the refrigerator this morning. Hardly any calories, a ton of beta carotene and total yum!
Tonight I plan to make a spinach soup on the same basic plan -- saute some onion in a little olive oil and butter, add some water, part of it chicken broth, then as much of the sliced/diced/shredded vegie as will fit just under the liquid - or shrivel down to that level in the case of spinach. Simmer until soft, then puree in the blender. I also added some garlic powder to the carrot soup at the end, may do the same with the spinach.
Unless you are really convinced of the raw-foodist idea that cooking food ruins it nutritionally (and I am not -- more to come on this subject), this has to be a power-packed soup, carrot or spinach to the max, and if the blender does help to make nutrients more available for digestion, as the green smoothy lore says it does, it ought to do the same to the hot soup as well. The aha experience in this was the recognition that the raw smoothies are not the only way to pack in the nutrition from greens and other vegetables that we tend not to get enough of. I just hadn't been eating them this way in a long time, and I want to get back to it, and in fact I want to increase this kind of eating. And for that I can thank the Green Smoothy camp. It may not have the dramatic health benefits of the smoothies but it has to contribute to health overall.
Then I also have been increasing my intake of vegie salads, which I love anyway. In this case I'm not using up smoothy ingredients -- except apple -- just eating more vegies in general which the smoothy idea inspired. Crunchies starting with cauliflower, celery, bell pepper and apple. Oil, vinegar and garlic dressing I make myself.
Then I had a 4-oz piece of New York steak with it, beautifully browned, pink inside. They're on sale for 3.99 lb in the Family Pack, the same price as the frozen tilapia I also like to stock up on. Cut them into 3-or-4-oz pieces and freeze them and I can have steak for two weeks if I want.
I do get Carb Craving with just meat and vegies though, and having none of the usual carbs around at the moment -- like potatoes, rice and pasta -- I had a piece of toast with butter. It works.
On to AHA! Experience #2: Raw is good, but so is Cooked
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Green Smoothy Detour
Just didn't want to do a smoothy today. I'm going to have to reorient and get back to it. Not giving up, just figuring this is the way it has to go with a new thing, on again off again until it either takes hold or doesn't.
I read one blogger recently who did the 30-Day Raw Food Diet. He'd started it four or five times previously and it didn't take for him -- not enough calories was the basic problem -- so he did more research and tried again. He analyzed the calorie deficit problem and realized getting enough in this diet depends upon the natural fats -- in the form of nuts and avocados -- and/or the fruits, and decided the emphasis should be on the fruits. I'll have to reread it to know why it didn't take this time either, but it didn't, although it had some benefits he enjoyed and he found some foods he wanted to make a part of his usual diet. So be it. We'll either find a way to make use of the ideas or not.
In researching about the green smoothies and the overall raw food diet (I do plan to post links with some opinions eventually) I ran across some interesting related foods. One I kept being attracted to was Carrot Milkshake. One health-food practice I do occasionally do is juice my own fruits and vegetables. I used to do a lot more of it but I did go through a bag of carrots in a few days about a month ago. I love carrot juice.
So tonight I made a carrot milkshake instead of a green smoothy. I juiced the carrots first and then mixed them with their own fiber in the blender. Seemed easier than grating them first or watching my blender struggle with hard pieces of carrot (Now THAT's a job for one of those huge powerful blenders). I used six medium carrots instead of one large one, used a scant cup of milk instead of 10 ounces, used 2T sugar instead of 1-1/2. I have no cardamom, wish I did but it still tasted good. Yes, very nice drink.
Then the chard I had for the smoothies was getting wilted so I cooked it and some potatoes and then sauteed them together with garlic in olive oil, added some butter at the end, and boy was THAT good. I thought that one up myself but I did check the internet and found a recipe very close to what I'd thought up, so I followed its steps.
I'll never be a vegan, or any kind of vegetarian, but I do love vegies.
I read one blogger recently who did the 30-Day Raw Food Diet. He'd started it four or five times previously and it didn't take for him -- not enough calories was the basic problem -- so he did more research and tried again. He analyzed the calorie deficit problem and realized getting enough in this diet depends upon the natural fats -- in the form of nuts and avocados -- and/or the fruits, and decided the emphasis should be on the fruits. I'll have to reread it to know why it didn't take this time either, but it didn't, although it had some benefits he enjoyed and he found some foods he wanted to make a part of his usual diet. So be it. We'll either find a way to make use of the ideas or not.
In researching about the green smoothies and the overall raw food diet (I do plan to post links with some opinions eventually) I ran across some interesting related foods. One I kept being attracted to was Carrot Milkshake. One health-food practice I do occasionally do is juice my own fruits and vegetables. I used to do a lot more of it but I did go through a bag of carrots in a few days about a month ago. I love carrot juice.
So tonight I made a carrot milkshake instead of a green smoothy. I juiced the carrots first and then mixed them with their own fiber in the blender. Seemed easier than grating them first or watching my blender struggle with hard pieces of carrot (Now THAT's a job for one of those huge powerful blenders). I used six medium carrots instead of one large one, used a scant cup of milk instead of 10 ounces, used 2T sugar instead of 1-1/2. I have no cardamom, wish I did but it still tasted good. Yes, very nice drink.
Then the chard I had for the smoothies was getting wilted so I cooked it and some potatoes and then sauteed them together with garlic in olive oil, added some butter at the end, and boy was THAT good. I thought that one up myself but I did check the internet and found a recipe very close to what I'd thought up, so I followed its steps.
I'll never be a vegan, or any kind of vegetarian, but I do love vegies.
Green Smoothy Glitch of the Day
This morning's report is that I woke up with a very unpleasant bitter taste in my mouth. At first I thought it was the smoothy that did it, but I went and made (instant) coffee and the bitter taste of the coffee made it clear THAT was the source of it. Apparently the smoothy and the coffee are at war with each other and I'm going to have to make a choice.
This morning I went ahead and had the coffee anyway, from habit. Added a little extra sweetener. I want to do this Green Smoothy regime but I also don't want to force habit changes on myself because they'll just make me irritable and more likely not to stick it out. I'm really hoping that as I go any changes I really need to make will just sort of spontaneously begin to move into my life, organically as it were, changing my subjective experience in favor of them.
Then S emailed me about a spice tea that she likes as a substitute for coffee, and I have to suppose it would probably go better with the smoothy than the coffee does so I'm going to keep it in mind as a reasonable substitute.
She had tried to post this as a comment on my last smoothy blog post but was unable to figure out how to do it, so I'll copy her comment here.
I don't know why but the different templates for Blogspot blogs also have different formats for posting comments. This particular design apparently doesn't allow Anonymous postings -- you have to have a "profile" or one of various accounts in order to post, unless I'm not understanding completely how it works.
Anyway, here's what she wrote:
(Her mention of the sweetener stevia reminds me that this too is a change I expect to be making, but as with so much in the alternative health lifestyle it is controversial and I'll probably do a post on it eventually. Also on soy products -- hint: they make me sick, the very thought of soy protein turns my stomach because of a particular experience I definitely should write about).
I'd also like to rename the tea of course as I'm not into Yogis. Maybe I'll use just a few of the spices and call it Apostle Tea or Pilgrim Tea or something like that for starters.
This morning I went ahead and had the coffee anyway, from habit. Added a little extra sweetener. I want to do this Green Smoothy regime but I also don't want to force habit changes on myself because they'll just make me irritable and more likely not to stick it out. I'm really hoping that as I go any changes I really need to make will just sort of spontaneously begin to move into my life, organically as it were, changing my subjective experience in favor of them.
Then S emailed me about a spice tea that she likes as a substitute for coffee, and I have to suppose it would probably go better with the smoothy than the coffee does so I'm going to keep it in mind as a reasonable substitute.
She had tried to post this as a comment on my last smoothy blog post but was unable to figure out how to do it, so I'll copy her comment here.
I don't know why but the different templates for Blogspot blogs also have different formats for posting comments. This particular design apparently doesn't allow Anonymous postings -- you have to have a "profile" or one of various accounts in order to post, unless I'm not understanding completely how it works.
Anyway, here's what she wrote:
This is probably very good advice and I'm going to keep it in mind although right now I don't happen to have any of the spices on hand. Since spices are very expensive I've had to forgo many of my favorites for a long time as it is (and the nearest Asian store isn't close), but if this diet change goes through for me I do expect to be gradually changing many things, it's just going to have to be slow.Good for you! If you want a delicious, stimulating, warming, healthy substitute for coffee, try YOGI TEA. I've been drinking it with a sprinkle of stevia and a drop of soy cream, for 20 years.
If you can go to an Asian food store you can get ingredients cheaply.
YOGI TEA
4 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
Large knob of sliced fresh ginger
sprinkling of cardamon seeds
sprinkling of anise seeds
sprinkling of fennel seeds
black pepper corns (optional)
simmer from 15-25 minutes
(the longer you simmer the stronger it gets.)
You can add water and reheat several times.
(Her mention of the sweetener stevia reminds me that this too is a change I expect to be making, but as with so much in the alternative health lifestyle it is controversial and I'll probably do a post on it eventually. Also on soy products -- hint: they make me sick, the very thought of soy protein turns my stomach because of a particular experience I definitely should write about).
I'd also like to rename the tea of course as I'm not into Yogis. Maybe I'll use just a few of the spices and call it Apostle Tea or Pilgrim Tea or something like that for starters.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Dithering Delilah stops procrastinating and gulps a Green Smoothy
Oooooooh, how WONDERFUL this stuff is. I LOVE it.
Yep, I finally did it.
Yep, I did it at the wrong time, at dinnertime instead of breakfast, but at least I DID IT.
And it is SOOOOOOOO good.
I KNEW this healthy-food plan would work for me. Other health drinks don't even TASTE GOOD, they taste like vitamins, or like strong alfalfa etc. But this tastes great. NO problem drinking this, LOTS of it.
This time I put in more water than the first time, and I squeezed some lemon juice into it, because S told me it makes the water alkaline in your body and that's considered to be ideal. Then at least three times as much spinach as the first time went next, then some kale leaves, then a banana and a lovely Braeburn apple.
I got a little more than a quart this time, and I'm still sipping it and enjoying every sip and it's almost all gone.
Again it tastes mostly of banana. Interesting. And this time there's no bitterness at all even though I put in some kale which is usually bitter. Oddly, I felt like adding salt. But I didn't and I'm not going to. It's not a strong urge but it's there.
I'm so happy. I KNEW I'd love this and I do.
This morning I wanted coffee beside me at the computer while I did my work. I knew that was silly, why not a smoothy? But I'm used to hot coffee, or tea, while I work, and this is winter after all, it's VERY cold these days, so that's what I did, and dithered about the smoothy project off and on for the rest of the day.
All that dithering actually kept me from eating, as if any minute I was going to get up and make the smoothy, so I wouldn't eat anything else. Well, I didn't make the smoothy, I went on dithering and finally was so hungry I had to have a piece of bread and butter, but that's all I had until I finally did get up and make the smoothy, at 6 pm.
Yep, I finally did it.
Yep, I did it at the wrong time, at dinnertime instead of breakfast, but at least I DID IT.
And it is SOOOOOOOO good.
I KNEW this healthy-food plan would work for me. Other health drinks don't even TASTE GOOD, they taste like vitamins, or like strong alfalfa etc. But this tastes great. NO problem drinking this, LOTS of it.
This time I put in more water than the first time, and I squeezed some lemon juice into it, because S told me it makes the water alkaline in your body and that's considered to be ideal. Then at least three times as much spinach as the first time went next, then some kale leaves, then a banana and a lovely Braeburn apple.
I got a little more than a quart this time, and I'm still sipping it and enjoying every sip and it's almost all gone.
Again it tastes mostly of banana. Interesting. And this time there's no bitterness at all even though I put in some kale which is usually bitter. Oddly, I felt like adding salt. But I didn't and I'm not going to. It's not a strong urge but it's there.
I'm so happy. I KNEW I'd love this and I do.
This morning I wanted coffee beside me at the computer while I did my work. I knew that was silly, why not a smoothy? But I'm used to hot coffee, or tea, while I work, and this is winter after all, it's VERY cold these days, so that's what I did, and dithered about the smoothy project off and on for the rest of the day.
All that dithering actually kept me from eating, as if any minute I was going to get up and make the smoothy, so I wouldn't eat anything else. Well, I didn't make the smoothy, I went on dithering and finally was so hungry I had to have a piece of bread and butter, but that's all I had until I finally did get up and make the smoothy, at 6 pm.
Green Smoothies and other diet ideas: possible toxicity at extremes
It did occur to me to ask why nutrient-intense eating isn't more recommended, so I've been reading up on the possible toxicities involved in overdoing some foods.
It's both sobering and reassuring. You really can get too much of a good thing, but on the other hand it's hard to get too much. There's a story out there of a man who died of too much carrot juice. He was also taking high doses of Vitamin A at the same time, however. And his carrot juice intake was truly prodigious, something like two gallons a day for over a week.
Greens contain the potential poison, alkaloids, so that an extremely excessive intake even of Green Smoothies could be bad for you. This is why many of the advisers on this subject recommend alternating the greens. Not that I completely understand this since they all contain alkaloids and alkaloids build up in the system. I'd guess this is at least partly because there are different kinds of alkaloids, but I think more research is needed here.
I suppose you could overdose on anything of course. Someone died of drinking too much water a while back as I recall.
Knowing the possible negatives may just put a healthy limit on the program. I feel better for knowing about them.
It's both sobering and reassuring. You really can get too much of a good thing, but on the other hand it's hard to get too much. There's a story out there of a man who died of too much carrot juice. He was also taking high doses of Vitamin A at the same time, however. And his carrot juice intake was truly prodigious, something like two gallons a day for over a week.
Greens contain the potential poison, alkaloids, so that an extremely excessive intake even of Green Smoothies could be bad for you. This is why many of the advisers on this subject recommend alternating the greens. Not that I completely understand this since they all contain alkaloids and alkaloids build up in the system. I'd guess this is at least partly because there are different kinds of alkaloids, but I think more research is needed here.
I suppose you could overdose on anything of course. Someone died of drinking too much water a while back as I recall.
Knowing the possible negatives may just put a healthy limit on the program. I feel better for knowing about them.
Green Smoothy mullings, not yet taking the plunge
I'm bogging on this Green Smoothy plan. Seems to be hard to get started. I think it's just a temporary slump and I'm sure I'll recover, but at the moment it's just hard to get up and go do it. I have all the ingredients ready to go except for my mood.
Except for cleaning the vegetables it's really not a hard thing to do. Maybe I'm afraid that it isn't going to have the effect I'm hoping for. Sigh. Well, again, I'm sure I'll finally get around to doing it and then I'll find out.
I'm very taken with what I've read, not the whole context of alternative-foods thinking as some of it gets way out in La-La Land it seems to me -- AND more expensive than I can handle too -- but I love the simple idea of Green Smoothies themselves: natural foods we generally don't eat enough of, in a form that concentrates their nutritional impact, pleasant to drink too, and with hardly any calories.
What I'm hoping is that a Green Smoothy a day, or two when I'm up for it, will supply enough of a nutrient gain to lessen food cravings, thus naturally cutting down on overall calorie consumption, plus improving health in measurable ways. The theory is that overeating CAN be the result of nutrient deprivation so that you pack in the calories in an effort to increase the deficient nutrients, and it doesn't work so all you get is the calorie increase and a negative impact on health.
At the moment I have no expectation of doing more than adding in a green smoothy or two, maybe upping my salad intake as well, though I already love vegie salads and do them frequently anyway, but otherwise not trying to change anything else in any conscious way. I do have in mind that the addition of such a nutrient boost COULD alter my experience of food for the better in many other ways, and I'm rather hoping it will, but as for making any other conscious changes, no, not at this point.
I do want to get going on this and other food-related thoughts, but sometimes I just have to sit on the sidelines of my own ambitions waiting for inspiration to strike.
Except for cleaning the vegetables it's really not a hard thing to do. Maybe I'm afraid that it isn't going to have the effect I'm hoping for. Sigh. Well, again, I'm sure I'll finally get around to doing it and then I'll find out.
I'm very taken with what I've read, not the whole context of alternative-foods thinking as some of it gets way out in La-La Land it seems to me -- AND more expensive than I can handle too -- but I love the simple idea of Green Smoothies themselves: natural foods we generally don't eat enough of, in a form that concentrates their nutritional impact, pleasant to drink too, and with hardly any calories.
What I'm hoping is that a Green Smoothy a day, or two when I'm up for it, will supply enough of a nutrient gain to lessen food cravings, thus naturally cutting down on overall calorie consumption, plus improving health in measurable ways. The theory is that overeating CAN be the result of nutrient deprivation so that you pack in the calories in an effort to increase the deficient nutrients, and it doesn't work so all you get is the calorie increase and a negative impact on health.
At the moment I have no expectation of doing more than adding in a green smoothy or two, maybe upping my salad intake as well, though I already love vegie salads and do them frequently anyway, but otherwise not trying to change anything else in any conscious way. I do have in mind that the addition of such a nutrient boost COULD alter my experience of food for the better in many other ways, and I'm rather hoping it will, but as for making any other conscious changes, no, not at this point.
I do want to get going on this and other food-related thoughts, but sometimes I just have to sit on the sidelines of my own ambitions waiting for inspiration to strike.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
...and Bananas and Pears and Spinach and Chard and Kale: GREEN SMOOTHIES: a Health diet that might really work.
So. I may actually be starting a new "healthy" diet. I've started many in the past and never stuck one out, had pretty much given up on trying again. I might stick this one.
Friend S wrote me a few days ago:
Or maybe I just don't know why it bothers me.
So when S reassured me that green smoothies don't involve that sort of thing but are natural foods I could learn about myself, I said I was interested and she sent me some links. I spent most of the next few days reading up on it myself and deciding that I definitely wanted to try this, if only at the most minimal level.
Green Smoothies are one part of the Raw Food diet and some people do the whole thing. Some start with the smoothies and work up to the whole diet or some level of the diet, some plunge right in to the whole system at the beginning, some just add a Green Smoothy into their usual routine. The whole diet does get into some health food lore that can make your head spin if you aren't naturally geared to the alternative medicine scene, as I am not, but I was very intrigued with the basic Green Smoothy idea itself.
So simple. We never get enough green leafies in our diet. I know I don't. But greens are just chock full of important nutrients, so we're missing out on a lot. "Green leafies" means spinach, chard, collards, kale, beet tops, the green lettuces and the like. You may eat them once in a while, but not really very often, and for some of us they are hard to really like, one of those things you eat because your mother told you to, and sometimes that becomes a reason NOT to eat them after you've grown up and left the family home.
They can be bitter for one thing. But put them in a smoothy, even enough greens to make half a dozen normal-sized salads or side vegies, mix them with fresh fruit to take away the bitterness, which adds another spectrum of nutrients, blend it all until it becomes a pint or a quart of something pleasant to drink, and it begins to suggest something both enjoyable and power-packed. Then read the lore about how a good blender has the effect of releasing the nutrients in the leaf to an extent impossible with mere chewing, further multiplying the effect of the already-multiplied amount of nutrients, and I'm convinced: this is something that's really possible, really available, that could truly contribute to better health. I hardly EVER feel that way about a health-improvement program. Well, never, to be precise.
And then there are the testimonials. Every health system has its testimonials of course, but these seem especially consistent and believable. "More energy" is the number one report. S was very convincing about how much more energy three weeks of two quart-sized green smoothies a day had given her. It had cured her of insomnia and the need to take naps during the day among other things. I could certainly use that myself as my sleep pattern has been a mess for a few years now -- in fact I don't have a sleep "pattern" any more, that's the problem. I suddenly get sleepy and have to sleep -- at different hours around the clock. It sometimes becomes urgent -- I simply can't stay awake another minute at times. But I rarely stay asleep more than three or four hours at a time. Yes, a mess. Can green smoothies straighten that out? Well, if I can get this thing rolling we'll find out.
====================
Sunday December 12. Tried my first Green Smoothy this morning. A bunch of spinach leaves plus a banana. I got the idea from some website or other, somebody's blog I think, which was about a lot more than smoothies but I liked the simplicity of this one for a starter, especially since I had the ingredients on hand.
It was just a tad bitter -- two bananas or a second different fruit would probably have taken that away but I went on a banana binge yesterday and only had one left, and I'd forgotten to get apples. It was just a tiny bit bitter I want to emphasize, the faintest tinge. The dominant flavor was banana although it was intensely green. I enjoyed it.
I only got about a pint out of what I had, but I want to work up to a quart. I wasn't sure my old Osterizer would do the job, but I put about a cup of water in to start and then the greens and it worked just fine (the usual advice is to put the fruit in first but at least one expert does it greens first and I wanted to give my not-so-powerful machine a head start on the hard part of the task, which is the greens, and it worked for me). It probably wasn't as smooth as the very powerful machines can make it but it was just fine nevertheless.
From what I've been reading about the best blenders I thought I might have to rename my concoctions Green Lumpies but the spinach and banana were smooth enough. The lore of green smoothies says you get the most nutrition out of the plant when it's thoroughly pulverized and all the cells in the leaves have burst. I suppose a $400-to-$600 2-or-3-horsepower machine could be expected to accomplish that better than an old $40 Osterizer, but I'm saying So far so good anyway. Maybe fewer burst cells than optimum, but hey. Barring a miracle I'll never be able to have one of the powerful machines but with prayer the Osterizer should be able to turn out decent smoothies for some time to come.
Friend S wrote me a few days ago:
Do you have any interest in healing diet material? I did a lot of research and am now thrilled with a raw food diet. Green smoothies blending fruit and lots of green leafy vegetables. I didn't know leafy greens have so much protein. Even one green smoothy for breakfast each day starts the healing process and you have so much energy! If you're interested let me know.Well, it sounded good. My only concern was that all the "healthy" diets out there usually involve supplements I can't afford. There was a period a decade or so ago when it seemed that every church had a few members who were selling some particular health item, usually some natural food in various forms -- bluegreen algae comes to mind -- wanting to recruit you as a buyer or as a seller as well. It was always a line of products and the seller was personally using them and very sincerely recommended them. I had no doubt they were good for you, though I did often doubt they were good ENOUGH to spend the money on them. Much of it I really couldn't afford at all, and, I have to admit, I never liked the money-making emphasis in those systems. Nothing wrong with making money of course, and if the product's good what's my beef anyway? Probably have to analyze myself about that. Maybe it's as simple as not liking the idea that some natural food is singled out as the center of a business. The emphasis always seems to end up on the business, not on the food.
Or maybe I just don't know why it bothers me.
So when S reassured me that green smoothies don't involve that sort of thing but are natural foods I could learn about myself, I said I was interested and she sent me some links. I spent most of the next few days reading up on it myself and deciding that I definitely wanted to try this, if only at the most minimal level.
Green Smoothies are one part of the Raw Food diet and some people do the whole thing. Some start with the smoothies and work up to the whole diet or some level of the diet, some plunge right in to the whole system at the beginning, some just add a Green Smoothy into their usual routine. The whole diet does get into some health food lore that can make your head spin if you aren't naturally geared to the alternative medicine scene, as I am not, but I was very intrigued with the basic Green Smoothy idea itself.
So simple. We never get enough green leafies in our diet. I know I don't. But greens are just chock full of important nutrients, so we're missing out on a lot. "Green leafies" means spinach, chard, collards, kale, beet tops, the green lettuces and the like. You may eat them once in a while, but not really very often, and for some of us they are hard to really like, one of those things you eat because your mother told you to, and sometimes that becomes a reason NOT to eat them after you've grown up and left the family home.
They can be bitter for one thing. But put them in a smoothy, even enough greens to make half a dozen normal-sized salads or side vegies, mix them with fresh fruit to take away the bitterness, which adds another spectrum of nutrients, blend it all until it becomes a pint or a quart of something pleasant to drink, and it begins to suggest something both enjoyable and power-packed. Then read the lore about how a good blender has the effect of releasing the nutrients in the leaf to an extent impossible with mere chewing, further multiplying the effect of the already-multiplied amount of nutrients, and I'm convinced: this is something that's really possible, really available, that could truly contribute to better health. I hardly EVER feel that way about a health-improvement program. Well, never, to be precise.
And then there are the testimonials. Every health system has its testimonials of course, but these seem especially consistent and believable. "More energy" is the number one report. S was very convincing about how much more energy three weeks of two quart-sized green smoothies a day had given her. It had cured her of insomnia and the need to take naps during the day among other things. I could certainly use that myself as my sleep pattern has been a mess for a few years now -- in fact I don't have a sleep "pattern" any more, that's the problem. I suddenly get sleepy and have to sleep -- at different hours around the clock. It sometimes becomes urgent -- I simply can't stay awake another minute at times. But I rarely stay asleep more than three or four hours at a time. Yes, a mess. Can green smoothies straighten that out? Well, if I can get this thing rolling we'll find out.
====================
Sunday December 12. Tried my first Green Smoothy this morning. A bunch of spinach leaves plus a banana. I got the idea from some website or other, somebody's blog I think, which was about a lot more than smoothies but I liked the simplicity of this one for a starter, especially since I had the ingredients on hand.
It was just a tad bitter -- two bananas or a second different fruit would probably have taken that away but I went on a banana binge yesterday and only had one left, and I'd forgotten to get apples. It was just a tiny bit bitter I want to emphasize, the faintest tinge. The dominant flavor was banana although it was intensely green. I enjoyed it.
I only got about a pint out of what I had, but I want to work up to a quart. I wasn't sure my old Osterizer would do the job, but I put about a cup of water in to start and then the greens and it worked just fine (the usual advice is to put the fruit in first but at least one expert does it greens first and I wanted to give my not-so-powerful machine a head start on the hard part of the task, which is the greens, and it worked for me). It probably wasn't as smooth as the very powerful machines can make it but it was just fine nevertheless.
From what I've been reading about the best blenders I thought I might have to rename my concoctions Green Lumpies but the spinach and banana were smooth enough. The lore of green smoothies says you get the most nutrition out of the plant when it's thoroughly pulverized and all the cells in the leaves have burst. I suppose a $400-to-$600 2-or-3-horsepower machine could be expected to accomplish that better than an old $40 Osterizer, but I'm saying So far so good anyway. Maybe fewer burst cells than optimum, but hey. Barring a miracle I'll never be able to have one of the powerful machines but with prayer the Osterizer should be able to turn out decent smoothies for some time to come.
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