Feeding your skin with Smoothies!!!!
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free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:20 pm

Toby - where did you get acai powder?

Spinach Kale Blueberry Smoothie with Flax

I've been using up my flax seed - grinding up about 2-3 T and putting them into my smoothie. Today's smoothie had spinach and kale, a banana , cucumber, lemon, 1/2 cup blueberries, flax seed and I think that's it.

Need to get some chia.

Zoftig - Yes! my focus is skin care and health related. I enjoy veggies but this makes it so much easier getting the right amount. It is costly though. Not trying to lose weight necessarily but a few pounds would be fine. I get to the gym regularly and between that, facial exercise, drybrushing and no lipo lipo and this green smoothie foray I feel like I've put myself on a self-improvement spa vacation.

Most of it is Toby's fault BTW -

free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:30 pm

Sis,
I always wanted to be a personal shopper Laughing

I have two types of acai(powder), the Sambazon and another brand,Healthy to Go Acai(on sell as Costco through the 15th)I really am in love with the one from Costco it has several fruits in it, sweetened with stevia and comes in 24 powder packs..it have a tropical punch taste...to die for!!!! It rocks with spinach. http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11297965

free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:39 pm

IMCathy - giggly in return re:.fake plant abuse

I guess you don't have a Costco in your area? I can get huge bags of spinach, mixed greens and lots of fruit for little money. Trader Joe's also has super good stuff at pretty decent prices.

Toby - I haven't seen the acai at my Costco but I'll look tomorrow. Is it in the area with the vitamins? I use the frozen pulp but the powder would be more convenient - plus add more flavor.
Want to share your avocado recipe?

Sis - I feel absolutely virtuous drinking this stuff!

free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:20 pm

Okay the avocado fruit recipe from Toby coming up...just had one yummy in my tummy!

Avocado Fruit Smoothie

1-2 cups blueberries
1/2 avocado(I like the small dark ones)
mango(slice)tried that first time tonight.
acai powder(Healthy to go)
stevia
lots of ice
1 cup water
1Tab. chia seeds(I stir them in after pouring out of the blender.
Sometimes I add spinach and it is really good too. The amount of water depends on the type of blender. My smoothies get too thick to drink if I don't add 1/2 to 1 cup of water.
Oh my now I want another one Laughing

free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:25 pm

That avocado fruit recipe sounds like the perfect dessert for me tonight. Thanks.

free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:41 pm

Yummers. Note to self: get avocado.

free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:43 pm

I wonder if Sam's Club carries the acai? Must look next time. I love Costco but don't have them in this area.

free skin care · Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:56 pm

sister sweets wrote:

I wonder if Sam's Club carries the acai? Must look next time. I love Costco but don't have them in this area.

I called Sam's today and no deal. I did call Vitacost and they carry product from healthy to
go. They said they have most of their products but the acai is new so they will probably be getting it soon. It would be 14.00 or close to that.

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 7:13 am

secretly wrote:

I have the Jack LaLanne Power juicer and I used to try and make a bunch of juices and put in the freezer but it was so time consuming and having to lug 50 pounds of veggies upstairs etc. discouraged me from that.

So what I do is just buy what I need for a few days and I usually juice one or 2 times a day. I don't find it's a hassle at all. I just drank a 1/2 a cabbage and 1/2 head of broccoli in fact before I found this thread. I love the way I "know" I'm getting a ton of veggies that way. Whatever looks like it’s not going to last like bagged spinach I’ll juice too before it goes bad. You need to eat about 11 servings of fruits and vegs a day and that’s 1/2 cup/serving, so you really don’t need to juice a pound, just a little a day, if that helps.

Yes that helps. I don't remember where I had read or heard, but something about trying to juice several pounds of dark green veggies a day was very daunting. My memory is not so great!

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 7:34 am

I think you might get more bang for your buck blending your greens, instead of juicing. UNLESS you use what's left behind in the juicer for other foods. In breads??? or soup stock etc. I'm getting a composter too, so, I would be able to deal with all the scraps... and my garden will be healthier for it too!

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:46 am

I'm sorry i used the wrong term. I guess juicing is not making smoothies - I meant making them into green smoothies which I guess means... blending?
My next question (which is probably answered in a book) - Does 11 servings at a 1/2 cup each - is that before or after blending?

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:54 am

My juicer isn't one of those pulverizing ones so I do scoop out some of the shredded stuff (pulp) and mix it into the juice. I did try to mix all of it in and drink it but it wasn't really doable, too sludgy. But also I use the pulp and juice to mix into smoothies, like you can't juice bananas so the juice & pulp mixes well in the blender.

And I have Immunopro RX powder which is a whey protein that boosts immune function and is supposed to be the best source of raising glutathione levels that I also put in the smoothies. And Mesquite powder that's chocolatey but is another super food that has nutrients like lysine and other protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc. Chocolate banana smoothies....yum......

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:22 am

IMCathy wrote:

My next question (which is probably answered in a book) - Does 11 servings at a 1/2 cup each - is that before or after blending?

That means unblended Smile

1-2 lb a day of greens like kale, bok choi, spring greens, mache, spinach, etc. will give you 100-200% RDA of calcium (once you amount for the higher bioavailability), iron, magnesium, and other minerals, even if you eat nothing else that day. These days, most people heavily into raw aim to eat 1/2 - 1.5 lbs of greens a day; it is super hard to eat more than this because it is a huge volume of food. But really, including even just one 4-5 oz bag of greens a day into your diet will be a big difference and is a great place to start. It's all about making it manageable and enjoyable Smile

HTH

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:17 am

cm5597

Your ingredient suggestions and nutritional information have been of great value to me. I think my focus is expanding beyond just the taste of the smoothies. Smile

Don't get me wrong -taste is a very important consideration here.

Thank you for your contributions!

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:09 am

Zoftig--Yay!! Glad to be of help Smile

Yes, I totally agree: whatever you do, you have to enjoy drinking/eating it, else it's not sustainable Smile

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:22 am

ClaudiaFE wrote:

I think you might get more bang for your buck blending your greens, instead of juicing.

Oh, also, Victoria Boutenko, author of "Green for Life", did some experimentation with juicing vs blending greens, since there was some controversy over which is better. She found that juiced greens oxidize faster than blended greens, in part because the fiber (that's otherwise discarded when juicing) contains anti-oxidants that prevent spoilage. So she concluded that for that and other reasons (since clearly juicing removes fiber and some nutrients) that blending greens is better than juicing. FWIW, I do both, but I do more blending than juicing Smile

And I save juicing for the really tough greens like collards and kale.

Oh, and btw, y'all have to try this awesome raw kale salad (it's the only time I eat kale not juiced or blended).

http://happyfoody.com/2008/02/12/raw-kale-avocado-salad/

It's awesome with raisins! The salt plus lemon and oil wilts the kale; the kale plus salt makes it salty and mineral-rich; the tomatoes and lemon adds acidity; the avocado plus oil gives it a satisfying amount of fat; and the raisins plus tomatoes gives it sweetness. With some fine-tuning to your tastes, tt's got that perfect balance of salt, fat, sweetness, and acidity. It's a really great and addictive healthy salad! YUM!

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 2:24 pm

cm,
I really appreciate the post about juicing and blending. I had a champion juicer and really got into juicing at one time...the juice is great but the volume of fruits and veggies I went through was taxing. I eventually gave it up because my kitchen was always a mess. I did get a smaller juicer yrs later and do occasionally juice carrots and cabbage. But the green smoothies are so much easier and seem to be the way many people are going now. It makes sense to be able to use everything.

free skin care · Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:13 pm

cm5597 wrote:

" Oh, and btw, y'all have to try this awesome raw kale salad (it's the only time I eat kale not juiced or blended).

http://happyfoody.com/2008/02/12/raw-kale-avocado-salad/

YUM!

I second the YUM. I added the raisins and the pinenuts. I wouldn't give it an A for visuals but for flavor it's an A++

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 1:35 am

Claudia I just made your broccoli soup. It was divine! So easy and totally gorgeous. I didn't have any cheddar in the house so grated some fresh parmesan over it instead. yum.
I guess you could do the same thing to any vegetable. I think you mentioned asparagus??

Do any of you raw food enthusiasts have a cookbook recommendation other than the green smoothie one by Victoria Boutenko? I think I need to look into all this a bit more.

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:50 am

I don't know of any other books to recommend right now other than Victoria Boutenko's Green for Life. I started making smoothies before reading the book and in a way I am glad I did. I started noticing changes after the three week point and Victoria mentions changes she noticed in her skin as well but because I hadn't read the book yet I honestly didn't know to look for these things.....made it all the more amazing to read her accounts and they are similar to mine. I will say if you are doing the smoothies and don't have the book.....you are missing a gem....it really fits all the pieces of the puzzle together.
I got a call from my close friend that started making smoothies a week after me. She already had a great diet and ate lots of greens...she didn't feel smoothies were necessary in her life but because she usually follows me in my ventures she bought a blender and started the process. She called me so excited because she all the sudden discovered her psoriasis is dramatically clearing up. Her psoriasis has gotten to the point that she is is having arthritis from it in her feet....I didn't know psoriasis works like that I thought it was only a outer skin issue Embarassed

Anyway I am not the only one with the glowing reports.

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:44 am

That's great about your friend w/psoriasis! I'm totally on the eating well and real whole food bandwagon. I haven't eaten processed food for years or even gone into grocery stores like Vons or Albertsons---It's gross what they sell there.

I don't plan on being decrepit while so many of my friends are just free falling into aging and not working to stay healthy. I think it's worth the work! I want to live to be 100 and look and feel well.

I feel the worst for the kids because they don't know any better. I's really tragic what's happened that so many kids eat mostly fast and junk food, horrifying!!!

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:05 am

Can anyone tell me what detoxing is like? Since doing 1 smoothie/day for a week I've had headaches, bloating (or what feels like discomfort in my lower abdominal area), and not fiber-rich bm (sorry Embarassed

). At the same time I've been back to eating really healthy. Any idea how long this might last?

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:12 am

Because the health of your GI tract is probably not great (if you are coming from a diet with chemicals etc.) you should add some probiotics to your diet. Aside from eating yogurt get some intestinal flora in capsules from a health food store like Henry's. Take the capsules at night so the organisms can move in and start to multiply in your GI tract.

Once your re-colonize your GI tract you'll be able to tolerate some of the gasier veggies etc.

About detoxing, toxins are stored in fat and the fewer you put into your body the more they start being metabolized and excreted. So actually living a detox lifestyle is the only way to really detox.

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:28 am

On one of the videos I recommended the guy talks about making sure to not gup down the smoothies without chewing them. Now folks they are smoothies but he is suggesting that by holding it in your mouth and chewing the saliva is secreted and then it aid digestion in the stomach. I have a very delicate digestive system...I couldn't even take vitamins during pregnancy but I am not having any problems with the smoothies but I did follow his advice and also I drink them very slowly. Also even though I am in the beginning of the Green for Life book she mentions not combining certain veggies because of the possible bloating and digestive issue. This is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-stAb1Pkgg

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:48 am

neondaze wrote:

Do any of you raw food enthusiasts have a cookbook recommendation other than the green smoothie one by Victoria Boutenko? I think I need to look into all this a bit more.

Neondaze, if you tell me what you want in a raw rood recipe book (easy vs. gourmet, salads vs. smoothies vs. entries vs. desserts, low-fat (high fruit) vs. higher fat cuisine, etc.), I can give you some recommendations Smile

tsjmom wrote:

Can anyone tell me what detoxing is like?
Since doing 1 smoothie/day for a week I've had headaches, bloating (or what feels like discomfort in my lower abdominal area), and not fiber-rich bm (sorry Embarassed ). At the same time I've been back to eating really healthy. Any idea how long this might last?

Detoxing from eating more healthfully can include things like dehydration, headaches, weird BMs (e.g., yellow-ish, watery, strange smells), bloating, gas, rashes, pimples, elevated body temperature, etc....but of course, so can various health issues/challenges, or simply bad food combining, or too tough/gassy veggies.

* If you're just eating fruit and *tender* young leafy greens, then it's probably not the vegetables that are giving you the problem. If you are eating tough veggies like raw brocoli, raw kale, and raw or cooked beans, then that could be the culprit, so try laying off them

* Here's how you can tell whether it's a problem with food combining. Eat your last meal of the day early, at least 4 hours before bedtime. Your goal is to make absolutely sure that you go to bed on a empty stomach (even a little hungry is good). When you wake up in the morning, for breakfast, have a large green smoothie with only fruits and *tender* young greens, like romaine and spring greens. Wait at least 2 hours before your next meal. If you get gas and detox-like symptoms from it, then it is most likely legit detox. Sometimes eating fruit after or at the same time as other foods can give people issues. And even if you eat a meal 2-3 hours before eating fruit, you can run into such issues, so this is a way to make sure your stomach is absolutely empty when you eat fruit. And in general, if you only eat one smoothie or meal of fruit, try to eat it for breakfast.

* It could be a problem with gut flora and/or digestion, but the greens in the green smoothie with help with both types of issues...so does celery. This is what Victoria found in her green smoothie study, that the greens improved digestion and in particular, raised the levels of stomach HCl. But you could always try taking enzyme supplements and/or probiotics, or other digestion aids.

* If you also find that you feel really dehydrated and need a lot of water, way more than normal and in a way that you seem perpetually thirsty, then you are probably detoxing.

* For me, I can totally tell know if my symptoms are from detoxing or a health issue (almost always the former). For me, the main signs kinds of signs that I've gotten are (a) a slightly feverish feeling in my head/elevated body temperature while at the same time feeling energized, (b) dehydration that is hard to satisfy, and (c) stool (color changes, chemical-like smells), (d) metallic taste in the mouth, (e) unexplained excess of lactic acid in my legs, (f) the need to sleep more than usual. The tip-off for me about detox symptoms vs health challenges is that with detox symptoms, unless it's severe, I usually feel fairly good, but if the symptoms are from health challenges, then I usually feel drained and not good all over.

It's hard to say how long a given detox will last because it all depends so much on the person and the changes they make, but you should probably expect some of it to normalize within the week. If not, report back to us Smile

HTH

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