Feeding your skin with Smoothies!!!!
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free skin care · Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:25 pm

I posted this over on another thread and decided it needed a thread of it's own.
I am going through something related to diet change that is next to amazing in regards to the difference in my face. I have been doing facial exercises for over two years and have had dramatic improvement. I haven't had a bad diet but it didn't include the abundance of veggies that it should have. Three weeks ago I started making green smoothies and starting this week I have been floored with the change in my face. I have struggled with some sag in the lower face area and within three weeks it is gone Shock

Now it is not fat loss because I am thin already and do not desire any weight loss. What seems to have happened is a total detox that has flushed out issues in my face. I thought I was experiencing aging sag when it was diet related Embarassed

No one could be more shocked than me because I don't retain fluids or have any issues with foods that I am aware of. Please if you are struggling with your face don't over look the nutritional aspects like I have for the past three years!!!You might be pleasantly surprised just what a change of diet could do for your face....not to mention the rest of your body. So let's not forget how important sleep, exercise, and now for me green smoothies in my diet!!! Imagine this smoothie is GREEN

free skin care · Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:45 pm

I think many will agree that the BEST book on smoothies (or at least in the top 3) is

Green for Life http://www.greenforlife.com/

The explanation as to why they are actually so important is stellar.

My fave smoothie mix (I make for my 4 y/o's and myself

Fave Green Smoothie Mix

Loosly pack blender with spinach (RAW, I like baby, organic), banana, 1 small orange, and about 1 cup water. Blend until liquid. Add frozen fruit. Pineapple, Mango, Peaches. Add fruit slowly so not to bog down your motor... but KNOW that you can keep adding it until you have a wonderful soft serve ice cream as well.

Fruits with seeds can leave a bit of texture... But if you don't mind some seeds go for it. (Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberry skin can be weird.)

I've recently gotten into a Pina Colada Smoothie...

Pina Colada Smoothie

Same basic spinach base, + pineapple and Mango only and 1 tsp of Extra Virgin Coconut oil...

DELISH!

Strawberry Lime Sparkler

And when I need a "soda", something sparkling on a hot sunny day. Blend one whole lime a bit of water and frozen strawberries. Pour the bottom 1/4 of a glass with this. Pour sparkling water over the top! Add stevia for sweetener if you must.

I don't particularly care for cold savory smoothies (as I would really only like a v-8 and can't mimic it well enough.)

HOWEVER, I make lots of soups...

Broccolli - Steam 1 lb frozen Brocolli, Put in blender with 1 cup or so, chicken or vege broth, you can use some of the brocolli water too! Return to empty stock pot, stir in a bit of milk (or sub), salt and pepper to taste, grate a bit (1 oz tops) cheddar cheese.

You can use, roasted squash for this, or steamed or perhaps even grilled asparagus. Roasted veges of choice really.

I make mushroom soup, or gravy (pretty much the same as soup just thicker) for mashed potatoes,cauliflower,turnips...

I'm not a raw foodist.... or a vegan. So substitute however you see fit.

Oh... and on the front of fruit. Although I don't recommend this if you're cutting back on sugar. You can blend room temp fruit with a tiny bit of agave nectar, pour out on a non stick, pam (or oil of choice) sprayed cookie sheet. Put in an oven (mine is convection) at 170* for about an hour or so... and you have SPECTACULAR fruit leather... the kids will love it!

My goal is to make smoothies daily... that can be a challenge sometimes... But I think it would do nothing but nourish and cleanse the body from the inside out!

free skin care · Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:52 pm

Oh Claudia so glad you got the ball rolling....I am a novice with the smoothies and my hope is that that those of you that haven't tried the smoothies will jump on board with me and those that are veterans like Claudia will also join in and help us out Very Happy

This is how I got started.......

I started with a blender L equip 228 and I got it for 89.00 from Ruby's Deals with price grabbers. It is an outstanding blender and is one horsepower. It will blend things in a second, and has a 6 year warranty. When I went on vacation to visit my son in Tampa we went to Costco and saw a demo of Blendtec and both of us caved in . I am selling my L equip 228 to my best friend and to be honest in many ways it is a better blender but the Blendtec is slightly bigger and has more bells and whistles. I am getting my husband hooked so a slightly larger blender is good. I know a lot of people have a Vitamix and really love it.As you think about all this realize the only green veggies I really like are green beans and broccoli, I wouldn't have touched spinach or avacodo with a ten foot pole!! Also every time someone posted about green smoothies on a forum I skipped over it... I guess the results I am seeing has made me wonder why I didn't at least give it a try sooner!!!! Now my two favorite recipes are as follows:

Dr. OZ green smoothie

•1 lemon 1/2 cup parsley,
•chopped 1 rib of celery
•2 big handfuls of Spinach
•1 pince of peeled ginger
•1 medium cucumber
•2 apples preferred amount of ice cubes (which is of course, optional)
I add stevia to taste(several teaspoons)

(When I frist drank this all I could think about was the only green drink I was used to drinking was a lime daiquiri)This one has punch but in a different way!!
and my special is a Blueberry smoothie(my afternoon treat)
1 1/2 cups blueberries
I/2 of an avocado(small dark one)
acai powder(up to you on the amount)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup ice
stevia to taste

I don't do fruit smoothies with high glycemic fruits...too much sugar and can lead to weight gain.
Right now I have to force myself to eat more so I don't lose weight....the smoothies are taking that need to snack away. Also I don't want any sugar or junk which I really don't get into that anyway. But this is the first time in my life I am trying to keep weight on!! It really is a terrific weight loss tool.

If you have a regular blender this is the way to mix the green smoothie 1/4 water, lemon, and spinach...blend this until liquid. Then add chopped cucumber and blend.....then add quartered apples and bend...then ice and stevia.
If you have a one of the blenders that are designed for this you can put it all in and just blend in two min. but a regular blender won't do that.
If someone would have told me this would help sag in the face I would have told them they were crazy but it took three week to see the difference and it happened all the sudden....someone told me it was detoxifying my system.
A good book to read is "Green for Life" by Victoria Boutenko and I got it off ebay...hard to find in the bookstores. Also there is a website greensmoothie.com that will show you a demo. There are lots of videos on you tube.
Toby
I just got this in my email...it is a newsletter from a product I use....check out her smoothies
http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001keKzuwtLzrRgmNFFLjzF7CPoFcvPm81gM1Wg7x0_8xAYz-eycNVF-iYAEIJ63AEdxn9dUTyNyxA1IB_KCFuqqUf0ljvzD5XPSd0LTLbJbYvtgJelEEJM7eRXLUJ5c0BIMacT2HUC2Ts%3D

Now that sums up about everything that I know about green smoothies and I welcome others to really get us up and running with this great way to feed our body and enjoy our beautiful skin....

_________________

free skin care · Sat Aug 01, 2009 9:35 am

Greens are great! I'm glad faeriedust also mentioned kombucha. That is something that has made a HUGE difference for me, and I also have acne. An acupuncturist once suggested I drink it and gave me a culture and now I brew it at home. The brand sold at Whole Foods is also really good. The acupuncturist also suggested not eating sugar or foods that had a lot of natural sugar. That is harder to follow, but when I do, the difference in my skin, body, and health is huge.

free skin care · Sat Aug 01, 2009 6:46 pm

This is a fabulous thread.. Thanks to Toby + all, for the great input. Just makes me want to toss out my wine glass, and bring on the big ol smoothie glass..

Any recommendations for a great blender to liquify all the goodies? I have a juicer, but would hate to drag it out everyday.. Something to sit on the counter would be a plus, and I actually just might use it..

Rock on green Goddesses!

ETA: Jan, you can give Toby a "heart", by hitting the "add a thank you" link, which you'll find above every individual post.. Just go to the relevent post and click on it.

free skin care · Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:05 am

Oh Kassy don't toss the wine glass just put the smoothie in it Laughing

This is information on blenders I researched.
The big daddy blenders are Vitamix, Blentec, and Health Master. I have talked to people that own all three and one plus for the Blentec is it fits under the counter. You will see videos with people using all of these. There are people being very successful with regular blenders but they seem to need to cut things up and blend things in slower. I started with a L equip 228 for 89.00( I really searched for that buy) and it is a great one...it is too tall to fit under most counters but it is a great machine. The four I mentioned will blend everything almost instantly. It takes me exactly five minutes to put everything in....blend...then clean the blender. I have things ready in the fig.the night before. Time is critical for me. These prices may vary but it is a good ball park figure.
Price Healthmaster- 200.00(payments possible)shipping is 4-6 weeks
Blendtec -335.00(was on sale somewhere… with free shipping)
Vitamix- around 399.00
Blendtec-89.00 plus shipping(about 10.00 shipping)This is truly the value buy

Also the Healthmaster,Blentec, and Vitamix will blend veggies like tomatoes on a special cycle and it will end of being hot and is soup. This is a benefit because although is hot it hasn’t boiled thus not destroying nutrients. Also you don’t have to heat it up on the stove or microvave. This is the vitamix making soup http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8urAvwykdhM
This is the Blentec making soup
http://revver.com/video/179538/chicken-soup/
This is Montel Williams with the healthmaster( Jack LaLanne used to have one…this is new and improved. When I called about it the shipping was 4-6 weeks and I could wait but it does have payment plan. Looking at this video will really get you interested. http://www.montelwilliams.com/videos.html

Have fun checking it out.

free skin care · Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:25 pm

I make my 'smoothies' with all veggies.. which was orginally called 'energy soup' by Ann Wigmore (sort of the Mother of raw living food..no longer alive)..she used avo, sunflower 'greens' and other green sprouts, spinach. apple and dulse (sea vegetable)

but since I am sensitive to many fruits( and avo)....I use tomatoes and cukes instead as my base (although apples are also good in this recipe) and add greens...usually spinach as a base... and then a lot of fresh cilantro, basil...maybe mint... a bit of arugula...lots of ginger and garlic ..sometimes jalapeno... or sometimes a natural kim chi(i also like a bitter taste so i may add dandelion greens..also great for the skin)

the whole thing tastes like a really good gazpacho soup...and most of my friends..and other folks.. are really attracted to it...(i'm not sure about kids though!)

i've been eating raw since 1980 and for me diet makes the biggest diff in the way my skin looks...in addition to exercise... and love.

free skin care · Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:17 pm

Okay, so I'm not that great in the kitchen....but in case this helps...Combining celery, tomato or red pepper or sundried tomato, and cucumber (or some other veggie) makes a great base for raw soups and gazpachos. The key is to get enough salty flavor from from the celery, tomato, cucumber and red pepper; if that's not enough, add some miso or sea salt. The second key is to get enough sweetness from the tomatoes. If the tomatoes aren't sweet enough, I often add a 1 tsp to 1 tbsp of asweetener like agave. Then, with a little acidity from those veggies or a little added vinegar and your raw soup / gazpacho will really zing in your mouth. Then you can add greens, herbs, spices, other foods, etc. I think the key for great soups--besides fresh ingredients--is balancing the triad of salt, sweetness, and acidity.

You can also make salad dressings out of veggies and nuts and oils in your blenders, as a way to get in more veggies. I like tomatoes or red peppers, along with nuts and seeds like sesame seeds or cashew nuts, then add herbs, some oil, and some apple cider vinegar...yum!

HTH Smile

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 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 7:34 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 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 11:22 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 · 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

free skin care · Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:10 pm

My favorites:

(a) Alissa Cohen's "Living on Live Food" - Probably the best intro book on raw food recipes. Easy to make with easy to get ingredients. The food is good, but not amazing.

(b) Kristen's Raw Recipe Books - http://www.kristensraw.com/raw_recipe_books.php. Simple recipes that are great! Slightly better recipes than in book (a).

(c) Renee Loux Underkoffler "Living Cuisine" - A great book with very tasty gourmet (moderately so, not the upper end of gourment) recipes. Somewhat more preparation and more ingredients are required. Good for those who love cooking or for the intermediate raw fooder who doesn't usually like spending lots of time in the kitchen but who wants nicer recipes for when guests come over.

(d) Terces Engelhart's "I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle Of Cafe Gratitude" - Amazing moderately gourmet desserts (great for entertaining), but not so great for most other things.

(e) Sarma and Matthew Kenny's "Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow" - Excellent high-end gourmet and complex recipes, mostly for entertaining. Not recommended for the beginner and only recommended for those who don't mind spending lots of time in the kitchen and have lots of appliances. Requires considerable commitment or serious love of gourmet food.

Other really good books for beginners that in particular I've heard lots of others rave about but that I haven't tried myself are:

* Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, by Ani Phyo
* Raw Food Made Easy, by Jennifer Cornbleet
* Everyday Raw, by Matthew Kenney

And before you actually purchase a book, you might want to try out the following raw recipe blogs:

* http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com and http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/03/this-blogs-recipe-index.html
* http://rawgoddessheathy.blogspot.com/
* http://goneraw.com/
* http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/ (gives away occassional recipes)

HTH Smile

free skin care · Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:24 am

I love to help people change their habits because it's really rewarding to see people get healthier!!! Eating real whole food is the best way to lose weight and stay at a good weight. Salad is an easy way to eat the majority of plant food in your diet. I make a large salad and eat for lunch and dinner most days (put a towel over leftover salad in the fridge), add a little grilled chicken or some cheese. I find that I have to have carbs or else! So I eat with some organic blue corn chips or homemade croutons that I make w/left over bread. I always buy the unsliced whole grain or flaxseed bread at Trader Joes. Here are some recipes if you want to try.

Croutons--Cut up your bread into small cubes and put into a bowl--drizzle 2 TBS Extra Virgin oil oil over the cubes, add some sea salt, coarse ground pepper, and any herbs you want to use like dried basil, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese etc. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350º for about 10-15 minutes until crispy, let cool and then store in a container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. They make your salad really yummy!

Vinaigrette salad dressing

Mix olive and rice vinegar in a 3:1 ration (Oil 3 parts, vinegar 1 part)

add:
Honey
Dijon mustard
Salt
Coarse ground pepper
Dried parsley or other herbs (optional)

You can use different kinds of oils together like walnut, balsamic, and olive and different kinds of vinegars

The best I think are rice vinegar with a little balsamic. Shake it up, taste it, sometimes if it tastes a little off adding more salt is the solution.

(Sort of) RANCH DRESSING

Mix the following until smooth, I use a small food processor

2 cups plain yogurt
1-2 tsp. lemon juice (or rice vinegar)
1 TBS olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp dill weed
1/8- 1/4 cup milk or coconut milk to thin
1 TBS parsley
1 tsp onion powder
~ ¼ tsp. sea salt
~ ½ tsp. coarse ground pepper

Mince the garlic in a food processor, add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. You can play with the ingredients. I don’t usually measure much but just throw stuff in.

free skin care · Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:53 am

Just rec'd Victoria's Green Smoothie Revolution... some great looking recipes in there... Ideas that I hadn't thought of...about 200 recipes (even green smoothies for your pets!)

A basic write up as to why drink smoothies... and

VERY IMPORTANT, I will share here... She says it's VERY IMPORTANT to ROTATE the GREENS in you smoothies... Reason: "Plants carry a trace of alkaloids in their leaves to ensure that animals will move on to eat another green plant... alkaloids are poisonous in LARGE quantities... can't hurt you in SMALL quantities. HOWEVER, if you keep consuming the same exact green for many weeks, the alkaloids can accumulate in your body and cause unwanted symptoms of poisoning." So, consider this while shopping and perhaps allow the SALE of the day dictate which green you will use until your next shopping trip!

Best!

free skin care · Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:29 pm

A while back on this thread someone had asked if the smoothies could be made in a food processor rather than a blender...(this may be especially important to some folks who don't have a powerful enough blender and can't afford a new one right now..or just want to get started immediately)

So..yes they can easily be food processed rather then blended if they are eaten in the form of an 'energy soup' rather than a smoothie....you get the same nutrition..just a slightly different texture...energy soups are usually eaten from a bowl with a spoon rather than consumed as a drink.

I find it personally quicker to food process than blend..but I do use both methods depending on my mood ...and time availability.

And also want to remind folks that when making a raw soup, rather than a smoothie.... fresh (or dried)spices, herbs and good quality salt (or ground sea vegetables) can be added for flavor to make a slightly different culinary experience than the sweeter focus of the smoothie.

free skin care · Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:47 pm

jasminerosey wrote:

A while back on this thread someone had asked if the smoothies could be made in a food processor rather than a blender...(this may be especially important to some folks who don't have a powerful enough blender and can't afford a new one right now..or just want to get started immediately)

I am of the opinion you really can use any blender and don't need to spend $400 to be able to have a green smoothie. I have been making them for most of the summer, and I use my cheap proctor silex blender that I bought years ago. It works just fine. Blends everything really well, no chunks, etc. So if anyone wants to try this that has a regular blender, go for it. It works. You have to blend a little bit longer, otherwise no problems. Very Happy

free skin care · Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:33 pm

I saw this in my newspaper the other day, and thought it would be useful here. Bare with me, while I type the bloody thing out.. Crying or Very sad

Save your skin! Eat these foods to stay youthful. (By Dr. Jason Posner, PS + Dr. David Goldberg, Cosmetic Derm) From 8/13/09 Palm Beach Post.

1. Avocados: Full of vitamin E, which helps skin health + also may relieve menopausal hot flashes ( Very Happy

).

2. Watermelon: Contains vitamins A, B + C. It's seeds contain essential fats, zinc + vitamin E, all of which help guard against free radical damage, which ages our skin.

3. Water: Drinking eight glasses a day will keep your body healthy and give your skin a natural glow.

4. Blueberries: Full of vitamin C, an antioxidant that gives you a smooth complexion by fighting free radicals.

5. Walnuts: Contain essential fatty acids that allow skin to stay moisturized, making it look healthy and younger.

6. Tuna: High in selenium, which keeps skin cells healthy. Some studies even show that sun damage is lessened if skin cells are high in selenium.

7. Green tea: Helps skin fight ultraviolet rays from the sun. This protects us from inflammation and wrinkles and lowers risk of skin cancer.

8. Extra virgin olive oil: Keeps skin lubricated, which lowers risk of getting wrinkles.

9. Sweet potatoes: Keep your antioxidant level up, which prevents skin wrinkling.

10. Spinach: Dark green, leafy vegetables are high in vitamin A, which aids in skin cell turnover, keeping skin from being dry, tough and scaly..

free skin care · Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:25 pm

Face4ward wrote:

Is anyone gaining weight by drinking so many smoothies? How many calories are in the typical greens-plus-fruit smoothie?

I've never gained weight by drinking the smoothies...only lost or maintained my weight. For the green smoothies, I make an entire meal out of them so I aim for 400-600 calories per smoothie (and I eat 4 meals a day). For the 400-600 calories of fruit, that would like would be like 4-6 bananas, 4-7 large pears, 2 bananas + 2 lbs of strawberries, 4 large mangoes, etc. But even a 400-calorie fruit smoothie is very fulfilling, especially with greens, because of all the fiber and water in the fruit + greens...so it takes up a lot of room in the stomach. I wasn't able to eat a whole 400-600 calorie green smoothie when I first started, but I quickly worked my way up to that amount....it depends on how much volume of food you are used to/able to eat.

HTH Smile

free skin care · Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:43 am

Toby---Oh, sorry, I didn't realize that that was glass! I will have to look into this all more. Thanks so much for your help!

Sigma--Thank so much for all the great information!! I will definitely check out your recommendations Smile

milbader wrote:

I found a brand called Naked at Costco and they had several types in the refrigerator case. There was a green "super food" variety with all types of green stuff including parsley, algae, wheat grass, etc. I will wait till morning to try it. The question I have is how much should I drink a day?

Milbader--You definitely won't get the same effects as making your own green smoothies by instead doing the Naked or Odwalla super food/green drinks because

(1) They use WAY less greens that you would in a green smoothie or green juice. If I had to wager, I'd guess that you'd have to buy 6-12 of them to get the same amount of greens that people are putting into green smoothies that they are making fresh.

(2) They are pasteurized so aren't raw

(3) They aren't fresh, so have lost significant amounts of nutrients to oxidation already.

But if you like them, do enjoy them!

Though it might be a fun experiment for someone to try to compare their experiences with Naked/Odwalla superfood drinks vs fresh green smoothies!

HTH Smile

free skin care · Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:00 am

The truth is that you can get leg cramps from several types of mineral deficiencies, including calcium, magnesium, iron, etc., or even other reasons (e.g., B vitamins; vitamin D deficiency will usually results in several minerals being deficient), so the reason for cramps can be hard to diagnose without a blood test.

You can also get them from an excess of potassium relative to sodium as the body strongly prefers them in a particular ratio (of course, most people have an excess of sodium relative to potassium, but you don't get any cramps from that). I have run into this problem in the past when detoxing old medications from my body because when you are detoxing a lot and then repairing your body, the body needs a lot more minerals than normal, including sodium. When I was only moderately detoxing or eating enough greens relative to fruit (and I eat insane amounts of fruit), it wasn't an issue.

If you are eating green smoothies with lots of greens, you are most likely increasing your calcium, magnesium, and iron intake (as long as you aren't displacing other mineral-rich foods from your diet) and hence you are most likely getting too much potassium relative to sodium. So you can either:

* Eat even more greens (high in good, natural sodium)
* Eat more salt (sea salt is best)
* Eat less potassium rich foods (e.g., cut down on avocadoes, bananas, melons, and the fruits that are highest in potassium)

Another sign of too much potassium relative to sodium is having to pee a lot or having water retention issues of some sort.

HTH Smile

free skin care · Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:47 am

Hiya ScotsLass!

ScotsLass wrote:

Can you please elaborate on your smoothie experiments and the timing of eating certain foods?

Here is what my experience on what promotes the most energy and the best detox results in terms of timing:

* Eating only raw fruits and veggies in the morning

* Eating slightly smaller meals, so I eat 4 meals instead of 3. Digestion requires a lot of energy, so evening it out leaves me with more energy. I aim for 400-600 calories per meal.

* Eating only raw fruits and veggies until dinner. Fats--especially nuts and seeds, but also avocado and coconut (though less so)--slow down digestion and detoxification, so the later in the day you eat them, the better. Almost all the time, I save these "overt fats" for my last meal of the day.

* I can eat the largest volume of food around lunch time, but my digestion really starts to slow down around 4 pm, so I eat 3 of my 4 meals before 4 pm and to make sure I get most of my daily nutrients in sooner, rather than later. (Interestingly, I saw a research article saying that chimps in the wild--our closest ancestors--stop eating around 4 pm on average.)

* For a 400-600 calorie fruit and vegetable meal, I need about 2-2.5 hours to digest it before I'm hungry again (fruit digests more quickly). For a meal with nuts and avocado, I usually need 3-4 hours.

* The earlier in the day I finish my last meal, the better I sleep and the less sleep I need. I'm currently experimenting with this, by stopping around 5-6 pm, and I definitely do feel better, even if I'm eating the exact same food. Tonya Zavasta (www.beautifulonraw.com) has a book ("Quantum Eating") that goes into a lot of detail about eating your last meal of the day as early as possible for maximum health benefits. She says that she eats her first meal of the day at 7 am and her last meal at 2 pm, and as a result, she claims that she only needs 6 hours of sleep and wakes up euphoric. I haven't tried anything that rigid yet by any means, but even stopping by 6 pm, she claims that you get good results...so that's what I'm experimenting on and so far she seems to be right.

* The earlier in the day that I eat all my greens, the most satisfied and grounded I feel, and the less calories I need.

* When I was still regularly eating beans and grains, I got the best results by eating them in the last meal of the day.

ScotsLass wrote:

I have always been under the impression that you should eat fruits (exclusively) first as they digest that much faster compared to veggies, and that if you mix the two together you can actually slow down the digestion process of both the fruit and vege. What has your experience been between a fruit or veggie-only smoothie compared to a combo smoothie in terms of digestion and detoxification?

I haven't noticed any significant differences for me personally for any of the possible permutations, but the vast majority of the vegetables that I eat are either greens or are technically non-sweet fruits (e.g., tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers). There may be a difference, but for me, if there is a difference, it is very small.

For example, I will eat a smoothie of just honeydew melon (notoriously easy to digest and people say it shouldn't be food combined with anything else) and spring greens, and I have no problem with it, and zero tummy or gas issues. However, if I add a single scoop of raw rice protein powder or flax oil (another experiment I tried Smile

), it gave me gas, indicating not good food combining.

Plus, my body seems to need A LOT of greens, so I don't think I would be able to get enough greens if I didn't do the greens smoothies. And when I hit the 1.5 lbs+ range of greens a day plus fruit and low fat, I feel absolutely amazing. Seriously, what keeps me doing this is not only the health benefits (as if that were the case, I probably won't do something this extreme otherwise), but the natural high I get. If I only eat, say 1 lb of greens, I feel great, but don't quite get the same euphoria. But I'm sure different people have different thresholds Smile

ScotsLass wrote:

Would you mind sharing a typical smoothie day with us, ie., what you have for breakfast and/or lunch and the timing of any food ingested after your smoothies (such as any snacks, for example).

I try to keep things fairly simple. If you are familiar with various style of raw food eating, I am closest to 80-10-10 (80% carbs, 10% fat, 10% protein), except that I aim for 2 lbs of greens a day (rather than 1 lb), I aim for more like 15% or less fat on average (though I'm not rigid on this), and I don't follow all the natural hygiene (an even more rigid style of eating) rules. So a typical day for me is:

* Meal 1: 400-600 calorie green smoothie, containing 1/2 lb of spring greens (only meal I eat at home)

* Meal 2 (2-2.5 hrs later): 400-600 calorie green smoothie, containing 1/2 lb of spring greens

* Meal 3 (2-2.5 hrs later): 400-600 calories of fruit

* Meal 4 (2-2.5 hrs later): Green juice with 3 apples, 4 stalks of celery, 1 bunch of greens, 1/2 cucumber; a salad or vegetable medley with some guacamole, nuts or fancy nut pate, and/or salad dressing; some ground flax or chia seed

For the green smoothies, these days, I usually prefer to just blend up 400-600 calories of one fruit alone--e.g., ripe pears, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, honeydew melon are my favorites--rather than to mix fruits, as I feel like taste of the fruit is less muted than if I mix a lot of different fruits together. But in the beginning, for most people, I think something like a bag or package of berries, plus a couple oranges, plus a couple bananas is usually more appealing to those who are new with green smoothies.

To be honest, I don't think this would be very appealing to lots of people, but (1) I've been doing high raw or all raw for 5 years, so it took a long time for me to like just plain whole raw foods (a big key is learning how to pick the freshest produces and how to ripen foods, so that they are so sweet, succulent, and flavorful), (2) I really do like it a lot now, and (3) hopefully, it will give people some ideas of the kinds of things they want to do (and don't want to do).

HTH Smile

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