Smoothies Vs. Juices series.

Alright, now on to the bonus installment of

our Smoothies Vs. Juices series.

(from Kevin Gianni, The Renegade Health Show)

What is better for cleansing and removing toxins:

An all smoothie cleanse or a juice fast?

To start, the premise of cleansing is to allow

your body to heal itself and remove toxins

naturally.

So first off, both smoothies and juices, as long

as they're organic (and even if they're not),

are both very effective for cleansing on the

short term. (Let's say short term is 3-10 days.)

Why?

Because they give your body a break from the

more difficult foods to digest.

It's about what you leave out of your diet

that is most important.

So when it comes to cleansing, they both do

work.

I prefer a smoothie cleanse (like the one we

have in the Raw Food Challenge) for the simple

fact that you can do it for longer.

I'm not a fan of long term juice fasting and

in some cases long term juice feasting.

First off it's an irregular eating pattern, so

this can create disordered eating.

I know plenty of people who juice fast about

once a month, but binge the rest of the time.

As you know this is extremely unhealthy for

your metabolism.

It seems like they use juice fasting or juice

feasting as a traditional "diet" or as a

punishment for being bad, or to release the

"toxins" they have accumulated in the last

few weeks.

When you do a smoothie cleanse, you are much

closer to eating real food so it doesn't cause

as many disordered eating patterns AND you're

getting much more calories.

Remember, we can't subscribe to the calorie

restriction diet, until we know exactly what

it is. It does NOT mean we are supposed to

eat less calories than our body needs.

It means that we're to be smart about our

portion sizes. The scientists in these studies

"restrict" the calories of the animals. They

don't starve them. "Restriction" only means

there is enough food, but not too much.

Anyway, with smoothies your chances of getting

more calories are increased dramatically so

you're able to maintain the cleanse longer.

On a juice fast, with little apple or carrot

juice, you'd be lucky to get 500 calories

a day. With a smoothie cleanse you can get

upwards of 2000-2500.

And here's what's great... is that since many

of the nutrients in the smoothie cleanse are

simple sugars, vitamins and minerals, your

body will start to cleanse and detoxify naturally.

This doesn't mean a juice fast isn't good.

We just did one in Costa Rica.

And if you're medically instructed to do one,

don't listen to me! :-)

I just prefet the smoothie cleanse for the

majority of people's needs. Which is to get

a litte more energy, maybe lose some weight

and to jump start their healthy diet.

One last thing on a smoothie cleanse vs. juice

fast...

For weight loss, I think a smoothie cleanse

is better as well.

I think creating long term good eating habits

is best overall, but for the short term smoothie

take the cake (he he)...

Why?

Because you can lose weight more gradually.

In all my work as a trainer and health coash,

I've seen many diets and how they work with

my clients.

First and foremost, if you lose weight too

fast (with very few exceptions) you're poised

to gain it back and more.

A juice fast will cause to you lose a lost of

weight fast and when you're done, most people

will gain it back and more in a short period

of time.

I lost 9 pounds on our Costa Rica fast (I really

didn't care to lose any!).

But it was back in no time.

For me that was a plus, because I didn't want

to be so thin, but I didn't try to gain the

weight back. It just came back quickly.

So imagine if you were trying to lose weight,

you did, then you gained it right back in a

short time like that. (Plus more)

Not very comforting.

With smoothies, at least you can give your

body some time to adjust and lose weight a

little more gradually.

It still may be fast, but your chances of

creating a healthy habit with something that

you can maintain, such as a smoothie every

day, is much higher than with juices.

I'm sure there will be plenty of opinions

and thoughts about this and I welcome them.

Just remember the most effective things to

do for cleansing and detoxifying is to remove

toxins from your diet in the first place.

Your body will clear up some of the rest

when you eat clean.

So these arguments are maybe even a little too

detailed than anyone needs.

But it's fun to explain and maybe it will help

you decide which way is best for you!

Layered Aronia Berry Parfait

Ultra-Healthy, Super Antioxidant Packed Delicious Desserts

What's so special about Aronia berries? Aronia Melanocarpa, the black version of aronia berries, is PACKED with antioxidants, and best of all for those of us living in the United States, they're very plentiful... In fact, the aronia berries I used to make this parfait were grown less than 20 miles from here by Steve Blazer on his 12-organic-acres near St. Joseph. Aronia's extremely high antioxidant levels make it one of the eight “true” superfruits in the world, and it's the only one of the eight that is native to the United States. Why go to Brazil or China to get your fill of antioxidants when you can buy them fresh or frozen from local organic farmers in the US?

Recipe:

You will need a Vitamix or high speed blender.

Ingredients: For each serving, add the following:

• 1 frozen banana, peeled
• 1/2 fresh or frozen pear, cubed and cored
• 1/2 cup frozen or thawed whole aronia berries (plus a few extra for garnish)
• 1 TBS of raw clover honey

Use the auger to push fruit into the blade to create an ice-cream consistency. (If your blender will not smooth out the frozen fruit without liquid, add a little coconut water until it starts turning freely.) Blend until smooth, pour into glass dishes, place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour. Do not wash out the blender. You will be making the topping in the same pitcher. The "left-over" dark purple sorbet that is still in the blender will create a beautiful violet hue for the topping.

Topping:

• 1/2 cup soaked, hulled, raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 whole vanilla bean
• 1/2 cup frozen coconut mylk
• 1 to 2 TBS of Raw White Honey or Clear Agave Nectar (to taste)

Blend until smooth, pour over the aronia berry sorbet, return to the freezer until firm. Top with thawed aronia berries.

(I created a marble effect in the topping using some of the juice from the frozen berries)

This will be amazing with fresh mint when it starts to peek through the snow any day now!

We will be featuring Steve's local aronia berries at our next distribution night. I'll keep you posted.

They are also great salad toppers! A teaspoon of these lovely dark tart berries is the antioxidant nutritional equivalent to a shot of Monovie (which retails for $35 a bottle!) Yikes.

If you like, sign up to "be a follower" of this blog and you will be automatically up-dated when I post more recipes about aronia berries. I'm having a blast experimenting with them. Here are a few tips I can share: If you are using in smoothies, add a little raw honey to bring out the rich tannins! Mixed well with pears, apricots, apples, bananas, cherries, and blueberries. Goat yogurt, if you partake, is a wonderful base for frozen aronia custard. Just mix a whole vanilla bean, 1/2 cup of aronia berries, (frozen or thawed ) a little clean-source water and ice in the Vitamix. Blend until smooth. Add plain organic goat yogurt to taste. I like it tart, so I add lemon. If you like it sweet, add honey or agave. You can "drink" it or set it in the freezer until it firms into a spoon-able ice-mylk consistency. YUM! [Photos TK. My family woofed it down before I could get picture! I love them!]

Live Vibe: Treats! Banana Date Smoothie (or Ice "Cream")

Live Vibe: Treats!

For Your Bohemian Holiday of Choice

Banana Date Smoothie (or Soft-serve Ice "Cream")

Add to Vitamix or blender:

• 1 organic banana
• 2 soaked organic dates (plus 1/4 cup soaking water from dates)
• 8 oz of frozen organic coconut mylk*
• 1 TBS of raw organic honey or organic maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp of organic pure vanilla extract or organic vanilla bean seeds (optional)
• 1/2 tsp of organic almond extract (optional)

Note: (double for 2 or more servings)

*Buy frozen bags of coconut mylk or pour a can of organic coconut mylk into a zip-lock bag and freeze flat on a tray, so that it can be easily broke into pieces.

Soak dates for a couple of hours or overnight.

Peel the banana.

Add everything to the Vitamix and blend until smooth. Add extra clean source water for a smoothie.

Optional: Pour 1/2 the banana ice "cream" into chilled bowels, tip to keep it on one side of the dish. Add 1/2 tsp of carob powder and extra honey to remaining banana ice "cream" in the blender. (Do not over-flavor. Carob is quite strong. The color should be light mocha. ) Pour carob ice "cream" into other side of the dish. Make a yin-yan. Serve immediately or freeze for up to 20 minutes.

Please use organic foods to enjoy the full benefits of whole living food that is expressing love!