Archive for March, 2009

I’m 44 years old. I’ve always had very regular menstrual cycles. For about one year prior to drinking green smoothies, my menstrual cycles had become very irregular. After about two months of green smoothies, I returned to a very regular cycle of 20 – 30 days and my periods are just like they were in my 20′s and 30′s.  I’ve been drinking my quart of green smoothie per day for six months now and my cycles are consistently regular.

–Kathy M.

I love green smoothies! I drink them every morning, and I was so surprised how great they make me feel! I have lost weight, have lots of energy, feel healthier than ever and feel like my immune system is even stronger than it was.

Drinking green smoothies also influenced all of my eating and cooking decisions, and allowed me to lose weight safely. When we travel, I am always carrying my blender with me so I can have green smoothies anywhere I go!

My 20 month old daughter also loves them. I am sure that green smoothies are the best way to get babies/toddlers to get their greens. She gets so excited when I get out the blender and she always wants more! Thank you, green smoothies, and thank you to my friend, Tara, for introducing them to me!

–Kathryn Rose

I drink a quart of an all-vegetable green smoothie every day. I have more energy, sleep better, wake up ready for the day, and generally feel much better. I believe it’s because of the green smoothie and a whole foods diet, mostly raw. I have cut out all processed foods, sugar, and caffeine, and I feel great! Thanks for your website; it’s very informative and inspiring!

–Carol J.

After a few weeks of drinking green smoothies via wimpy blender, we were hooked and made our best nutritional investment to date–BlendTec. Our green smoothies have become greener and we have been known to eat 3-4 bunches of greens and 1 pound of baby spinach in a week between two adults and two toddlers.

I sometimes find myself looking around at all the green plants and wonder, “What would that taste like?”  I was skeptical at first, but my then-barely-two yr. old and three-yr.-old both enjoyed the green smoothies as well. They were converted before my husband!

Summer proves to be an easier time to drink them due to the warmer weather.   However, we still maintain regular GS drinking throughout all the seasons. I do not have to force them on my toddlers; rather, they will request them and are especially excited to help put all the ingredients into the blender.

GS have helped control my sugar cravings, eliminated Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and boosted my energy. My kids have regular bowel movements that do not have the stench as pre-GS days.

It is best to start children early on GS as it will develop their palate towards REAL, nutritionally sound foods.

–Laura M. and family

By following Robyn’s recommendation, which I could not believe at first but made a decision to give it a try, I lost weight without trying, and my knees and shoulders stopped aching. My blood lipid profile has improved. My cholesterol level has gone from 201 down to 157. Yes, I said 157. My doctor had me go to a different lab to have the test confirmed.

My complexion and skin tone have improved as well. I also had a problem with dry skin. I used coconut oil as recommended by Robyn, and my rash that I had on my ankles and chin cleared up completely. I had gone to the doctor and had obtained two different medications and the only thing that did any good, and in fact cleared it up, was the coconut oil. Thank you,

–Sandra T. from California.

Green smoothies saved me from facing yet another diet, thinking about hypnosis for weight loss, hating the way I looked, and everything else that comes along with being overweight. Green smoothies are my answer to staying away from the doctor. I no longer have cravings and feel satisfied for hours after drinking my awesome smoothies. My husband is loving them too and has lost 40 pounds. Children love green smoothies. I appreciate all the information Robyn has shared. Thank you so much Robyn!

–A. Fambrough

The green smoothie idea has worked well for me whereas juicing did not. Anyone who has juiced knows the time commitment it takes for juicing and clean-up as well as the volume of veggies it takes to make just 2-3 eight-ounce juice drinks per day. When I read about green smoothies, it was immediately appealing to me.   I bought a BlendTec right away. In only 14 months of use, the counter on my machine is already over 1,600!

I average 5 out of 7 days for making smoothies for myself and my husband, who will drink one anytime it’s available in the fridge. One benefit of green smoothies is helping me to be more alkaline.

–Linda C.

Robyn,

I finally broke down and bought a Blendtec at Costco the other day.   I love it!   They were making soup.   I made some today and liked it but I’m wondering if I’m killing the live enzymes.   I   start with a small amount of cool water and run it through the soup cycle twice.   It takes three minutes.   What do you think?   Am I drinking a warm, slightly seasoned green smoothie or am I killing off the important stuff?

Bee pollen

Bee pollen has been a fascination of European researchers for a long time.   The dust from the stamen of blossoming plants collected from bees is fairly well documented to improve a lot of things most of us care about.   First of all, it increases your energy throughout the day and stamina for physical activity—it’s a powerhouse nutritionally, with 35 percent protein.

It has natural weight loss properties that have been mimicked chemically in various weight-loss drug remedies.   Bee pollen not only stimulates metabolism, but also suppresses appetite naturally.   It slows aging and prevents cancerous tumors from developing.

It also contains a gonadotropic sex hormone and contributes to improved sexual performance and reduction of PMS symptoms.   Perhaps most interestingly, it may prevent seasonal allergies, like eating raw honey allegedly does, but in a more direct way and without the blood sugar impact.   If you can buy it collected from multiple sources instead of one source, that’s a better product.   Bee pollen is a fantastic ingredient to add to a green smoothie.   I like to get it from All Star Health on Amazon, because (a) the price is good, (b) it’s very fresh and not dry like other sources, and (c) they collect from around the U.S. so it’s not just one geographic area’s bees, which I feel is best for allergy prevention.

Wheat grass juice (fresh or powdered)

Wheat grass was first famously studied and used extensively by Ann Wigmore, founder of Optimum Health Institute and a pioneer of many therapies still used now, 50 years later, in natural healing.   She wrote The Wheatgrass Book, documenting its megapowerful healing properties.

If I had cancer, the first thing I would do is begin growing, juicing, and drinking wheat grass daily.   Nothing compares to it nutritionally, for oxygenating and healing.   I have juiced wheat grass in a few periods of my life (including an early pregnancy, which may have been part of my current problem with it), and I would continue the habit if it weren’t simply the most awful-tasting thing on this planet.   Not everyone agrees with my assessment, fortunately, so give it a try.

In the event you can’t stomach the fresh juice, more and more companies are dehydrating the juice under 118 degrees and selling it as a powder.   While I find this to be too much in a green smoothie, some people like it.   I prefer to see people add this ingredient to water to alkalize their cells and energize throughout the day, since your green smoothie already provides many of the ingredients concentrated in wheat grass, in other green ingredients.

Generally speaking, wheat grass is juiced and the remaining grass discarded because its fiber is not digestible by the human stomach.   The juicers we used ten years ago are less than efficient at getting the juice from the grass, which is digestible only by a four-chambered stomach such as in a cow.   However, completely liquefied wheat grass such as occurs in a BlendTec Total Blender may render unnecessary the expensive, labor-intensive, and messy process we used to go through with specialized wheat grass juicers.

Brewer’s (nutritional) yeast

Brewer’s or “nutritional” yeast is grown on barley, and it is often used as a supplement, especially for nursing mothers.   It is high in protein, and it is also extremely rich in B vitamins.   It has been linked to reduction of symptoms of diabetes, eczema, constipation, and hypoglycemia.

It is also one of very few plant sources of B12.   Vegetarian lifestyles are often criticized because of low Vitamin B12, and while vegetarians may not actually be suffering from low B12 (depending on which study you are looking at), using aloe vera and nutritional yeast are good ways to address that, if you are avoiding all red meat as many health-conscious vegetarians and vegans do.

Cayenne

Cayenne has long been used not only as a “heat” spice, but also for the medicinal purpose of opening the arteries and preventing cardiac events.   Cayenne is well known to herbalists for its ability to accelerate and intensify the effects of other herbs.   It will add heat and interesting flavor to your smoothies, and it will also open your blood vessels, improving blood flow.