Morning green smoothie

[shadow]

My Doctor recommended I take green smoothies to deal with the acidity in my body from poor diet choices for many years.

I have been tinkering with the recipe, trying to get it so I like drinking it and here is what I found works:

- an apple or, being in the tropics, some pineapple
- 1/2 an avocado
- a bunch of parsley or coriander
- a stalk of celery with the leaves
- several leaves of lettuce
- a scoop of your favorite green superfood powder
- any other greens handy (I add spinach sometimes, or there is a herbal plant that I grow and I add a few leaves of that sometimes)

add some water and blend.

The result is a highly alkaline, nutrient dense smoothie that is not only palatable but tastes quite good!!

The avocado really adds a nice texture to the drink.

I'm having two of these a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

[al-209]

i prefer to keep it simple

banana/mango/berries

+

spinach/kale juice/lettuce

i find 1 fruit + 1 green is easier on the digestion, at least when taken in the morning.

u could add spirulina but it just tastes vile. i usually useit in recovery protein drinks with a high fat content (hemp + coconut or avocado + cacao & or maca)where the taste is masked somewhat

[shadow]

Watch out for the raw kale, the crucifer family (kale, brocoli, cauliflower) actually are some of the only vegetables that need to be cooked.

They contain phytochemicals that can supresses the functioning of the thyroid gland.

As for spirulina, I don't mind the taste at all... but I prefer to use a green superfood blend.

I find the smoothie recipe above to be fine on my digestion.

[al-209]

hmm,hadnt heard that about brassicas..anyarticles u could point me toward?? i know they are a good source of diindolylmethane, which is good for normalizing estrogen levels, and of course chlorophyll.

glad u like spirulina, i find that in meaningful quantities it can ruin a good smoothie, very overpowering. shame really as theres no doubt its good stuff. haent tried any other green powders so cant comment really.

Its the fat that i cant really handle in a morning, makes me feel a bit sluggish and bloated, but were all different and ive still got work to do on the old digestive system

[pink.pixie]

oh, acidity of the body...that is a complex topic. I've been re-investigating it for the past couple of months. I am no wiser but I know it is important.
Tell me what you found out so far, if you feel like it.

I will try your smoothie recipe. According to a Norwegian doc practicing in Denmark (name Flytlie) the body peaks at alkaline state 10 am and 4 pm. He therefore recommends one tsp baking soda in H2O. Possibly one glas also before bed. Your smoothie sounds better, like a good snack meal instead.

Previously I didn't agree with greens so terribly well :frown:

BTW, a nice tiger avatar, shadow! :)

[shadow]

Kale isn't a brassica (salad family) it belongs to the crucifer family like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.

here is an article:
http://www.bodyecology.com/06/11/16/cook_vegetables_maximum_nutrition.php



About the acid alkaline balance, the basics are to eat as much alkaline forming food as possible, 70-80% of ones diet.

When we digest (burn) food it leaves a residue (ash) that can be either acid or alkaline.
It's something to do with the ratio of minerals it has, I forger which ones.

Essentially almost all vegetables and fruits are alkaline forming.

Most meats, grains and legumes are acid forming.

So eat your veggies!

[al-209]

Gonna have to pull you up on this one - Kale is most definitely a brassica!

from wikipedia - Edible plants in the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) are termed Cruciferous vegetables

Thanks for the link. As far as i can tell, the goitrogens contained in crucifers are only detrimental to health when taken in large amounts and are particularly bad for women. This could obviously lead to problems with raw foodies who take in a lot of raw greens form the brassica family, but im pretty sure an ounce or two of green juice a week wouldnt be too much of a problem.. certainly hasnt been so far

[shadow]

haha ok I got my memories wrong from university a couple of years ago.


Anyways I know about spirulina ruining a shake... I never add it to a shake or smoothie, anymore.
I'll only ever take spirulina in water on its own.

Check out some of the green superfoods though, they seem to be the way to go from the concentration of goodies.

One of the ones I am looking into is:

www.bokusuperfood.com

[al-209]

looks like good stuff. very expensive tho. £120 a kilo. phew need a new job before getting into that one. i think you could buy the main components and add in the wild greens, fruits and flax etc much more cheaply than that. it wouldnt be as good, but u could play with the ratios more

[qirin]

lately I started drinking this concoction, which has the advantage of being easy to prepare, but is kind of pricey:

8 oz ice tea (high quality)
8 oz kombucha
4 oz pomegranate juice
~1 tbsp spirulina