Our challenge for the
week is to eat at least one serving of green leafy vegetables every day. You
can eat them raw in salads or green smoothies, or cooked. One cup of raw greens is one vegetable serving. My favorite way
to eat greens is in my daily green smoothie (yes hubby and I drink this for
lunch EVERY day) I have modified this recipe recently after doing the Whole 30
(30 day challenge to eat only whole foods- nothing processed) so where I used
to use Stevia sweetener and protein powder I now sweeten with whole dates and
use real whole seeds for protein. Anyway here’s my recipe: Serves 2
Blender stuffed full of fresh greens (I actually buy them fresh
but usually store them in the freezer)
1 whole frozen banana
2 T. Organic Cocoa powder (yes it’s a chocolate smoothie)
2 T. Chia Seeds
2 T. Hemp hearts
2 T. Flax seeds (I grind them right before throwing them in)
5 dates
1 cup coconut milk (I sometimes use flax milk/I'm allergic to
almonds)
1 cup water
1 cup crushed ice
Put on gun range head phones (yes a Vitamix can damage your
hearing. I have pink gun range ear protection)
Blend and enjoy! Looks weird but tastes like a glass of fresh!
Eat Your Greens!
A nutrition professor once said
that it was common for our ancient ancestors to eat up to six pounds of leaves
per day. He imagined them walking along from one place to another, just picking
and eating leaves as they went. Can you imagine eating a grocery bag full of
greens each and every day? Few of us even eat the minimum USDA recommendations
of 3 cups of dark green vegetables per week. And yet, these veggies deliver a
bonanza of vitamins, minerals, and
Health Benefits
Dark green leafy vegetables are,
calorie for calorie, perhaps the most concentrated source of nutrition of any
food. They are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium,
and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B
vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including
beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage and
our eyes from age-related problems, among many other effects. Dark green leaves
even contain small amount of Omega 3 fats.
Perhaps the star of these nutrients
is Vitamin K. A cup of most cooked greens provides at least nine times the
minimum recommended intake of Vitamin K, and even a couple of cups of dark
salad greens usually provide the minimum all on their own. Recent research has
provided evidence that this vitamin may be even more important than we once
thought (the current minimum may not be optimal), and many people do not get
enough of it.
Vitamin K:
Regulates
blood clotting
Helps
protect bones from osteoporosis
May help
prevent and possibly even reduce atherosclerosis by reducing calcium in
arterial plaques
May be a
key regulator of inflammation, and may help protect us from inflammatory
diseases including arthitis
May help
prevent diabetes
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin,
so make sure to put a dressing containing some oil on your salad, or cook your
greens with a bit of oil.
Almost Carb-Free
Greens have very little
carbohydrate in them, and the carbs that are there are packed in layers of
fiber, which make them very slow to digest. That is why, in general, greens
have very little impact on blood glucose. In some systems greens are even
treated as a "freebie" carb-wise (meaning the carbohydrate doesn't
have to be counted at all).
So that is your challenge. Eat at least a serving of greens
every day! I hope this is a habit that you will continue for your whole life!
Note: I am a huge Costco fan. I
love their bags of Power greens. They contain Kale, (a cruciferous vegetable)
Chard and Spinach in the mix. That’s what I always use for my smoothies. And
you can’t beat their price on chia seed or hemp hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment