Get Your Greens On!!

[Penni]

Today's video is a replay of one I created in July for our original RFR Experiment. It's worth repeating......

Even though I made this video back in July, it's importance is still so relevant today. Many of you are already sold on the benefits of adding more leafy greens into your days, yet some of you are a little freaked out by the whole concept of green smoothies. Hopefully we can stimulate a lively discussion here of thoughts and ideas that have successfully worked for others, but first just a little bit from me, written with the help of David Rainoshek.....

How Important Are Greens In Your Diet?

Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.— Edward Stanley (1826-1893) from The Conduct of Life

YOU MAY NOT HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO BE IN THE KITCHEN, however you do want stellar health, and you appreciate the concept of taking time to eat life-affirming cuisine rather than to suffer the personal or planetary effects of eating anything less than your full nutritional potential. Over the next few weeks we'll talk quite a bit about the importance of adding about 1-2 lbs of leafy greens to your existing diet each day. As daunting as that may sound to some, consuming this level of greens daily is the best way to power up your nutritional profiles and to conquer your cravings. If you're like me, you may be looking for a way get your greens in an easy and delicious approach, preferably by the flick of a switch instead of with hours in the kitchen and a culinary degree.

The exciting news is this: Eating the best nutrient-dense live plant-source only cuisine that will feed you for your whole life is embarrassingly and brilliantly easy. It honors the best live-food nutritional research, and simultaneously allows for your own intuition about what you need in your cuisine to individualize your diet.

Here are 4 of the Easiest Ways to be sure you're getting enough greens in each day:

ONE: SALAD
You can eat your greens
TWO: SOUP
You can make blended green soups
THREE: SMOOTHIES
You can make blended green smoothies with chia seeds or low-glycemic fruits, if your blood sugar is stable for 6 months
FOUR: JUICE
You can juice your greens into Green Vegetable Juice

Are you getting enough greens in your daily diet? Do you have any tips you'd like to share that might help someone who is struggling to get them in? We want to hear from you!

[Stephanie Brown]

I love greens! Oh my, I can tell SUCH a big difference on days when I don't get any greens.

I definitely do not get 1-2 pounds of greens...even on a good day. I would say I'm more around 1/2 pound. It's hard for me to estimate though because I don't weigh my food...I think of it in bunches. So I would say I would eat one bunch of kale in two days, so I'm counting that as a 1/2 pound per day.

I'm excited to get home from work...I have a green smoothie waiting in the fridge for me! kale, pineapple, banana & orange :)

[Susan : )]

I just LOVE greens....and you know how much I love Green Smoothies!! :)
Here are a few of my favorite people making Green Smoothies:



and last but not least, my favorite Green Smoothie author, Victoria Boutenko!
You can find her Green Smoothie Demo in the Culinary Center and her book The Green Smoothie Revolution in the Library. Greens Can Save Your Life is her DVD that I highly recommend!

[snowdrop]

i love the way fruit can hide greens so well :)
yaay green smoothies!

[Jean]

I had a zucchini pasta with marinara sauce and a sald for dinner!! Smoothie had kale and spinach in it and salad had spinach in it. I get lots of greens.

[Jean]

Can I get sulpher from my foods? I have a sulfa drug allergy. I take B's and a multi and calcium.
My hair is falling out right now. Help!!!

[Deborah Blank]

I say just do it! A big salad for lunch and dinner is way easy. A green smoothie at breakfast ... ditto. I just watched "Crazy Sexy" Kris Carr for some reason this morning and she inspired me to juice each day with greens. So I just got back from Whole Foods with dark kale and momentarily will make a cucumber, kale, celery and an apple juice.

Juicing is more of a process for me ... I have to get the container for the juice, the container for the pulp and then clean all the above and the juicer and cutting board. With blended drinks and smoothies I just quick rinse the blender and wipe down the cutting board. Salad I just wipe down the cutting board.

My favorite alternative to the standard fruit, spinach and banana smoothie is a whole bunch of italian parsley or a whole bunch of cilantro, one lemon, a nub of ginger and a splash of honey. Spicey, fruity and really green ... in a nice way :)

Okay ... like 10 minutes have gone by since I started this comment and I am realizing that maybe trying to eat 1-2 pounds of greens a day sounds way too daunting. I think that I am going to measure my normal intake of greens and see each day what I really end up with. Right now it seems like I take in a lot, but 1-2 pounds of leaves are like feathers ... I have no real clue how much I am ingesting. Also, is the 1-2 pounds if you juice feast of for everyone? I just bought this 9.8 ounces of kale (with stems). Looks like a lot and figuring there are 16 ounces to a pound ... hmmmm ... this is could be doable with some planning and keeping greens at the top of my food thoughts.

Well, I am off to juice and prepare a Kale and golden beet salad for dinner tonight. I got the recipe from our local co-op.

[Katy Hoppa]

So glad to be back in the grooooove....

Bill and I got back last night from New York and grabbed some fruit and organic spinach on the way home to start our green smoothie cleanse. Oh, how we need it. We'd hoped to stay fairly raw while away...nice try but it got worse as the week went on. We did manage a green smoothie about once a day along with a salad but the rest was cooked food. It's really challenging when you are guests in someone's home...

Today was three green smoothies, the dinner one was fresh peaches, mango and dandelion greens with endive...yum! My body feels better already! We also got one shot of wheatgrass in now that we are growing our own...Thanks Susan!

[Penni]

I have a severe sulfa drug allergy and I have taken MSM with no adverse reaction. I started taking it before I really even knew there might be a correlation, but I can understand your concern. I do know hair loss has a lot to do with hormones and aging.....I think you are doing a great job and are on the right track, Jean.

Jean said:

Can I get sulpher from my foods? I have a sulfa drug allergy. I take B's and a multi and calcium.
My hair is falling out right now. Help!!!

[Penni]

2 pounds of leafy greens are what's recommended when you are juice feasting. Obviously the average person isn't going to make that mark....I certainly don't UNLESS I'm on a mission to make it all about the greens.

Working towards a goal of 1 lb per day is perfect goal for most people....Sounds like you're working the program, Deborah! If you have a big smoothie and a big salad daily, that's really great!

Deborah Blank said:

I say just do it! A big salad for lunch and dinner is way easy. A green smoothie at breakfast ... ditto. I just watched "Crazy Sexy" Kris Carr for some reason this morning and she inspired me to juice each day with greens. So I just got back from Whole Foods with dark kale and momentarily will make a cucumber, kale, celery and an apple juice.
Juicing is more of a process for me ... I have to get the container for the juice, the container for the pulp and then clean all the above and the juicer and cutting board. With blended drinks and smoothies I just quick rinse the blender and wipe down the cutting board. Salad I just wipe down the cutting board.
My favorite alternative to the standard fruit, spinach and banana smoothie is a whole bunch of italian parsley or a whole bunch of cilantro, one lemon, a nub of ginger and a splash of honey. Spicey, fruity and really green ... in a nice way :)

Okay ... like 10 minutes have gone by since I started this comment and I am realizing that maybe trying to eat 1-2 pounds of greens a day sounds way too daunting. I think that I am going to measure my normal intake of greens and see each day what I really end up with. Right now it seems like I take in a lot, but 1-2 pounds of leaves are like feathers ... I have no real clue how much I am ingesting. Also, is the 1-2 pounds if you juice feast of for everyone? I just bought this 9.8 ounces of kale (with stems). Looks like a lot and figuring there are 16 ounces to a pound ... hmmmm ... this is could be doable with some planning and keeping greens at the top of my food thoughts.
.

[Melinda Gill]

Greens, Greens a wonderful food, the more you eat the better your mood! Rings true to me. I feel very balanced when I take in lots of green food in a day. My friends do look at me a little sideways when they see how yellow my palms are - lots of beta carotene can do that to you! Yes, there is a lot of beta carotene in those greens!

Check out the info here:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000135000000000000000.html

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/natural-food-sources-of-...

[Jodi is Purely Nourished]

Just want to give a heads up. If you are new to green smoothies you are going to want a lot more fruit than greens to start. So that clip above from Philip McCluskey is more of an intermediate to advanced green smoothie. (And btw, aren't these video clips supposed to go in the Culinary section?- just trying to figure out the rules here.) The greens in your drink is definitely an acquired taste. Start with a small handful and more fruit and you will be on your way. Also the more subtle greens to start would be romaine, spinach, even swiss chard is good, and avoid the stems if you find it too bitter.

Green smoothies for me was how I started raw food at all. Once you start with these you will find your cravings for sweets diminish and your cravings for salads will start to happen.

[Penni]

Thanks Jodi! I agree on starting slow with the greens if you are new to it....more fruit to start until your palate begins to shift. As with everything, gotta do what feels right and tastes best as one transitions.

We do post lots of videos in the Culinary Center and I very much encourage that from an overall educational stand point. It is always fine to post a video in the comments that pertains to the discussion thread as well...the more we can expand our discussions the better!

Jodi Clark said:

Just want to give a heads up. If you are new to green smoothies you are going to want a lot more fruit than greens to start. So that clip above from Philip McCluskey is more of an intermediate to advanced green smoothie. (And btw, aren't these video clips supposed to go in the Culinary section?- just trying to figure out the rules here.) The greens in your drink is definitely an acquired taste. Start with a small handful and more fruit and you will be on your way. Also the more subtle greens to start would be romaine, spinach, even swiss chard is good, and avoid the stems if you find it too bitter.
Green smoothies for me was how I started raw food at all. Once you start with these you will find your cravings for sweets diminish and your cravings for salads will start to happen.