Juicing and Shakes (post by mom)

Juicing and Shakes (Post by Mom)

Today I wanted to show you my daily morning green juice. The main reason for having your juices in the morning is because the nutrients are absorbed quickly on an empty stomach. I also juice heavily concentrated greens instead of taking vitamin pills. This is just something I choose to do for myself. See the nutrient details below.

The list of vegetable staples are:  

Dino Kale

Celery

Cucumber

Apple

Lime

Ginger

Juice, then strain. 


Another vegetable I recently discovered that I absolutely love in my green juices is fennel. It adds a light sweetness with a hint of licorice flavor. Enjoy!!! 

The following information is from Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Website (http://www.drfuhrman.com), which I refer to often. 

The Best Food for Bones: Fruits and Vegetables

Millions of women have been falsely led to believe that there is a correlation between osteoporosis and the inadequate intake of dairy foods.  Bone health is much more than just calcium. Vegetables, beans, fruits, and nuts are rich sources of calcium, potassium, vitamin K, magnesium, and vegetable protein, as well as the phytochemicals and micronutrients that are gaining recognition to be important for bone strength. Calcium is an important component, but like protein, we don’t need as much of it as most people think. The current U.S. daily calcium recommendation of 1200 to 1500 milligrams for postmenopausal women is an attempt to offset the ill-effects of the Standard American Diet which creates excessive calcium loss in the urine because most people consume so much sodium, caffeine and animal protein.

Contrary to popular belief, you do not need dairy products to get sufficient calcium. Every natural food contains calcium. When you eat a healthy diet, rich in natural foods such as vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, it is impossible not to obtain sufficient calcium. In fact, the addition of more natural plant foods to the diet has been shown to have a powerful effect on increasing bone density and bone health.  Fruits and vegetables strengthen bones.  Researchers found that those who eat the most fruits and vegetables have denser bones.⁴ These researchers concluded that fruits and vegetables are not only rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium and other nutrients essential for bone health, but, because they are alkaline, not acid-producing, they do not induce urinary calcium loss. Green vegetables, in particular have a powerful effect on reducing hip fractures, for they are not only rich in calcium, but other nutrients as well, such a vitamin K, which is crucial for bone health.⁵

So most unprocessed, natural foods contain calcium and green vegetables have particularly high levels. In fact, one four-ounce serving of steamed collards or kale has about the same amount of calcium as one cup of milk. Take a look at some natural foods and their approximated calcium levels.

Bok-choy  two cups ……………………..  300 mg
Broccoli, two cups . . . . . . . . . …………  150 mg
Collard greens, two cups . . . . . . . . . . . . 600 mg
Calcium-fortified orange juice (8 oz) . .    300 mg
Garbanzo beans, one cup . . . . . . . . . . . 150 mg
Kale, two cups . . . . . . . . . . . . …………  350 mg
Milk  one cup  ……………………………...300 mg
Orange (one) ……………………………….60 mg
Romaine Lettuce 4 cups…………………150 mg
Sesame seeds ¼ cup…………………….350 mg
Soybeans, one cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  175 mg
Spinach, two cups…………………………500 mg
Sweet potato, two cups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 mg
Tahini (sesame seed paste) two tbsp. . ..300 mg
Tofu one cup………………………………150 mg
Turnip greens, two cups . . . . . . …………500 mg

Green vegetables also have calcium absorption rates of over 50 percent, compared with about 32 percent for milk.⁶ And, since animal protein induces calcium excretion in the urine, compared to dairy, the calcium retention from vegetables is higher.  All green vegetables are high in calcium. 

Shakes 

I made myself a shake today for lunch. I am doing a 5 mile run and I wanted to have a high concentration of nutritious foods to put into my body before and after the run. So, I made a shake that consists of:

 

Spinach

Banana

Orange

Apple

Dates

Almond Butter

Almond Milk (homemade)

Coconut Water (for the electrolytes)

 

My husband is slow coming around to these shakes. He says, "When I don't have teeth anymore and am forced to have baby food, then I will have your shakes!" He's so funny about all this, but I don't pressure him, he just sees the visible results when I no longer complain about arthritic symptoms in my hands, toes, and elbows, and also I have severe dry eyes, and that goes away when I juice and eat mainly raw foods. My weight is also down and stabilizing!

I will probably make some sort of wrap with the coconut meat. More to post later!!!