Green Juice

Lean, Mean, Green Machine!

Juicing isn’t just another passing fad. There’s a reason that the benefits have been talked about since Jack Lalane was a young man. By drinking your fruits and veggies, you’re absorbing your vitamins and phytonutrients quickly and efficiently without fiber restricting the volume. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I love fiber. It helps you feel full and satisfied, prevents your blood sugar from spiking and plummeting and helps lead to a healthy lipid profile. But when I drink my broccoli, I can easily consume 2 or 3 times the amount, get 2 or 3 times the nutritional benefits, without getting too full. Today’s fruits and veggies have been measured have about half the nutritional benefits of those farmed in the 1950’s due to the depleted soil composition and modern farming practices. When we consider the depleted nutritional profile of modern day fruits and veggies, increasing serving size of your veggies and fruits could be a vital key to good health. 

Green juice can be drank by itself, or used as a base for shakes. I don’t recommend adding too much to your juice since fat, protein and fiber will slow down the absorption of nutrients. That being said, I do usually add chia seeds to my juice. I like the consistency (it is similar to pulp in OJ) and the added Omega 3 fat and fiber helps me feel more satisfied and lowers the glycemic load of the sugars in the juice (so my blood sugar doesn’t spike then drop dramatically.) 

To make a green juice, you’ll need a good juicer able to juice fruits and veggies well or a high power blender like the Vitamix.  Here’s what I’ve been drinking the past couple of mornings:

Servings 2

Prep Time: 15 min

•     1-2 apples
•     1-2 cucumbers
•     1 cup kale
•     1 cup broccoli
•     1 cup collard greens
•     Several stalks parsley (stem and leaves)
•     1 lemon (peal removed)
•     ¼- ½ inch of knob sliced ginger
•     2-3 large beets
•     1 tablespoon Chia seeds per serving

Juice all ingredients except the chia seeds. Pour out each serving of juice into a shaker cup and add 1 tablespoon of chia seed. Shake well and allow the seeds to plump up for about 10 minutes. The seeds will develop a gelatinous coating. To avoid the seeds clumping, shake vigorously every couple of minutes. Drink immediately for highest nutritional value.

* If you plan on refrigerating the unused portion, you can keep it for about 24-72 hours IF the juicer you are using is a low speed juicer designed to preserve the enzymes in the juice.

Use this as a guide- don't get hung up on the exact ingredients and amounts. Use what you have, and omit what you don't. Experiment with different combinations. The most important thing... Drink up! 

ENJOY!

The Skinny on Fats part 2: Fish oil

You may or may not be from the generation that had to have been forced to take a spoonful of cod liver oil every day. And yes, it tastes just as appetizing as it sounds. The thing is, cod liver oil is derived from, yup you guessed it: cod fish and is packed with Omega 3 fatty acids (AKA EPA and DHA). For generations, mothers would give children this supplement, believing it was good for them, and they were right! Some experts are saying that that many of the increased incidence of childhood ADHD, depression, asthma, diabetes and even autism can be linked to deficiencies of this omega 3 rich supplement in recent generations.

You can’t walk into a super market, pharmacy or health food store without being pummeled with fish oil this, DHA/EPA that… foods, vitamin bottles and magazines everywhere advertising the health benefits of eating more Omega 3 rich foods and supplements. So what is this stuff and what’s so important about them?

DHA, the acronym for decosahexanoic acid, is an essential omega-3 fat. Essential, meaning it is not produced in humans, and as you can infer, necessary for optimal function. Most DHA can be found in the fluid membrane of the brain and supports cognitive function and development. In fact, today’s prenatal vitamins contains high doses of this fat to aid in fetal neural development and reduce complications such as low birth weight, premature birth, and diabetes to name a few. EPA, Eicosapentaenoic acid, is also a long chain Omega 3 polyunsaturated essential fatty acid. This has profound anti inflammatory properties, beneficial for preventing and treating many immune related conditions such as asthma, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis.

Studies have also linked low Omega 3 intake with increased severity and symptoms of depression (including postpartum), schizophrenia, bipolar and autism and ADHD. As new research develops, scientists have found correlations between increased inflammation and cardiovascular disease. With its anti-inflammatory effects, this fatty acid can significantly reduce risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), heart attacks and stoke.

Remember that little lesson on cholesterol, HDL and LDL? If you recall, we talked about how increasing your HDL levels has cardio-protective effect by helping eliminate cholesterol from our bodies. Research has made correlations between the increased intake of Omega 3 rich foods, such as fish oils, and increased levels of HDL and decreased triglycerides (bulky compounds that lead to artery blockage). This is the reason for the reported decrease of heart attack and stroke in patients consuming these fatty acids.

OK, OK so now you know you should be eating good fat, and crowding out bad fat from your diet. Next, we’ll talk more about the sources of the good fat and how to spot the bad stuff.