Monday, June 25, 2012

Green Smoothies Diary

See the introduction for green smoothie diet on this link 

On the first GS day I got black kale, dandelion, sugar melon, apricot, barley grass powder (from an organics shop) for my first portion of green smoothie. I added some water and blended all the ingredients for more than a minute till they looked creamy.
I am aware that my blender is not as powerful as the device recommended in the book, but it is the most powerful blender I have at the moment. The author of the book recommended a blender with a super powerful motor (1000 W) which can process a mixture at a high speed and even 'cook' it. AND it costs
around €500-600.

Well, MY equipment is already 10 years old, and a 600 W blender.
So I was not surprised to find some chunks of the fruits in the mixture and the smoothie was not really all that smooth.
Anyway as long as I still could enjoy the drink, the old thing would do. The smoothie looked, well, rather extraordinary, thick dark green with some foam on the top. I looked at the suspicious mixture and wondered how it tasted.
To my surprise, it tasted quite good actually, almost as good as regular fruit smoothie I sometimes made!
I thought I could skip my lunch when I drank 1L of nourishing smoothie in morning, but I was mistaken. Though I tried to resist the temptation to eat the ginger carrot soup I made in the morning, I failed.
My body seemed to crave for other sources of food containing carbohydrate.
Giving in, I ate my the soup with rice.
Some hours later,  when I was hungry again, I grabbed the second bottle of the smoothie and drank 1 more liter of it, and hoped I wouldn't have to prepare anything for dinner.

The second portion of the day

No, I was wrong again. My head was swarmed with images of food I could have eaten if I wanted to.
Succumbing to this temptation, I ate my dinner; rice with veggie.
Oh, it is so difficult to live on raw foods, especially if you are used to eating cook foods everyday.

The second GS Day

1st portion: Parsley, melon, apple, spinach, banana, barley grass powder.
2nd portion: Blueberry, apricot, green salad, black kale, dandelion green.
Added some water, blended and drank the mixture. Tasted good.
The same thing happened again, couldn't skip lunch nor dinner. Even more ravenous than the first day.
Was very very grateful not to have to eat only raw foods. Enjoyed the food even more.
Seemed the mind didn't like the idea of having only raw foods though my eye sight seemed to improve, my eyes were not so tired easily.
Was it because of the diet?
Or due to the breathing exercise I have been doing or because of the stenopeic glasses I have regularly worn since last week?

The 'un'smooth green smoothie

The third GS Day

Varied the fruits and veggies as recommended, especially the leafy greens.
Instead of blueberries, I used strawberries and raspberries. Chicory and broccoli sprouts instead of spinach, etc.
Noticed after taking shower that I had a rush breaking out on my body.
Itchy, red all over, especially on the neck area! Hah..
Why!?
Think, think! Think!
Because of the black kale or dandelion? I had hardly touched the two veggies before, until I started drinking the GS. Or the grass powder?
Or the berries, but no, I often eat the fruits, and they  have created no problem so far.
Or was it the thickened soya milk I used as liquid soap (my being frugal never wanting to throw out any food)?
Or was it the heat?
Or was it the tempe (fermented soya bean) I ate last night?
No, no. I eat tempe sometimes and it doesn't do me harm (yet?).
I didn't really know.  Got a tube of cooling gel in the pharmacy So annoying, couldn't sleep well at night, though knowing I shouldn't scratch the affected part, I couldn't help it.
Ate lunch and dinner. Seemed I would never make it, this raw diet thing.

The forth GS Day

Varied the fruits and veggies as recommended, especially the leafy greens.
Didn't use kale nor dandelion anymore, just to be on the safe side.
Still got the rashes, of course, it has only been the second day and a rash breaks out quickly but disappears slowly, unfortunately.
Yes, I ate lunch and dinner again, noodle and co.
Reis noodle & co

No, I haven't found out why I had this rash coming out, but I have some guess that it has something to do with dandelion (or kale?)....I am going to the allergic ambulatory for some allergy test today.
I feel something  (positive hopefully?) changing too on my soft palate.
I have had blisters on the ceiling of my mouth from the acid going all the way up to my throat and now feel that there is a kind of raw layer growing on the blisters area.

I have decided to drink GS instead of carrot juice, and see what happens after a few weeks.
Being realistic, I will only integrate the GS diet into my regular diet;  instead of eating 3 regular meals a day I will eat regular meals 2X/day plus drink 1-2 L GS. I have to give my body more time to adjust, and who knows after some time I can really do the raw food diet and experience the wonders of it.

Please share your stories / opinions on green smoothies with me, I really want to hear more about this diet:-)
The experiment in the GS diet (and its benefits /side effects!)  continues on this link.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has there been any study considering the changing of the size and the shape of molecules after blending?

Val said...

"All food processing will change molecular structure. Each form of processing does both good and bad, e.g. cooking releases lycopene in tomatoes, blending allows you to eat more nutrients esp greens as synergistic whole, juicing releases nutrients locked up in fiber. The secret is to flow with your unique balance each day. If you feel it doing you good, then do it!"

Anonymous said...

Where did you buy the gerstengras? Thanx

Cahaya said...

You can buy the gersten (barley)grass and wheatgrass powder at organic supermarkets.