Green Smoothies – ‘to be or not to be’?

Recently I received an e-mail detailing the negative experience of drinking Green Smoothies daily, the greens in question are spinach and kale the regular guys who find themselves thrown into the smoothie mix, the term negative experience is open to interpretation and I intend to leave it that way! The interesting topic is what is healthy? Now everyone believes a green smoothie to be a healthy drink and this person certainly did in the beginning, however that is not the case now.

For me Green Smoothies are awesome I love them just the other day I had a green smoothie, well actually it was closer to brown, which had the following ingredients:

• Wild Rocket (from our garden)
• Wild Dandelion Leaves (from our garden)
• Organic Black Kale Leaves
• Frozen mixed berries
• 2 Banana’s
• 4 dates (pitted)
• 2 star anise seeds
• 1 Cardamon Pod

I have to say it tasted earthy and that’s the key here, green smoothies are an earthy experience, if we quickly look at the Chinese five elements practice then green smoothies are the element of earth. This is a bit out there and requires an open mind, now I am born an air sign and absolutely love the earthy taste of bitter greens; it balances my elements, if, however I was already an earth sign and Kapha dominant as a dosha from Ayurveda then I am not going to need the earthy greens that a fiery pitta air sign does (forgive the use of Dosha – mind, body constitutions from ayurveda, the intention is not to confuse, but to merely show that through astrology, ancient healing/medicine systems of China and India, we learn that we are all very unique).

With this uniqueness we are going to become very aware that one dress does not fit all sizes and that one mans rubbish is another mans treasure. This person has done well to recognise that Green Smoothies do not work as a healthy tool and has moved on and learnt a lot from that experience.

Smoothies and Juices alike have come under fire for various reasons including; plastics leaching into the drink, electrical heating at fast speeds disrupts the structure of the food stuff, any refinement is de-naturing and most smoothies/juices break food combining rules.

Truth is there and there is also truth in the fact that the soil is mineral depleted and the need for more fruits and vegetables in our diet is ever more important and that smoothies/juices are a viable option for curing this problem.

The problem lies in the simple fact that we have moved so far from nature that we do not fully understand our own nature, we jump on board too easily with the latest craze never checking in to see if its right for us and when I say checking in I am referring to your gut, we say it all the time – ‘I had a gut instinct about that’, ‘I should trust my gut’. There in lies your answers (your answers) trust yourself.

Fads and great advice will be given all the time and contradictory research and evidence will come flying out of the wood work to disprove it as soon as it has gained a following, with that in mind trust yourself each and every time, if you drink a green smoothie and you feel great then there’s your answer and if you get the opposite experience then there’s your answer and its the right answer for you, is it the right answer for everyone? I do not need to answer that for it is obvious.

When we get talking about smoothies and juices the topic of raw food comes up and again; ‘to be or not to be’? again for fear of repetition – you’re the boss, for me raw, wild foraged and seasonal food is the ultimate ideal nourishment and maybe beyond that living of breath like breatharians for they have mastered the flow and balance of the universal energies (again your mind might be having spasms at the thought of that one, but fear not you can still eat your food and be right :).

In summary if what your eating and drinking is making you the best, most authentic, happy, vibrant and healthy version of you that you can be keep doing that, if you need to change then change, only you can master you, others can have insight, but ultimately this round is yours for the taking.

To you all in great health

Matt

The Yoga Health Coach