In search of the perfect human diet, researchers have studied many options for the optimal healthy diet they took a closer look in comparison to our diets as humans to our healthy relatives chimpanzees that we humans share 99.4% of our DNA with, the standard american diet is almost 100% cooked or processed, while the diet of chimpanzees is 100% raw and whole foods. That means we humans eat way differently than chimpanzees and why does that matter? Well these animals possess an extremely strong natural immunity to AIDS, Hepatitis C, cancer, and many other fatal human illnesses which is linked to their natural leafy green diets! If we share such close genes with chimps why are humans so susceptible to illness, weight gain, and shortened lifespans? It all comes back to our diets and what we fuel our bodies with!
Vegetables are one of the most important food groups, yet veggies get left out of our diets too often due to having a stigma of not being tasty, smelling good or at times even looking good to eat. Which makes adding vegetables to our diets even harder and sometimes we can even subconsciously make ourselves believe we don't like vegetables before we try them! How can we reverse this wrong way of eating and help ourselves and our families lead healthier lifestyles, the most easiest ways to introduce something new into your life that you have struggled with is to make it less intimidating or change what you don’t like about it to make easier for you to just add in little by little to your diet so it doesn't seem like a drastic change! We found that
- drinking green smoothies
- drinking pressed juices
Is one of the easiest ways to add veggies to your diet and it doesn't stop there after you blend your smoothies or press a juice, you can use that pulp leftover from the vegetables and
- make a veggie powder that can be added into any meal you and your family already love!
Using this method helps consume 100% of the vegetables, which reduces waste and you and your family are getting 100% of the nutrients and health benefits!
To make powdered veggies using greens from any combination of fresh produce that you have available: beet and turnip trimmings, kale, lettuce leaves, broccoli leaves, leek, and onion greens, bell peppers, herbs. Even very dry fruit makes a great addition. Really, any vegetable will do, and a variety is good! Get your veggies to a pulp like consistency and that texture makes it easier to dry out in the oven on the lowest degree 110-150’F for as long as it needs to dry out 3-4 hours and ground into a powder for easy seasoning.This is a great way to get the picky eaters in your life to eat more vegetables by pairing the powder with any dish. Unfortunately, mealtimes can feel like a battleground when you're trying to feed your children nutritious food. It doesn't have to be that way!
Another way to eat lots of veggies and make them taste great is to make a green smoothie! You can blend tasty fruits with vegetables to help create a delicious flavor filled smoothie packed with vitamins and minerals your body needs to thrive! Leafy greens are packed with nutrition. They are a great source of non-dairy calcium, magnesium and Vitamin C. They contain carotenoids that may help protect against macular degeneration (an eye disease that can blur your central vision), guard against heart disease, cancer and many other illnesses.
At Ippodaro Natural Salon we have the pleasure of our guests being of all different forms of a holistic lifestyle and guest Sapna Flinder, MSN, HHC, AADP in Food and Nutrition gave us some advice on this topic she says “A green smoothie is a fruit smoothie that is blended with leafy green vegetables. They are excellent for breakfast or an after school snack because they contain a combination of minerals, vitamins, chlorophyll and phytochemicals. All of these are essential for providing energy to the body. Children benefit greatly from green smoothies. Every parent knows that kids are generally averse to eating green vegetables. In fact, the best way to start is when they are babies. Or better yet, in the womb. Babies as young as 8 months can enjoy green soothies! Just be sure to introduce 1 vegetable or fruit a week and keep them very simple to avoid food allergies. With its sweet, fruity taste, a green smoothie gets them the vegetable nutrition they need in a more flavorful form.” Sapna also provided delicious recipes for green smoothies, here are a few of her favorite great tasting green smoothies. You can read more from Sapna on her website! Click here!
- Pineapple Chard Smoothie - 2 cups pineapple, handful of chard- 4-5 leaves,1 small apple, water –depending how thick or thin you want it 2-4 cups
- Pear Parsley Smoothie - 4 pears, 1 bunch parsley, water
- Peach Spinach Smoothie - 5 peaches, 2-3 handfuls of baby spinach leaves, water
- Orange Mango Smoothie - 2 oranges, handful of dandelion greens, 1 mango, 1 banana, water
- Strawberry Kale Smoothie - 1 cup strawberries, 2 bananas, 1/2 romaine lettuce or 5 kale leaves, water
- Pear Raspberry Kale - 3 pears, 1 handful rasberries, 5-6 leaves of kale, water
- Watermelon Spinach Smoothie - 4-5 cups watermelon, 5-7 leaves baby spinach or romaine lettuce, Water
Optional boosts:
Camu Camu powder (Vit C), Aloe Vera juice, Chlorella, Green Veggie powder, Goji Berries