Today's Godzilla and Smog Monster Green Smoothie (A break from my blogging break)

Yes, as I mentioned in the previous post, I am indeed taking a break from blogging until the new, revamped, redesigned blog is up and rolling. It's going to have a ton of super cool, user-friendly articles and videos and all sorts of stuff. (Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter so I can tell you all about it, once it's up!) But, since people are still dropping by and checking this blog out (yay, you!), I figured I'd go ahead and describe today's green smoothie. Although it was actually brown...ish...purple.

In fact, remember the Smog Monster that Godzilla fought? It looked a lot like him. Except instead of being made of toxins, it was made of stuff that gets RID of toxins, so in that sense it was more like Godzilla, who, of course, handily dispatched the Smog Monster. But I digress.

1) First I started my tea boiling very low (ceramic pot, yada yada), of Chanca Piedra, Nettles and Pau d'Arco. That's gonna be my liquid. I also started my 4 T. of chia seeds soaking in a big coffee mug of purified water.

2) I hacked open my young coconut with my machete, all Samurai Raw Food Guy. Put the "meat" into the Vita Mix.

3) Added 1 T. raw cacao nibs, 2 T. maca, 2 heaping t. spirulina, bunch-o'-ginger, about 4 inches of burdock root, 1 peeled lemon, a big handful of parsley, a handful of raw pumpkin seeds. I chopped the veggies to be added (coming up). By now the tea decoction was looking pretty ready, so I cooled it with some ice cubes, and did some other kitchen stuff while it cooled down. Then I used it to blend up all the above stuff, including the chia seeds.

3) Once that was pretty well liquified, I threw in celery, broccoli, green pepper, beet and cucumber (David Jubb has convinced me to give a rest to the leafy greens). Then I put in 1 bag of frozen organic cherries and a banana. Also, I threw in abunch of PRL (Premier Research Labs) absurdly, comically pure, whole-food supplements, like 6 caps of turmuric, aloe and such.

4) Right before I stopped blending, I added a big handful of pinenuts and 10 Brazil nuts, only blending them briefly, because my gorgeous wife likes some crunchiness in her smoothies.

T'was a right mean smoothie it'was!

Green Smoothies (or sometimes red or brown or blue)!

In a post a while back I listed the ingredients I used in a special “mood” smoothie. Since then, I’ve had a few requests for a “normal,” everyday smoothie. Here it is:

1) Fruit as a base. Can be a young coconut (water and meat) and/or a banana and/or an orange. Any fruit, really. Grapes, apple, frozen organic berries (yes, freezing ‘em wipes out a bunch of the enzymes, but still pretty healthy), pineapple, mango, whatever. Plus I always add Goji berries, no matter what other fruit is in there. I peel and toss in a whole lemon pretty often, too.

2) Dark leafy greens. I rotate kale, spinach, collards, dandelion greens, and sometimes weirder, freakier greens (escarole, etc.).

3) A handful of raw, organic nuts and/or seeds. For nuts: walnuts, pecans (Taoists are big on pecans!), almonds, pine nuts, Brazil nuts. For seeds: chia (soaked overnight, about 2 tablespoons), hemp, sunflower, pumpkin.

4) Water.

5) If I'm NOT using a young coconut, I'll add a couple tablespoons of raw coconut oil (Tropical Traditions).

6) An avocado (peeled, seeded). Add this last, cuz' it thickens the thing so much, and so quickly, that it makes blending tougher.

7) Cinnamon, mon (a rasta comment)

DIRECTIONS
Start with a small amount of greens and gradually build, minimizing the fruit little by little until you find that line where it still tastes good but is not a sugar bomb. Don’t worry. That line will move (toward more and more veggies) as you get healthier and healthier. The big, big super crazy health is in the greens, so you want as many of those bad boys as are palatable. Keep edging it up.

In a hurry, that’s enough. That’s a perfectly fine, basic, respectable smoothie. However, mine have gotten a little fancier over the years. Here’s what ELSE might go into mine (bearing in mind they’re different every day), in ADDITION to the above.

MARKS FANCY PANTS EXTRAS
1) Fresh ginger, an inch or so.

2) Burdock root (about 4 inches)

3) Stinging nettle decoction for my liquid. Packed with massive, disease-crushing minerals. Put 1 cup in a 1 quart mason jar, fill with boiling water before bed, let it steep, covered, over night (got this from Patrick Timpone on One Radio).

4) Other veggies. Whatever’s around. Broccoli, bell peppers, green beans, carrot, whatever. Plus I always add celery. (Bernard Jensen revealed how the organic sodium in the celery helps the organic calcium from the greens stay “in solution” in the body so the cells can actually use it.). Oh, and very commonly I add some beet.

5) Occasionally I’ll add some raw egg yolks.

6) Maca. About 2 tablespoons.

7) All sorts of PRL’s beautiful, insanely-pure superfoodish supplement-ish things. These are always changing, but lately it’s been: dark cherry concentrate, pomegranate concentrate, colostrum, tocotrienals.

There you have it, folks. Enjoy!

Happy Smoothies

So last week, my wife was all PSMee and I was all stressed out with no hormonal excuse whatsoever (just general, all-purpose neurosis, I guess) so I found myself modifying our daily smoothies specifically for mood healing, calming and upliftment. Here's what I did: To your usual smoothie ingredients, add a fistful of Prozac capsules, half a bottle of Valium and two tumblers of your favorite vodka, chilled. Blend.

Kidding! I kid because I love! Seriously though, here it is:

The base was a young Thai coconut, and I added another tablespoon of raw, virgin coconut oil. WHY? The medium chain triglycerides burn nice for good, clear energy, and raw coconut oil has been shown to tonify the thyroid.

I added Whey Protein from Premier Research Labs (also called Quantum Nutrition Labs); an exquisitely clean, organic product, dried at low temperatures to preserve enzymes and delicate proteins. WHY? The more stressed we are, the more protein we need. Its effect can be "grounding" or "anesthetizing," depending upon who you to talk to.

I added 2 heaping tablespoons (remember, this is a smoothie for two), of maca. WHY? Maca is an adaptogen, which means it brings us toward homeostasis. It also harmonizes and tonifies the hormones in general.

http://www.peruvian-maca.com/

I added an avocado, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds. WHY? EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids) have been shown, in oodles of research, to lift mood and ease mild to medium depression. They are also crucial to hormone health (the body makes its hormones out of fats).

I added Premier Research Labs' Max Stress Nano B, a super absorbable, amazing B complex. WHY? B for stress, big time.

http://www.healthproducts-usa.com/probest.htm

I tossed in some Himalayan Sea Salt: WHY? The adrenal glands absolutely need good salt (with its full mineral complex).

I threw in some Premier Research Labs Nutritional Flakes: WHY? More good B vitamins and more protein, too.

I added 3 raw egg yolks: WHY? The choline in egg yolks is vital for neurotransmitter function. Plus, as mentioned, EFAs and protein.

I stuffed tons-o'greens in: WHY? Greens are full of magnesium (among other things, calcium, iron, chlorophyll, etc.), and magnesium has always been known as the CALMING mineral.

Lastly, against my better judgment, I threw in 2,000 mg of L-Tyrosine, 1,000 mg of L-Phenylalanine and 1,000 mg of L-Glutamine. These are amino acids known to improve moods and fight depression and anxiety (usually, I'm not into supplements that are "fragments" and "isolates" like these, but I made an exception).

Actually, believe it or not, there was other stuff in there, too, but this post is getting awful long.

So, did it work? I have no idea! We both felt saner and happier by the evening, but that could also have been the power of placebo. Or any number of things. But I'll bet over time, these bad boys (the smoothies) would perk up just about anybody's mood to the point of obnoxiousness!

Green Smoothies

The big craze in the raw food movement these days (or one of the big crazes) is green smoothies. And here’s a craze that earns its craziness. I’m telling you, these things—green smoothies—are a supersonic, turbo-charged, double-barreled, stealth weapon in the game of eating a regenerative diet and gaining outrageous health (while keeping your day job). Green smoothies combine mega-health plus dazzling ease and convenience plus over-the-top yumminess.

Here’s what you do: Throw fruit and a bunch of dark leafy greens in a blender. Blend. Drink. Take a nap. Watch an episode of Scrubs, despite Zach Braff’s annoyingness. Okay, the nap and TV part isn’t actually part of green smoothies per se. I added that.

What a lightning fast and deliriously scrumptious way to drench your body with ridiculous nutrition—enzymes, minerals (they are mineral-o’-ramas!), oxygen, chlorophyll, vitamins, protein, fiber, phytochemicals up the yin yang and EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids, for those keeping score at home). It’s a party in your cells! Green smoothies are big, two-fisted salads in a glass—orgies-o’-rejuvenation!

For the record, dark leafy greens (kale, spinach, collards, dandelion greens, etc.) are the healthiest things you can put in your body. More on this on another post. Raw foodies have been drinking these concoctions for decades, but the recent holy bible on green smoothies is a book called Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko.

Green smoothies can be as quick and easy as a banana or two, a couple leafs of kale and some purified water. Or a half a bag of frozen, organic berries (way healthier than banana) and a handful of spinach (ditto the H2o). Start with less greens and gradually increase over the weeks, as your taste adapts. A couple stalks of celery are also huge for health. The organic sodium is heavily alkalizing and it also helps your body absorb and use the calcium from all the greens. I usually add raw pumpkin seeds (zinc, EFA’s), an avocado and all sorts of other veggies (i.e. not just green leafy ones).

Last, you can also throw tons of other wacky, superfoody stuff in there, too—goji berries, maca, spirulina, supergreenfood powders, Big Macs, etc. I also like to add cayenne, ginger and cinnamon. Well, okay, maybe the Big Macs might not be such a great idea.