Green Smoothie Health 101

I feel responsibility for my small army of humanity that I've been given to care for and teach. As part of that and all the different ailments I've been suffering with myself I have enjoyed learning about being healthy and taking your health into your own hands. Without getting on my soapbox I'll just say that I'm a big believer that Dr.'s don't always know everything... they are helpful, mind you but we can heal ourselves sometimes if we do our research and most all the time, the answer is right under our noses.
I stumbled upon www.greensmoothiegirl.com and learned how we can arm ourselves against this swine flu thing that is freaking the nation out. You don't have to wait for it to come knocking your family down but you can protect yourselves against it. This green smoothie girl person has 4 children who never has had the flu and never had ear infections. Not to mention I always wondered how to get more vegetables into my children. Hence, the green smoothie. The more I've been delving into this world, the more I am amazed. So many people are doing it! We've been doing green smoothies now for 2 months and the kids have not been sick... (Maryn and Kaden had a fever for 1 day is all.) I blend up everything but the kitchen sink and give them a cup of it for breakfast and not always, but sometimes a cup for dinner. Sometimes they aren't always super yummy and they're not always green but the kids always drink them. In fact, Kaden is the best drinker of them all... probably because he's not old enough to have it in his mind that vegetables are in the drinks. He just thinks they're good.

They are easier to drink with a straw.
If you're wondering, the BlendTec is the BEST blender to make smoothies in because it leaves no lumps. (it can also make hot soup and cold ice cream. No kidding!)

Cheers!

I try to make enough in the morning for everyone to have some and then for me to have one for a snack and one for lunch.

My basic drink is a leaf of kale, lots of spinach, a pear, apple and banana. BUT, today I just made a kale, spinach, mango, orange, pineapple, banana and flax seed one. Yesterday I cut up some brussel sprouts in the drink. Ssshhhhhh, the kids didn't even know, and see, they got lots of vegetables. Ask us after the sick season to see if we were saved from illness'.

We have all been feeling the effects of being "cleaned out" too. Maryn was running behind in the morning to catch her bus. I told her to just drink her smoothie for breakfast and she said, "Mom, I don't have time to drink it because I don't have time to go to the bathroom." Ady drank one in the car when we went to pick up her friend. Her friend looked at it and said, "Ewe, gross! What is THAT!" Ady said quite casually, "It's my green smoothie. I drink it so I can be healthy." And then she proceeded to tell the friend what was in the drink. I was in the front seat doing a silent cheer hooray for Ady!

Also, just so ya know...Vitamin D3 is also a huge way to protect yourselves. Not only because we live in Washington, but because it's winter for all of us. Everyone has lower levels of Vitamin D in the winter, why do you think that the sick season is in the winter?? Check out www.homefirst.com and read what Dr. Eisenstein M.D. says about the benefits of Vitamin D if you're dying to know more. I'll stop now. I guess I got up on my soap box anyway. Sorry.