Eating Healthy: Tip #2

So, as you know now my first advice for anyone wanting to be, feel, and look healthier will be to... Drink More Water.

I'm not too concerned with how many ounces, but just know 75% of Americans suffer from chronic dehydration. We don't drink enough, or when we do is juice, sodas, coffee and alcohol (the last three are dehydrating, by the way). I wrote about water drinking in the past, if you need a refresher.

But now that you are drinking more water, what would be my next advice?

EAT MORE GREENS!!!

Greens are the KING of vegetables! They represent a convenient, essentially non-caloric, VERY nutrient-dense source of otherwise hard to obtain minerals- like magnesium, calcium, potassium, and manganese. As you know, I'm not a fan of eating the same stuff every day, so my advice would be to vary your greens.

Here are some examples. Experiment and try new ones!

• Kale
• Chard
• Romaine
  
• Mustard
• Collards
• Dandelion greens
• Parsley
• Spinach
• Beet greens
• Arugula
• Baby greens or Spring Greens
• Endive
• Watercress
• Bok Choy
• ...among others....

So you see... no need to stick with Spring greens, Romaine, Spinach and Kale.  The more varied your greens the more variety of nutrients. By the way, greens are SUPER easy to grow and even in small containers you will have an incredible supply of greens growing.  Try it out!

How To Incorporate Greens in Your Diet
Think about greens for your every day, so when you go to the supermarket LOAD your cart with different greens.  Then each day and each meal try to incorporate greens in different ways.  Here is how I do it:

• Sautéed. For breakfast I sauté greens with some onions, garlic, mushrooms, and any other veggies on hand.  I sprinkle some salt, cayenne pepper, make my self a fried egg, heat up a brown rice tortilla, and have an awesome breakfast egg and veggie burrito!
• Steamed. Mmm, this are delicious with a drizzle of sesame oil and sesame seeds, and just eat it as a side dish in your lunch or dinner.
• Dehydrate. My husband just got me a dehydrator and I've only made dried fruits with it, but I'm anxious to try greens as well. They should be crispy- a "green chip"!
• Baked. Try as kale chips.  Cut the kale leaf from the center rib, drizzle a little olive oil in a baking pan, a dash of salt and bake for 25 minutes in 250 degrees, or until crispy.  We have them as snacks... and kids LOVE them too! 
• Salads. This is the obvious one and what people tend to
  
  think of when thinking of greens, but now you know there are other ways to eat your greens!  However, incorporating greens in their RAW form is a good idea as they keep their enzymes intact.  Once a day, I try having greens in salad form. A HUGE salad with lots of veggies and lentils or beans for protein, or a side salad at dinnertime work great!
• Soups. Yes! Add them to soups, any soups.  I add greens to my Ribollita soup, or to lentil soups, artichoke soups, ANY soups, you can just add greens 5
  
  minutes before serving.  They will become soft and bright green and give it an incredible nutritious punch!
• Juice. Juice your greens for an INCREDIBLE instant multivitamin.  I sometimes juice as a snack.  If I have too many greens I think I'm not going to get through, or those greens attached to your beets, radishes, etc.. juice them up with some lemon, ginger, apple and be ready to be ENERGIZED!
• Blend. This is a great one if you are not a big fan of greens.  Blend them up with some milk (of your preference), greek yogurt or kefir, hemp or chia seeds, and some berries and you've got yourself a great, filling, and nutritious breakfast!

Nutrients and Health Benefits of Greens
Again...greens are KING!  They are prepackaged whole food “supplements” with safe and well-balanced vitamin and mineral levels. Here are some essential health benefits of greens.

Magnesium
Up to 80% of Americans are deficient in this VERY important mineral. Over 300 physiological processes in the human body require magnesium to function optimally, foremost among them the production of energy. But why are we deficient? There are a few factors, including the disappearance of magnesium from our drinking water and top soil, but the fact remains that most of us aren’t even trying to get enough magnesium through our food. Eating greens like spinach and chard will go a long way toward adding dietary magnesium!!

Calcium
But you thought just DAIRY= STRONG BONES, right?  Aaah... another old myth! See, the bones also need vitamins D, K2 and magnesium for proper mineralization, not just calcium. The balance of these is important for osteoporosis and bone health.  Dairy seems to provide excellent calcium and not the other minerals. Research has found that this imbalance with too much dairy and not enough of the other minerals seem to affect bone health in a negative way. Leafy greens are a great source of calcium, vitamin K2 and magnesium!

vitamin D, but

Potassium
Potassium is another nutrient a lot of people miss out on. The potassium: sodium ratio has ben found very important in regulating blood pressure, so besides eating more avocados, fruits and tubers... be sure to eat your greens!

Manganese
Without getting to scientific, manganese keeps your mitochondria running cleanly lowering your risk of stroke and brain damage. Along with magnesium, seems like greens are a sure way to keep good brain health!

Folate
Though it’s widely touted as particularly crucial for expectant mothers and the development of the babies they bear, folate is also important for anyone’s general health. Inadequate dietary folate intake can lead to elevated homocysteine levels  (a risk factor for heart disease). Modern processed grain-based foods are usually fortified with folic acid, but you’re not eating that stuff, RIGHT?? ; ). And unless you’re also eating plenty of liver, if you shun greens you are most likely lacking this vital nutrient.

Betaine
Betaine is another important often ignored nutrient that many people lack. Like folate, it regulates proper homocysteine levels. Betaine also helps maintain liver health. Spinach is perhaps the greatest vegetable source of betaine.

So go ahead, eat a few cups of steamed spinach, a romaine lettuce salad, maybe some kale chips, a green smoothie and you’ll be getting a nice healthy range of nutrients, and I promise... you will feel and look healthier in no time! :)

Are you Juicing? or Blending? Part II

So, Tuesday I gave you the advantages and disadvantages of both juicing and blending.  They both have a place in healthy eating and cooking. I personally like doing both, and have good quality equipment for both, but don't get too obsessed with these methods! 

Here are some tips, cautions, and how to use smoothies and juices.

#1- IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO NEITHER, YOU ARE FINE!!
Let's start with the fact that, obviously, you don’t need to juice or drink smoothies to eat and be healthy; after all, this is a relatively new “trend” and cooking and eating beautiful vegetables and fruits is just as healthy!

#2- CAUTION WITH "THE DAILY XXX"
I am not a fan of eating daily anything (except water, and of course, vegetables and fruits in general), but I would advise you not to do a “daily smoothie” for example, especially not with the same ingredients. I hear this too often.  The problem is eating the same thing over and over is not only boring, but can even be detrimental to your health.

Did you know raw kale (and other cruciferous vegetables and greens) may not be good for you if you have thyroid issues?... Or that spinach has oxalic acid that takes over and limits how much calcium you absorb from the green? So if you have thyroid issues (which is very common and you may not even know it!) and are eating kale every day… you get the point, right? 

Now pleeeease, don’t stop eating kale and spinach! All I’m saying is: VARIETY + MODERATION are key. Buy small amounts of LOTS of different fruits and vegetables and vary every day or at least weekly. Try new things.  One day green breakfast smoothie, next day oatmeal, day after veggie omelet, and so on..

#3- "CHEW YOUR FOOD EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

A farmer friend of ours who sells vegetables at the Evanston farmer’s market every Saturday was asking me “what is going on?” that all this “dreadlock hippies” keep asking her for kale- EVERY.SINGLE.WEEK- for their juices or smoothies. Herself, being older, wiser, and so proud of her other great vegetables, said to me “You know, they need to chew their food once in a while, for crying our loud!” I thought it was brilliant.  

As if we are not disconnected from our food source enough.  Now we buy unseasonal food, from very far away, shove it in a machine, and swallow it. We don’t even look, smell, or chew it?? 

#4- WHEN TO JUICE? WHEN TO SMOOTH?

Juice:

I use juicing, for example, after holidays, when I need a “pick up” or nutritional punch and I know my

digestive system (and liver!) have been under a bit of “stress”.  I also like to juice when one of us is sick, or at the first symptoms of a cold - great way to get vitamins and minerals easy for your body to absorb and to boost your immune system. 

Another good time for juicing is if you have scraps and odds and ends of veggies that you’ve cut for some dish (or dishes throughout the week)- collect them in a bowl and juice them! Too much of something from your CSA box? Juice it before it goes bad!

*I would also recommend juices for people with digestive issues and/or other chronic diseases, except diabetics- stay away from too much juice!  Juices are also actually very widely use in alternative cancer treatment. 

For best effect, always drink your green juices between meals- as a "snack".

Smoothies:
I like smoothies for my daughter, to get some veggies in her for breakfast; but again- NOT every day.  Personally, I’m not a fan during the cold seasons, but in the summer I enjoy one as a nutritious treat!

*I also recommend smoothies for people that are not breakfast eaters, people in need of more fiber, people that don't like vegetables (yet!), and for some diabetics- but can’t stress this enough…. NOT every day! 

Variety and moderation in food and eating is key to a healthy and balanced diet!

Some other tips: 

• If your green smoothie taste too bitter, add a couple pitted medjool dates. 
• Add additional water or a little bit of organic apple juice for a thinner smoothie.
• Add a few tablespoons of fat, whether flax seeds, chia seeds, avocado, or virgin coconut oil, to help you absorb the carotenoids (fat soluble vitamins) in the greens.
• Leftover smoothie? Pour them in popsicle molds for a frozen treat later!

#5- DO JUICE CLEANSES WORK?

In my opinion, NO.  It can actually be bad for some people. For others it might be fine, but does it really "detoxify"?- NO.

I’ll be bold by saying "juice cleanses" are a complete moneymaking, new multimillion industry fad! 

I do believe in (and recommend) detoxification- don’t get me wrong- but when appropriate, and guided by a nutritionist, health coach, naturopath or similar holistic practitioner that will guide you.  And in that case, most likely juices are part of a detox program, but not your whole daily "meals"!

Without getting too scientific, detoxification is done naturally by our liver.  The detoxification pathways in the liver are based on a two-phase system that require amino acids to work. These systems are enzymes (made of amino acids). Low protein (amino acid) intake may mean low enzyme levels. 

In a juice cleanse, I don’t care how much hemp seeds you are adding to your juice, you need different kinds of amino acids in the two phases of detoxification and these are impossible to get through juice!

Questions?? Please let me know!

Here are my two favorite green smoothie and juice recipes, but can't stress this enough: get creative and don't forget to vary your foods and cooking methods! 

Green Chia (or Avocado) Smoothie

1 tart apple, like Granny Smith
1 large mango, peeled an pitted
3 to 4 large kale leaves
3 handfuls baby spinach
1/2 medium cucumber
2 to 3 tablespoons whole chia seeds (or a slice or two of avocado)
2 to 3 cups water or coconut water

Place all ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings

Green Clean Juice

1 lime
1 lemon
1large cucumber
1 hanful basil
1 handful mint
2 handfuls spinach
ginger to taste

*If too sour, try adding an apple..

Juice.. Enjoy, and Cheers! :)