It’s Simple: Green Smoothies + A Healthier Diet = A Healthier YOU

Book links are usually affiliate links. This means I earn a small percentage when you click through and buy the book. This costs you nothing extra - it simply allows me to keep my cats in the lifestyle they're accustomed to.

I fancy myself the inquisitive type. The type of person who, upon hearing a particular name mentioned or an interesting new subject broached, has to research the dickens out of it until she can carry on an intelligent conversation about said person, place, thing, or idea.  When teaching our three beautiful daughters in our home school, I always told them to latch onto anything that interested them and “study” it from all sides and angels until they could, literally, write an essay on the subject.

I wish I had a dollar for every essay they ever wrote over those years. 

As a component of staying as mentally active as possible and as someone who writes (and reads) a great deal about brain fitness, I encourage everyone – in addition to my girls – to read and study as many subjects as you possibly can.  Don’t just latch onto one and don’t limit yourself to one source – dissect a subject like an earthworm on a board. Look at it from every possible angle, while keeping an open mind and always, always, always think for yourself.

Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to write an essay.

I’ve been reading a lot the past few months about a couple of different subjects. Like my brain, these subjects are all over the place:

• Green Smoothies
• Preservatives in Food
• Squirrels
• Joan of Arc
• Yoga

Did you know that, although we’ve always seen paintings of her as a fearless fighter, riding into battle armed and dangerous – the heroine of the Hundred Years’ War (between France and England), Joan of Arc, never actually fought in a single battle? She certainly never killed an opponent.  (For 6 other cool facts about Joan of Arc, check out History.com.)

Green Smoothies and Raw Food

My fascination with Green Smoothies came about a while back when I was sent The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Smoothies to review. I was mesmerized immediately.  The book is easy to read, simple to understand, and the first step you should take if you’re considering green smoothies.

From the Back Cover:

Blended from fresh, natural, whole foods and juices, green smoothies help burn fat, promote immune and digestive system health, and rid your body of toxins.

The next best thing to a personal smoothie chef, this superb guide gives you 150 taste-tempting recipes to amp up your nutrition, satisfy your cravings, and cleanse your body.

In it, you get:

• Advice on combining ingredients and flavors into delicious green smoothies even kids will love.
• Easy ideas for creating energizing green smoothies packed with protein to fuel the athlete in you.
• Recipes for powerful superfood smoothies that increase your vitamin, mineral, and phytonutrient intake.
• Tips for blending nutritionally dense, low-calorie weight loss smoothies that leave you feeling satisfied.
• Healing green smoothie and tonic recipes that boost your immunity and purify your body from the inside out.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Smoothies is the perfect (ideal, ideal, ideal) introduction to Green Smoothies. The author, Bo Rinaldi, is a chef and co-owner of Blossoming Lotus Restaurant in Portland, Oregon. He’s also the co-owner of VeganFusion.com and HealthyLessons.com. He has written several great books for The Complete Idiot’s series.

What you eat empowers you. – Bo Rinaldi, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Smoothies

In addition to the 150 Green Smoothies recipes, this great guide includes the following informative chapters:

• Why Green Smoothies?
• The Bountiful Benefits of Green Smoothies (fiber, nutrients, vitamins, anti-oxidants…).
• Making the Perfect Green Smoothie.

[highlight color=”yellow”]Recipes in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Smoothies include Everyday Smoothies, Powerful Superfood Smoothies, Smoothies for Weight Loss, Healing Smoothies, Green Smoothie Tonics, Smoothies for Athletes, Kid-Friendly Smoothies, Exotic Green Smoothies![/highlight]

I’ll be writing more about nutrition, preventing diabetes. raw foods, and yoga in future posts but I wanted to share a few links with you.  I’ve loved smoothies for a long time now. Strawberry, Banana, Peach… Never met a smoothie I didn’t love.  I also am a huge fan of vegetables, so when the subject of Green Smoothies came up, how could I NOT be fascinated? Green Smoothies were, apparently “invented” by the late Dr. Ann Wigmore in 1988.

Most people, today, credit Victoria Boutenko with taking Green Smoothies to amazing new heights.

Victoria Boutenko and her family are champions of raw foods, including green smoothies. They’ve used raw foods in battles against a long list of diseases, and unlike Joan of Arc, they DID kick some major butt.   You can visit Victoria Boutenko’s blog for more information, as well as her family’s website Raw Family.  Beautiful lady, beautiful kids. One of her beautiful children also has a website, Sergio Boutenko. His story is a great one. Be sure to read in all the nooks and crannies of each of these websites and blogs.

Another name you need to know in the world of Green Smoothies is Green Smoothie Girl, Robyn Openshaw.  At 45 years young, Robyn says she has never felt better in her life.  Green Smoothies, as well as a healthy, back-to-basics diet are responsible.  Robyn is introducing a whole new generation to Green Smoothies and her website is outstanding.  Be sure to watch the videos and read everything you can get your eyes on. The information is priceless.  She’s another beautiful lady with beautiful children.  Seems to be a trend…

Finally, you might want to check out the NutriBullet.  We recently got one and I love it muchly. I’ve used it each day (several times in fact) since it came into my kitchen.  Green smoothies are as delicious as they are nutritious and, this really shocked me… they’re filling! Will you want to drink green smoothies every meal for the rest of your life.  Heck no. But any meals throughout the week that you can replace with a healthier alternative is only a positive, and healthy, move.

I know you’ll get a lot out of each of the websites above. I hope you’ll read what each individual has to say, watch their videos, and (most importantly) try green smoothies for yourself.

Remember, when reading what other’s write about diets, nutrition, etc – you aren’t trying to be them. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t want to) mirror everything they do, say, or even eat.  Everyone has different physical needs and each person is, quite simply, different.  Don’t try to mimic anyone else’s diet per se.  Simply try to be a better, healthier version of YOU.

Also, focus more on adding healthy food(s) to you daily diet than you focus on what you’re giving up.  If you keep thinking about what you’re giving up or what’s missing, it’ll simply stay right there in your brain and, trust me, if it’s there, you will return for it! If I sound like the voice of experience, I am. A year long battle trying to give up diet soft drinks taught me well.  As soon as I began focusing on the good alternatives – and experimenting with different flavors and varieties of tea – I turned the corner, and a healthy one at that.

I stopped thinking, “I’m not going to drink a Diet Dr. Pepper today,” and instead thought, “Green tea, Passion tea, or black tea.. what will it be today?”  It sounds simplistic, but it works.  After a week with no diet soft drinks, I noticed that my rings were no longer tight.  Imagine that.

Cranberry Cooler Smoothie Recipe (From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Smoothies)

3/4 cup water
1 TBS Maple Syrup
2 medium ripe pears or apples (your choice), cored and chopped
1 cup chopped cucumber
3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup shopped fresh parsley

1. In a high-speed blender, combine water, maple syrup, pears, cucumber, cranberries, celery, and parsley, layering ingredients to ensure proper blending.
2. Blend until completely smooth.

Variation: If cranberries aren’t available, you can substitute other berries like blackberries or gooseberries. Also try replacing the celery with whole peeled oranges accompanied by 1/2 cup chopped fennel for more of a holiday flavor.

To Your Health:  This delicious and detoxifying smoothie makes a great Thanksgiving cocktail or a cooling summer companion.  Parsley, cucumbers, and cranberries are all well known for their tonifying effects on the kidneys, which can be very helpful if you’re trying to burn off heavy holiday food.  Drink this in the summer to keep your electrolytes replenished in the heat and to take advantage of your body’s natural tendency to detox during the warmer weather. – page 81 The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Smoothies.

You’re familiar with the word catalyst, right?  I think of a catalyst as an emotional spark plug – a stimulus that leads you to something else.  To me, the greatest thing about Green Smoothies is the fact that they can be a catalyst for healthier eating and cleaner living.  The “inventor” of green smoothies, Dr. Ann Wigmore is credited with one of my favorite quotes, and I think it’s a perfect one to end on: “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.”

The choice is ours.

~ Joi

Also See: Love reading? Live for books? I totally recommend She’s Got the Book for Fiction Book Reviews.