I often get asked if there is one thing one could do to improve your overall health what it should be. There is no easy question to this as drinking water, exercise, eating the correct salt, decreasing stress levels, eating the correct food are all important. But in my opinion if you want to add something to your daily routine that will make a huge different to your health consider having a green drink a day. What is a green drink you may ask ?
A Green drink is essentially a “live food”. It is a liquid made by you by placing water and fresh green edible leaves in a blender. The vegetable material is “chewed” several thousand times per minute by the blades of the blender. Chewing a green salad with your teeth even if each bite is chewed with good teeth at least 32 times only 2% of the available nutritional leaf fluids of chlorophyll is liberated. The reason for this is that the intracellular fluids are contained in microscopic cellulose cells which are in essence wood. The human body has no means to digest cellulose, so in order to liberate the cellular content of a leaf our teeth must mechanically break down the cellulose structure.
A good blender like the Vita Mix (available from Healthmakers) can deliver as much as 80% of the leaf’s cellular fluid. This makes your greens at least 40 times more effective or in other words, you do not need to eat 40 salads, you only need to blend one.
What makes chlorophyll so important you may ask? Chlorophyll is the plants “blood” and very similar to our hemoglobin (oxygen carrier in our blood). The molecular structure of chlorophyll and hemoglobin are almost identical except for the fact that chlorophyll has magnesium in the center and hemoglobin iron and therefore the one is green and the other red.
Green drink nourishes the blood stream. It is a oxygenator and helps the body to detoxify by gently flushing it of both internal and environmental toxins. It is a very good source of Vitamin A and Potassium. This will assist with skin and eye problems; have an effect on muscular strength as well as stabilizing blood sugar all of which will lead to increased energy and a properly functioning system.
It is important to make it fresh as the “live” chlorophyll is biologically active in the freshly prepared drink. The drink is best drunk within 24 hours of making it.
How to make a Green Drink: Blend 1 handful of any fresh “green leaves” with 500ml of filtered water for one minute and drink. You can use any green leaves you would have used in salad: spinach, lettuce, Swiss chard, dandelion leaves, alfalfa sprouts or kale. If you would like your drink to have a strong diuretic effect you can use Parsley or for a milder diuretic effect you can add some parsley to the other leaves.
It is preferable to have only greens, but some people struggle with it. I recommend to make a blend of leaves, asparagus and to add ¼ or ½ an apple to sweeten. I also find adding some Chia seeds boost the Omega 3 content and make it more filling.
I generally recommend having at least 500ml per day to nourish your body, increase your energy and sense of “well-being”.
The Green drink can also be used in cases where we would like to see a rapid turnaround. In such cases I recommend making enough the evening before and refrigerating it, you should make enough that it can be taken every hour, while awake until you feel well. You must remember to still eat while using the green drink extensively; it is not a fast but a rapid means of flushing and oxygenating your system.
In the words of well known naturopathic doctor Dr. Bernard Jensen “If you are green inside, you are clean inside”.
A Green drink a day keeps the doctor away.
drleonduplessis 