Green Smoothie alert?

I have been drinking  green smoothie for more than three weeks now and still decide to drink it for

1. Health

Illustration by lisamanneh

I notice that though my energy level doesn't soar as many green smoothie fans claim, but it doesn't fluctuate strongly anymore as it used to.

Are  those used to poor diets get the benefits of green smoothies more than health conscious people..

(Note: Energy level may fluctuate due to different factors such as poor eating habits (no, not me, surely?!), thyroid problem (last time I let it checked, it was ok), sleep disorders (sometimes when I get excited, thinking about what articles I am going to write for this blog), depression (hmm, due Pre Menstrual Syndrome attack?), anemia (THIS can be the culprit), etc.)

I used to drink fruit juice in the morning but 1-2 hours later my stomach started to growl, an alarm signal saying that I had to eat something (this something was usually warm things like soup, rice and veggies, noodles, fish, or else, but cooked, mind you). If I waited longer, I felt weaker already. Maybe my blood sugar level was at that time already too low?

Now I don't seem to have that problem anymore, I only feel hungry but not weak if I eat later than usual.

Explanation: Green smoothie is certainly more filling than fruit juice I consume since the former still retains all the fibers which help control blood sugar level.

In the past, I had to eat snack or ate at frequent intervals to keep my blood sugar level from dropping too far throughout the day, but nowadays I eat 2-3 times without snack.

I don't even crave for sweets anymore as I did during PMS.

2. Practical reasons

Illustration by lisamanneh

*It is easier and quicker to prepare smoothie and clean up the device than to juice fruits and wash the juicer.
*Strangely enough, I become more practical when going shopping.
I used to think a lot about what to cook. Before going to sleep, my husband & I even discussed what we were going to eat the next day.
Usually it went like this:

H:    I have a question..
Me: Yes, what are we going to eat tomorrow? Or to be precise, what am I going to cook tomorrow?
H:   Yes, right. Breakfast, Lunch?
Me: I have prepared ....for breakfast.
H:   And lunch?
Me: Lunch will be...
H:   How about dinner?
Me: Hm, I don't know yet.
H:  So, it would be a surprise?
Me: Hm, what do you think if I cook...(fish/...,....)
H:   It sounds good to me.

This kind of mundane conversation has now ceased.

Illustration by lisamanneh

I don't really plan what I am going to cook BECAUSE I eat simpler foods now that don't need a large selection of spices. If I eat noodle, I  just add some veggies and stock, instead of frying the noodle and add some spices and what else in it. I even eat salad more.
So life is simpler that way, which sometimes makes me wonder whether I can turn to be a simple minded, humble, undemanding person at the end if I continue drinking green smoothie?
Anyway, other good points for doing less cooking:
*my tiny kitchen doesn't look so cluttered anymore and
 I shop less, which means saving some money.

So why shouldn't I continue drinking green smoothie when I really feel it does me good?
But then somebody sent me some info on the side effects of the diet in which it says that due to high oxalate levels, you can have kidney stones ('A 2000 year old mummy from Chile was discovered through x-ray analysis to have an oxalate kidney stone about the size of a golf ball!'

My, what do I need a golf ball for if I don't even play golf?!!), experience painful sex (This sounds horrendous! I cannot comment on this yet, fortunately. But if YOU know more about this, please let us know), and other serious fungal health problems that I have never heard of before.
I know a little bit about the oxalate-thing since I have done some research on this subject; you shouldn't consume more than 50 mg of oxalate/day, you can find the list of oxalate in veggies/fruits on my previous blog.
So I try to rotate the greens and use lower oxalate containing veggies such as cucumber, endives, etc, instead of spinach and parsley.
I hope, with this precaution I don't get too over-oxalate. After all who needs a golf ball sized stone you cannot play with?
I still eat regular meals too; I am Asian through and through, I cannot survive without rice/noodles. I enjoy cooked veggies, fish and yes, sometimes meat, though I have tried hard to reduce the latter. A weak (?) excuse: I am an O-blood type which is supposed to thrive on animal protein. My doctor recommends that I eat meat at least once a week to prevent anemia.
Anyway, I believe the key to health is to understand and love your own body. Treat it right. Do some research, make your own decision what is best for your health, if necessary go to some health experts whom you can trust.
But be open (not simple?) minded, and never stop learning and improving.

PS:
Even a health barbarian friend of mine was eventually tempted to try green smoothies.
Go to this link ;-) to her hilarious comical illustration on GS!
And if you want to find out what a well known nutritionist from a health magazine in Austria thinks about green smoothies, just visit this page. It is in German, but you can use google to translate this very informative article.