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