Spinach... It's What's for Breakfast

For the past many, many weeks, I've been drinking a smoothie for breakfast. I've been reading about incorporating greens into my diet, especially spinach (and kale ... but I'm just not a fan). One way is with a "green smoothie". Most green smoothies recommend all greens, plus a banana to help with the bitterness, but I can't eat bananas.

I also wanted to get other things in my diet as well, including broccoli, cucumber and blueberries. The thing is, all of these foods need to be WELL chewed before swallowing in order to get all the benefits. We humans tend to put things in our mouth, chew once or twice and then swallow. That's not going to cut it. Think about it: have you ever watched a cow or horse eat? They take a mouthful of grass or hay and chew, and chew, and chew, and chew ...

There's a saying: "Eat what you drink and drink what you eat." It basically means, make sure everything is totally liquified before you swallow.

I decided to make things easier and do the chewing with my blender. *G*

I've had more than one person tell me that the thought of blending spinach, cucumbers and broccoli into a fruit smoothie turns their stomachs. Fact is, folks, you can barely even tell they're there! What an easy way to eat your veggies.

Here's what I do. I gather my ingredients (I usually also add ground flaxseed, but I'm out), in today's case a carrot, an apple, a cucumber, some blueberries, broccoli, spinach and a bit of yogurt and OJ (with pulp). You can vary the fruits a bit if you'd like, for different flavors:



I buy organic as much as possible because I leave all the skins on (that's where most of the nutrition is, after all):



I fill the blender to the brim, because spinach is one of those mysterious foods that loses volume the moment you do anything to it, including blend it:



Then I blend. I usually have to stop a few times to stir it up. But eventually, I end up with this:



Want a peek in the top?



YUM... pour and drink:



I dare you to give it a try. Your body will love you for it.

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Found a Great New Blog to Follow!

Living Prepared

Check it out. Today's post is about dry food storage and I'm drooling over the pictures...

Soda = Unsafe?

I've always known that regular soda is bad for you because of the high sugar content, and that diet soda is unhealthy due to the artifical sweeteners. Recently, I've pretty much eliminated all soda from my diet. I did think that seltzer water was okay, until I did some research ...

There are studies that indicate that the carbonation can cause Osteoporosis. Since I already have problems with calcium, I've opted to give up all carbonated drinks completely (this is easier said than done -- I can't believe how much I crave them!).

Check out these links:

Soft drinks: Unsafe beverages


Soda May Lead To Osteoporosis

The Truth about Osteoporosis by Dr. John Lee MD

I could post another dozen links, but I think you get the idea. Now, that said -- there are other studies that show this may not be the case. However, in my mind if it's possible, then why not quit? It's not as if we'll get ill or die if we quit drinking soda.

Better safe than sorry, I say.

Choosing Good Supplements

Something I've known for quite some time is not to waste money on cheap vitamins and herbal supplements. The cheap ones tend to use less "bioactive" products. What does that mean? Low bioactivity means the body can't actually absorb and use what you're giving it. You might as well take nothing.

Some chemical forms are better than others and you can look at the nutrition information on your bottles to see what they contain.

In his book, "Never Be Sick Again", Raymond Francis gives a good scale of how to check your vitamin supplements for high bioactivity and I thought I'd share:

POOR Bioactivity (i.e. don't use these):

Carbonate (e.g. calcium carbonate)
Oxide (e.g. magnesium oxide)
Sulfate
Phosphate

ACCEPTABLE Bioactivity

Aminoate
Chelate
Gluconate

OPTIMAL Bioactivity

Ascorbate
Citrate
Fumarate
Malate
Picolinate
Succinate
Tartrate

He recommends Perque brand as the best bang for the buck. Of course, that doesn't mean it's your only option. Just ... educate yourself. Store brand supplements probably aren't your best option.

Be healthy!

Artificial Sweeteners

Another Reason to Skip Fast Food

From: Receipts Could Be Harmful to Your Health

Cash-register receipts from many fast-food outlets, groceries, pharmacies, big-box stores and U.S. post offices contain high levels of the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A.

Read the entire story. It's interesting.

Organic vs. Conventional -- how do you choose?

From CNN (read the entire article and view a video here):

If you're eating non-organic celery today, you may be ingesting 67 pesticides with it, according to a new report from the Environmental Working Group.

The group, a nonprofit focused on public health, scoured nearly 100,000 produce pesticide reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to determine what fruits and vegetables we eat have the highest, and lowest, amounts of chemical residue.

Most alarming are the fruits and vegetables dubbed the "Dirty Dozen," which contain 47 to 67 pesticides per serving. These foods are believed to be most susceptible because they have soft skin that tends to absorb more pesticides.

"It's critical people know what they are consuming," the Environmental Working Group's Amy Rosenthal said. "The list is based on pesticide tests conducted after the produce was washed with USDA high-power pressure water system. The numbers reflect the closest thing to what consumers are buying at the store."

The group suggests limiting consumption of pesticides by purchasing organic for the 12 fruits and vegetables.

"You can reduce your exposure to pesticides by up to 80 percent by buying the organic version of the Dirty Dozen," Rosenthal said.

The Dirty Dozen

Celery

Peaches

Strawberries

Apples

Domestic blueberries

Nectarines

Sweet bell peppers

Spinach, kale and collard greens

Cherries

Potatoes

Imported grapes

Lettuce

Not all non-organic fruits and vegetables have a high pesticide level. Some produce has a strong outer layer that provides a defense against pesticide contamination. The group found a number of non-organic fruits and vegetables dubbed the "Clean 15" that contained little to no pesticides.

The Clean 15

Onions

Avocados

Sweet corn

Pineapples

Mango

Sweet peas

Asparagus

Kiwi fruit

Cabbage

Eggplant

Cantaloupe

Watermelon

Grapefruit

Sweet potatoes

Sweet onions