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Green for Life
Price:$10.17
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| ISBN |
0970481969 |
| Publication Date |
2005-10-20 |
| Number Of Pages |
186 |
| Publisher |
Raw Family Publishing |
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Customers Reviews
2010-09-08
Must read--will change your life
I have been juicing every single day for over a year and finally talked my husband into buying a Vitamix which I had heard wonderful things about. First of all for those who don't think a Vitamix is worth the money obviously haven't tried it. (I use it for far more than smoothies by the way). Anyway, I was eager to learn more about the wonderful smoothies it created and while searching around found this book. We belong to a farmers co-op in the summer where we get locally grown vegetables, many of them greens like kale that I always knew were good for me but ran out of things to do with. That is the reason I bought the book. It isn't necessarily "scientific" as some pessimists point out in their review but it seems pretty sound to me. It is especially interesting to learn of the acid and alkaline information which turned me on to those books. I think it is a very important read. I am not going to suddenly subsist on a smoothie only diet but am happy to switch from the pain in the neck cleaning out of a juicer every day to the blender version which keeps all the important fiber and nutrients that are extracted by a juicer. A juice didn't fill me up whereas the smoothies with all the fiber definitely do. I will be incorporating more greens into my life wherever I can.
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2010-09-08
Knowing I have to buy a Vitamix put me off
I once got pleasantly, energetically "high" drinking about a quarter of a cup of some beautiful emerald-colored parsley juice, so I am definitely open to Boutenko's claims that green smoothies can help us feel much better. But the author's recommendation to buy a Vitamix, and her comment that she'd burned up several blenders making green smoothies, was a turn-off for me. I'd love to get in the habit of drinking green smoothies, but I cannot afford to buy a Vitamix.
For those who have or can procure a Vitamix, here are my thoughts on "Green for Life": The book is light on science (what little documentation there is is buried in the Notes at the end of the book) and heavy on "cured my X" testimonials and the author's own subjectivity. However, I found the book to be a good, basic, hopeful introduction to why and how to eat more greens. The idea that "greens" should be considered a food group in and of itself makes a great deal of sense. Finding out how much protein is in various greens was an exciting discovery for me—a gardener who planted way too many greens this summer and wound up letting most of them ruin. Having a method for quickly processing a bounty of greens is appealing. But in the garden it's often feast or famine. I would have liked information on freezing green smoothies: Can you do it without loss of taste or quality? Do some of the recipes lend themselves to freezing more than others? What are some good tricks for making up larger batches of the recipes? (Can you blend three times as many, say, bananas and separately mix three times as many of the other ingredients, then hand-mix them together?)
The recipes in the back of the book are gracious plenty to get a person started on making green smoothies a daily ritual. I was expecting lots of recipes for "green glop," but many of these smoothies have relatively few greens in relation to the fruit. I don't like the imprecision of ingredients like "two handfuls spinach leaves" or "1/2 bunch fresh Basil" if the goal is to make an exact amount (e.g., two quarts) of smoothie. On the flip side, this may be a way of encouraging readers to be more experimental with their green smoothies.
I appreciate Boutenko's reference to permaculture (a sustainable perennial gardening method that we all should become familiar with) as well as her emphasis on the quality of the soil our food is grown in. Exploring permaculture principles is a great way to learn how to grow highly nutritious fruits and vegetables (and greens!) with minimal effort and drain on environmental resources. Boutenko makes a stab at explaining how different plants grow and adapt and how their strategies affect their ability to nourish us, but in such a lightweight way that a reader new to these concepts could entirely miss the significance.
I was glad to see that others have had the same initial reaction I had to wheat grass juice and also glad to know that my tolerance and fondness for less-sweet green smoothies will likely increase with time...after I save up for a Vitamix, which could take years.
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2010-09-08
A sincere effort, but sadly lacking
Anyone interested in better nutrition has by now heard of green smoothies or green vegetable cocktails, the difference being that in the first the vegetables and fruit are blended while the latter uses a juicer. Ms. Boutenko specifies a blender, preferably a Vita-Mix, while other health spokespersons, such as Jack LaLanne, prefer a juicer. I may have missed it, but I didn't see any comparisons drawn between the two in this book. It would be interesting to learn the scientific pros and cons.
I think it's a "given" that the average American diet is lacking in the consumption of fruits and vegetables while they are being replaced by unhealthy fats and over-processed carbohydrates. On the other hand, lately there have been more and more reports concerning young adults who have been following raw and macrobiotic diets who are now being diagnosed with such things as severe, irreparable bone loss.
What this tells me is that nature hates extremes. And, I'm sorry to say, extreme is what I call this book.
But it also has its moments of truth, almost hidden among the fervent testimonials and the laughable "Roseburg Study," a "study" with not one mention of any sort of scientific protocol being used. The simple truth is that an increase in greens in one's daily diet, however one wishes to pulverize them, is probably an enormously sensible step towards better health.
As for the writing style, here are two examples:
"When we understand the mechanism of homeostasis, it becomes clear that through this unique natural system, the human body can heal not only a cold or recover from injury but heal any disease, even cancer. The only assistance we can offer is to provide sufficient nourishment and elimination. Fortunately, green smoothies can provide such help."
"Plants don't want us to eat their trunk and roots. That is why the roots are hidden in the ground." I guess that means no carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets, onions, radishes - oh, well, you get the picture.
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2010-09-05
just another fad book
this book did inspire me to eat more greens. and maybe i'll even try some green smoothies. but for the most part, this felt like just another generic, cure-all fad book about how 'x' will solve all of your problems - be it green tea, fish oil, juicing, raw diet, whatever. while all of these things can be helpful, there is no silver bullet.
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2010-09-04
worth looking at
As a long term vegetarian I've done my research. People who don't know are always asking me where I get my protein - they figure you have to eat a lot of beans, which I don't. Truth is there is abundant protein in greens. The problem is most greens tend towards the bitter flavor which is why a lot of people on the SAD (standard American diet) won't eat their greens.
I'm intrigued by the author's thesis that the ideal human diet should parallel the chimpanzee diet. To do that she recommends cutting-down on nuts and seeds, avocado oils, and sweet root vegetables and moving towards a diet that is roughly half fruit and almost half greens. I find her argument credible, because based on personal experience I've found that it's best for me to eat nuts in moderation and the fast-moving sugars in sweet-roots can be a bit unbalancing.
This book proclaims the benefit of blending and consuming a pound or more of greens a day. That's a lot. The book has abundant testimonials or healing experiences the author's clients have had from following the plan.
The text carries an implication that it's ok to eat wild greens. Well - some wild greens could kill you so be very careful if foraging for greens.
The recipe section is only a few pages long but contains about 30 recipes. They're all blended so there's no instructions other than to liquify in a VitaMix.
I'd recommend this book to a committed raw-foods experimenter looking for optimal health. It's not a core text on a raw, vegan, or vegetarian lifestyle however. If you need a foundation book I highly recommend
Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition
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The Best Way To Overcome Spring Depression Serotonin diet
 Spring Depression and Overweighting
Each spring we are subjected to uncertain anxiety, apathy, force loss and bad mood. These seem to be rather normal seasonal occasions.
There is the serotonin system in the central nerve system. This is the place of serotonin generated, the very item to control our emotions, apatite, mood, cause anti-stress, anti-inflammation and anti-allergy effect, takes part in the process of sleep regulation, topes up and stimulates our immune system.
The food we consume cause impact on the level of serotonin.
Serotonin Diet
This kind of diet implies frequent meals of small portions, sea fish consumption, sea products (squids, crabs, seaweed), which contain a great variety of polyunsaturated fatty acids : Omega-3 and Omega-6.
This is very important to include products containing cellular tissue: dried apricots, asparagus, green salads, celery, colour cabbage, broccoli, oatmeal, pineapples and so on and so forth.
Preserved products, crisps, fried and smocked food, alcohol (a bit of dry red wine however is useful) are removed from the food allowance completely.
To keep your mood, mental and physical capacity at the high level, t make the process of weight loss more effective you need to get additional vitamins and micro-elements.:
1. magnesium
2. chromium
3. vitamin – E
4. vanadium
5. biotin
6. L lipoic acid
7. zinc
8. selenium
Serotonin influence on the expression of the majority person’s emotions - passion, intentions, impulses.
It’s practically impossible to struggle against disorders of the serotonin system by mere strength of will. And it’s even more difficult to manage your behaviour and inclinations.
Serotonin diet (sensible eating, vitamin-mineral complexes) will help you to loose weight, cheer up, restore your sleep and health.
Carbon diet raise the serotonin level of those who can not imagine their life without sweet. As the result they feel active, they are in a cheerful mood and sleep well. In case such a person keeps to a protein diet he begins to feel apathy, anger, and is more prone to any kind of depression.
Fats included in the food allowance serve as a kind of buffer: they stabilize the level of serotonin that contributes to sound sleep and good mood.
This fact proves the necessity of various food allowance : from the one hand there should be proteins, fats, carbons in the ration, from the other hand – a personal accent on the ration of these elements is needed, taking in account a persons’ body and digestion peculiarities.
There are also general factor which decrease the serotonin level such as smocking, alcohol, coffee, exceed consumption of proteins and fast-digested carbons. |
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