Top 12 Health Benefits of Green Smoothies

Isn’t it amazing that Americans worry more about the gas we put in our cars than the food we put in our bodies?

I’ve been getting healthy with a very simple health plan: I eat God’s food instead of man’s food. You can read Dr. Axe’s Healing Food Plan here. I’ve lost eight pounds in two weeks—and I eat a huge amount of food—and I feel great.

Green Smoothies are  really one of the most efficient ways for your body to heal itself and the easiest way to absorb nutrients into your body.   There are hundreds of benefits; I’ve only listed the top twelve here:

1. A quick, effective way for the body to be able to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream and cells.
2. When your body receives the proper nutrients, you lose weight because it’s not craving more food.
3. Increases metabolic rate (the rate at which the body burns calories).
4. Best way to support, detoxify, and strengthen the major organs in the body.
5. Quickly absorb large amounts of nutrients into the system.
6. Hardly any digestive work is needed to process raw  liquid.
7. Easy way to get beneficial enzymes.
8. More nutritious than green powders.
9. Easy to include vegetables you don’t like in your diet (I don’t like kale but it’s easy to hide it in a smoothie).
10. Aids the body’s natural regenerative powers.
11. Since it’s simple, it’s easy to be  consistent.
12. Makes amazingly healthy soup bases and nut butters without preservatives or bad oils

I’ve been researching blenders and juicers for several months. My dear friend Dolores knew I was looking for a juicer and generously sent me one of hers. I tried juicing  beets to overcome anemia.

It worked! My iron levels came up more with fresh beet juice than with the weekly $450.00 painful Procrit shots my doctor prescribed to produce more red blood cells (and without the horrible side effects)!

Upgrading to a Powerful Juicer

My gift juicer works well for juicing things like grapes, tomatoes and avocados. But is not powerful enough to do things like broccoli, so I add green powder to my  daily juice (I alternate between Boku and Garden of Life Perfect Food Super Green Formula).

Drinking a green drink daily made such a huge improvement in my health (I’ve been able to get off eight medications), that I decided to invest in a more powerful juicer. I’m still using the juicer my friend gave me, but from my research I decided the best machine for me is a Blendtec Total Blender.

View Full Blendtec Demonstration Here

This blender is so amazing; they have a site called WillItBlend.com where they show videos blending things like an iPad, an iPhone, marbles, a rake, and much more, to  show how powerful it is.

Based on my research,  my daughter purchased a Blendtec. Now I’m able to go to her home to make soup bases and juices, then store it  in containers to transport to my home.  Juice lasts in a refrigerated, tightly closed glass jar for at least 2–3 days.

When funds permit, I will  purchase a Blendtec Total Blender.  I decided on a blender instead of a typical juicer because:

• Typical  juicers are  a pain to clean (you have to disassemble several parts after each use)
• Typical juicers don’t juice all the food; there is always pulp let over. A good blender pulverizes all the vegetables or fruit with no waste.

It was a close call between a Vita-Mix and the Blendtec Total Blender. The Blendtec won out because it fits under my counter and I found reviewers like it better.

The Cost

Blendtec and Vita Mix run about $400.00. If you don’t have a blender or juicer I suggest you borrow one, or use the green powders and  start saving for a juicer  now.

There is no better investment you can make in your family’s health!

Juicing Recipes

My favorite place for recipes is Incrediblesmoothies.com

• Smoothie Making 101
• How to Make a Detox Smoothie
• Using Fruit As A Smoothie Base
• How To Make A Green Smoothie
• Flavor Fruits For Green Smoothies
• How To Get More Calcium In Your Green Smoothies
• Big Blend: Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie Recipe
• Green Smoothie FAQ

Juicing Tips

• Organic is best, of course, to avoid pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
• Fresh produce is vital (from the garden or  a farmers market).
• The most nutritious vegetables include kale, spinach, carrots, celery, beets, garlic, cucumber and parsley.
• The most nutritious fruits  include blueberries, kiwi, guava, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, paw paw, and apples.

Not Natural? Too Concentrated?

God made most food to be eaten whole—but He also gave us rules on how to keep the land able to produce nutritious food, and we haven’t followed them (crop rotation and resting every seventh year). As a result,  our food—even fresh, organic, raw food—is lacking in nutrients.

According to an analysis conducted by The Globe and Mail and CTV News, modern farming methods, long-haul transportation and crop-breeding practices have contributed to a significant drop in the level of vitamins and minerals in our food. For example, in the last fifty years the average potato has lost 100% of its vitamin A, 57% of its vitamin C and iron, and 28% of its calcium.

The book, 10001 Food Facts, Chefs’ Secrets & Household Hints, reports that most growers put back into the soil only what is necessary for crop growth, usually including phosphorus, potassium, and nitrates. Other nutrients, such as chromium, zinc, and selenium, are woefully missing.

Resources to Learn More About Nutrition

If you are encouraged to add more raw food to your family’s diet, my first recommendation is to get educated. It’s easy to do for free on the Internet. I listen to a nutritional podcast daily to stay motivated.

Here are some of my favorite  sites:

• What the Bible Says About Food
• Dr Axe (my doctor)
• Holy Cow: Does God Care About What We Eat? (Hope Egan)
• Incredible Raw

Some of the following sites have excellent health information; however, they think pork and shellfish are okay. They aren’t, so ignore those parts.

• Dr Mercola (author of  Raising Healthy, Intelligent Kids in a Junk-Food World)
• Dr Fuhlman (author Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss)
• Weston A Price Foundation
• Kid’s Health

More Resources

Heart of Wisdom publishes What the Bible Says About Healthy Living Cookbook based on Dr. Rex Russel’s book  What the Bible Says About Healthy Living. This super cookbook will help you incor­porate God’s ingredients into your life—simply and without sacrificing taste. For years biblical health experts have been telling you how to think about biblical eating. Now there is a complete cookbook that helps you take action.

I’m currently reading the book 12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food. It tells why a raw food diet is superior and how to successfully maintain a 100% raw-food lifestyle. You may not be interested in going 100% raw, but this book will certainly motivate you to increase the amount of raw food you consume.

The book is illustrated with stories from the author’s personal experience, which makes reading it pleasurable.  One quick fact from the book:

• Danish scientists isolated a potential cancer fighter called falcarinol in raw carrots. They discovered that even mild heating of carrots, such as blanching (almost all baby carrots are blanched and soaked in chlorine), reduced the falcarinol in half.

Do You Have a Juicer or Blender?

What is your experience with juicing? I’d love to hear your comments.