We can sip greens adding some version of sweet/salty/spicy. Think soups, juices, and smoothies. It is a way to add options and choices for increasing your nutrition.
I have read high speed blenders are strong enough to knock the good stuff right out of the cell walls. “Your body cannot digest all the phytochemicals if they are still locked inside the cell structure of your food. Juicing does not unlock the phytochemicals found in the fiber.” (Raw Food Advantage)
Chewing makes our jaws strong fine, what I want to say is greens make our whole body strong and when chewing 4 cups of greens (and chewing it well enough to give your body a fighting chance at absorbing it) is just not going to happen, it is possible to discover delicious ways to add liquid greens. Sipping greens can go down almost without your even noticing and while you are busy doing other things, of course that is not as lovely an experience and your body wishes you were all there. It can even be a low calorie experience, a huge 8″ cucumber is 34 calories, throw that in a blender with some lemon and a little agave and voila tasty. I also love a blended spinach, avocado, soy sauce, watery soup. There are so many ways to drink green.
This chart is found in the cover of the book Green for Life. It is the author’s take on percentages of greens, etc. taken in by the SAD diet, average raw diet and a chimps (with whom we share 99.4% DNA similiarity).
This .gov site (U.S. government created) for nutrients will tell all nutrients to any green you type in to the box.
It is cumbersome to use. It is the USDA National Nutrient Database straight from their
Nutrient Data Laboratory.
Here is a much prettier .gov site You can type in how old you are and it will tell you how many cups of fruits and veggies it thinks you should have according to USDA current standards. This site is called “fruits and veggies matter.gov” and that is what it is about. Even the recipe section for entrees include vegan recipes. I like the Fruit and Vegetable of the Month section…it offers lengthy info on each food reminding me of the Amarinth to Zucchini book (see book reviews).
Greens rule. Thanks for the reminder about USDA National Nutrient Database. I’ve used it before but not for a while. I’ve been getting my nutritional info from the Mastercook program. Mastercook didn’t have beet greens but the USDA site did. Most of my green smoothies are not as green as your photo. More of a muddy color due to the blueberries.
VW