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I read a guest post last week on KevinMD.com’s blog, by family physician Stewart Segal, MD, a major advocate of preventive medicine. As a fellow proponent of preventive medicine, I was very intrigued by the following excerpt and the questions that he raised in regards to preventive medicine and the choices that we make. I want to share them below with my readers because they’re definitely worth pondering. 

 I am always awed by how precarious life really is and how much people take it for granted!  If today is your last day, are you going to enjoy it or are you going to waste it worrying about tomorrow?  Do you have an “attitude of gratitude” or are you so involved with life’s stresses that you forget to give thanks for what you have?

If today is your last day, did you contribute to your demise by neglecting your health?  Did you waste your time on earth or did you accomplish what you set out to do?  Are you proud of what you’ve accomplished?  Did you make others smile and bring happiness to those you met?

Did they resonate with you? 

(to read the entire guest post on the KevinMD.com blog, click here)

Green Smoothie

I am a HUGE fan and advocate of the green smoothie. I find that it’s a very efficient way to consume a significant part of your daily intake of fruits and vegetables and it’s a delicious way to get them raw! 

I’ve been drinking green smoothies four to five times per week, for a little over a year now and I must say that I saw SIGNIFICANT improvement in my overall health in just the first four months of drinking them! Some of the improvements I saw were a clearer and brighter complexion, lightened menses, weight loss, stronger hair and nails, a stronger immune system (less coughs and sniffles!) and freedom from joint pain. 

So, what’s in a smoothie?

Green smoothies are fun to drink because you can be so creative with the ingredients. The choices are limitless! I love to play around with different fruit and vegetable combinations such as a spinach/kale/strawberry/banana combo. The key though is making sure that you have an adequate amount of the greens of your choice. A total fruit smoothie has the potential to spike the blood sugar so you want to make sure that you’ve balanced it out with additional fiber from the greens. You can also add some lemon juice to the smoothie to reduce the sugar as well. Total fruit smoothies are a nice cool treat in the summertime, just add ice! 

Another important point is to make sure that you use fresh or frozen, organic fruits and vegetables in your green smoothies, whenever possible. Yes, organic fruits and vegetables cost more than the non-organic varieties but illness and degenerative disease from pesticides and preservatives will cost you SO MUCH MORE than a few fresh or frozen organic items will ever cost. 

How do you make a smoothie?

I prefer to blend my green smoothies in my Vitamix© 5200 Super. I’ve owned my Vitamix for about 1.5 years and it has definitely paid for itself. I highly recommend it and it’s worth every cent! 

Other reputable blenders or emulsifiers that can be used are the Blendtec®, HealthMaster®, Magic Bullet™, Ninja®, and just about any other household brand of blender with at least a 650 watt motor. Motor wattage is very important as is strength and quality of the blender’s blades. A blender with low wattage and weak blades won’t stand up to tougher textured fruits and vegetables; it will also wear out quickly with repeated use. For this reason, I highly recommend going with a professional grade blender like the Vitamix© or the Blendtec®. 

What are the benefits?

As I mentioned, I’ve experienced several health benefits from drinking green smoothies such as clearer skin, better reproductive health, and a stronger immune system. Some other benefits include: 

• improved digestion and waste elimination
• reduction in inflammation
• improved vision
• pure nutrition
• good source of energy
• increased hydration

There are many green smoothie recipe sources available online such as the Green Smoothie Girl, and Incredible Smoothies, to name a few. I will share a couple of my own ‘special recipes’ in future blog posts. Stay tuned! 

Have you ever noticed how the acronym for the term Standard American Diet, spells the word SAD??? Think about it…..

Water is ESSENTIAL to life!!! Water is nature’s best and greatest solvent. It is healing, rejuvenating, and life-giving. 

The Facts….

• water is the body’s primary, most abundant chemical
• a water molecule is composed of 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen
• the body is composed of about 60% water
• water composes about 85% of every cell, tissue, and organ in the body
• about 80% of our daily water intake comes from the water and other beverages that we drink and the remaining 20% comes from the foods that we eat

Sources:

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/water.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2004/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-Water-Potassium-Sodium-Chloride-and-Sulfate.aspx