- by Katia Dupoirier
Katia has shared with us a number of fantastic green smoothie recipes that will keep your future weekends lean and green! We’ll start today with two of her green smoothie recipes using goji berries, ginger, and of course - our favourite - greens, to make sure your Saturday and Sunday keep you going, glowing, and gleeful.
Yes… I’m afraid I’m quite tempted to overuse my “g” alliteration today with these ingredients. But hey, maybe it’s not such a bad thing to give some attention to our g-spots today! 
(heheh… Forgive me… I think my impending vacation to Las Vegas, the good old city of sin, is getting me a little more cheeky than usual) But enough from me… I’ll let you get to the goooooood stuff from Katia: (more…)
Whenever people begin to take their baby steps down a new path to health, especially a path that involves the marvelous and luminous wonders of blended green drinks, there are inevitably questions.
A: It’s hard to eat too many greens, unless you are choosing only one type. If you eat a variety, it would be hard to get too much. I recommend eating 2 pounds of green leafy vegetables a day. 
Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo is a leading authority on
One of the complaints people often make about trying to transition and eat a more healthy diet is that it “costs more”. While it is true that some specialty ingredients may be more expensive than their massively produced and cheaper counterparts, there are many other costs associated with not eating a healthy diet and the risks of ill health: lost time from work due to illness, medical costs and procedures, and the real costs that can’t be measured - your emotional, physical, and yes, even spiritual well-being.
I have no idea what I’d do without my weekly menu planner. This business of waking up in the morning and giving my kids cold cereal or a sugary toaster thingy just rubs me the wrong way. And it takes way too much energy to stop and think up something tasty, healthy and budget friendly on a daily basis.
3. The biggest reason though is that is saves MONEY. You know how it is, you run into the store to get three items and come out having spent $70.00 (or more!). I am on a very tight food budget and running into the grocery store several times each week is a SURE FIRE way to blow the budget.
Are you celebrating it?
The frozen strawberries give a delicious juicy coolness; they’re packed with vitamin C and potent antioxidants such as the anthocyanins which give them their rich red colour and which help to protect cell structures and prevent oxygen damage in the body. They are also anti-inflammatory (excellent for my sugar eating folks) and protective against certain cancers.
Good old bananas provide a great source of energy which got my flagging family off the sofa and out into the countryside for a good long walk. (Not the 93-year old. My smoothies aren’t quite that magical!). They also provide the mood boosting amino acid tryptophan and have a natural antacid effect on the stomach to counteract the acidity caused by a glut of rich foods. Their high levels of potassium are beneficial for lowering raised blood-pressure, while their generous levels of B vitamins improve nerve function.
Parsley contains volatile oils which have been shown to inhibit tumour formation in animal studies and is a rich source of vitamin C and vitamin A. It is high in antioxidants and is considered an effective blood cleanser, dissolving sticky deposits in the veins and maintaining the elasticity of the blood vessels. Parsley is also excellent for cleansing the breath! (Good for my cigarette smoking brother-in-law).
Kale, a member of the brassica family, is another cancer preventative due to its sulphur-containing phyto-nutrients, such as sulforaphane, which boosts the body’s detoxification enzymes. Sulforaphane is formed when cruciferous vegetables such as kale are chopped, chewed, or blended. Kale is also well known for its carotenoids which protect the eyes from developing cataracts. In addition to its many other benefits, Kale provides a good dose of calcium.
Thankfully my parents now stock up more on the things they’ve seen me use in smoothies (though… I have yet to see her come home with seaweed of any kind). Still, I do tend to have less variety when I travel. My smoothies are often bananas and spinach or bananas and mixed greens. Yes, variety is better, but if finding kale is difficult or if my mother, in her sincere efforts to be helpful, is going to stress out about “having something already” for me and looking in the store for persimm-a-somethings, then I will choose to be simple for a few days. The “it’s still better than a cheeseburger” mantra gets me through any worries.
Chances are, if you keep your smoothies simple, your non-green friends and family may actually be willing to give one of your smoothies a taste test. Once they see for themselves how yummy they are, you may have opened the door a crack for them to make their own health improvements.
Oxalic Acid is a hazy subject with lots of conjecture and not much actual fact. It has been challenging to find reliable information with sources listed. As in all food-related research, each individual must see how their individual body responds to particular foods.
