So actually going out of my way to make a green smoothie doesn’t sound like it’s going to be my cup of tea. But….I’ve been telling myself I’m going to start eating healthier and quite honestly all the research I’ve been doing on the benefits of living in the Raw Food World have intrigued me. So I started looking around for a recipe for the infamous green smoothie, and I found one. It was actually a recipe from Yuri Elkaim, the author of Eating for Energy. And believe it or not, most of the ingredients I actually like and the rest of the ingredients I’ve just never had. Yet!

So here it is, and bear in mind that Yuri doesn’t really measure much of anything, he just kind of throws stuff in and guesstimates until he gets the consistency that he’s looking for.

2 handfuls of chopped Kale (just leaves, no stems)
1 chunk of pineapple or a chunk of apple
2 dates
1 cup of berries (frozen is ok, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries)
1 Tbsp. of flax oil
2 Tbsp. of Spirulina
Add some water for the consistency you’d like

Mix it all up in a good blender and Drink up! I think I’m going to have to break down and buy myself a decent blender, it looks like I’m going to need one!

                          

Vegetarian, Vegan, or Raw Foodist?

To try to put this in a simple format ….  a vegetarian is a person who is committed to not eat meat, fish or animal products although they might partake in dairy products. A vegan is a vegetarian who will not consume any animal products at all. A person on a raw food diet is a vegan (if they’re 100% raw) but they are a vegan that doesn’t cook their fruits or vegetables. A person on a Vegetarian Diet only eats fruits, vegetables, pasta, and rice, no meats, fish or poultry. However, a vegetarian sees no problem with cooking their pasta, steaming their rice and vegetables and bringing their soups to a boil. So with this in mind, you can come to the conclusion that a raw foodist is a vegan but a vegan is not a raw foodist.

A raw foodist believes that cooking foods above 104 degrees destroys vitamins and minerals in your foods in addition to destroying important enzymes that aid in the digestive process. They also believe that cooking food allows partially digested fats, carbs and proteins to plug arteries in our bodies. Because of this belief, they contend that eating a raw food diet provides your body increased energy, better digestion, a reduced risk of heart disease, weight loss (if you’re overweight), and an improvement in the appearance of your skin. (great news for folks with acne problems)

                          

Let’s take enzyme’s for example…. Now enzyme is a word I sort of remember from grade school science – well, I used to know what it meant, LOL. So I looked it up, turns out an enzyme is a protein (usually a protein) that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction. Enzymes help to begin, assist and accelerate every chemical reaction that takes place in the human body. They are for the most part, the blue collar worker of the body, the “get er done” crew!

Why did I bring up enzyme’s? Because when food is cooked at temperatures of over 105 degrees farenheit all the natural enzymes in the food are completely destroyed. Couple that with the fact that most of the cooked food that people eat is heated to temperatures of over 200 degrees and you’ll realize that, like it or not, we’re eating enzyme free!

So with that in mind, you can see that when we eat food that is cooked (enzyme free) our bodies now have to manufacture all the enzymes that are needed to digest that food. Enzymes for saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic juice and intestinal juice become a priority and your body has to stop producing enzymes for other things while it takes care of your last meal. (Oh, don’t worry, it wasn’t doing anything all that important, just making enzymes to take care of your other organs, such as your brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, muscles, etc).

Some studies have linked these metabolic dislocations (Enzyme Deficiencies) directly to chronic, incurable disease including cancers, heart disease, diabetes and many others. Most folks living in today’s modern world are not living in a “Raw Food World” and suffer from Enzyme Deficiency Stress.

Besides not destroying beneficial enzymes, there are other huge benefits to eating a Raw Food Diet. The heat that is caused by cooking destroys vitamins and damages fats and proteins found in foods. Raw foods have a better balance of nutrients and fibers that meet your body’s needs.

As I’m trying to find out more about the Raw Food World I realize that there are about a gazillion ways to go raw! Yep, turns out there are lots of different opinions on the subject and there are different degrees or percentages of raw. From what I can find it seems that most folks agree that if you are averaging about 70 to 80 percent of your intake being raw unprocessed food then you are realizing huge health benefits.

I’m going to have to study up on this, the idea of all the health benefits intrigues me and quite honestly, the science part with the enzymes just makes pure sense and really calls out to me but I’m a meat and potatoes guy from way back and grabbing a carrot stick for a snack is a far cry from a double-double at In N Out! Hmmmm! (In case you’re not from sunny California, a double-double is just about the best fast food burger around!)