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 3: Getting Picky

Omega 3 (and 6) are found in fish oil, olive oil, flax seeds (and oil), hemp oil and avocados. Study after study has shown that that increasing your intake of these types of oils is beneficial in reducing bad cholesterol, increasing good cholesterol and preventing heart disease and arthritis symptoms. More research continues to emerge attributing the deficiency of this particular type of oil as a factor in the incidence of depression, allergies and diabetes! The catch twenty-two: you not only need to increase your consumption of these oils, you’ll have to cut out the bad ones to reap the full benefits.

Fat has had a bad rap for decades. Going back to the 1930’s, doctors made correlations between increased CHD, heart attacks and stroke to increased consumption of butter, margarine and other fats that don’t contain Omega 3. These fats increase inflammation, LDL and triglycerides, resulting in the rise of “Western Diseases” like heart disease and diabetes (the link to diabetes is a relatively controversial one at this point.) So in an effort to reduce health risks, health care professionals have long recommended decreased intake of fat for decreased health risks. Along with this recommendation is the pharmaceutical push to dispense prescription cholesterol lowering meds.

But if this reduced fat diet is so effective, why does the incidence of heart disease continue to rise? If statins (class of cholesterol lowering medication most widely prescribed) are so effective in reducing heart attacks and strokes, why do most patients hospitalized for cardiovascular episodes have normal cholesterol levels? Simple answer: even at lower levels, bad fat can kill you. Not so simple answer: it’s not just about decreasing the total fat intake on our diets, it’s about removing the inflammatory fat and replacing it with the protective, good fat.

The topic of fat and cholesterol is not a simple one, but our menu does not have to be complicated either.

• Stick to Omega 3 rich oils like olive oil, avocado and sesame oil

• Increase consumption of fish (fresh water varieties like salmon and sardines are safest) while reducing meat intake.
• Include high Omega 3 foods like flax seeds, avocados and walnuts in your daily diet.
• Supplement your diet with a high quality EPA/DHA supplement.
• Avoid pre-packaged, fast foods and processed foods as much as possible.

Remember, there is absolutely no evidence out there that can deny that improved lifestyle and diet is more effective than medication at preventing heart attacks and strokes. Now you just have to make the right choices for yourself.

Your questions and comments are always welcome. Email me at Lara@wealthofHealthRx.com and don’t forget you can also ask me about coaching support and nutritional supplement services. Visit WealthofHealthRx.com for more information :)

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.