Chapter 6: Blending The Rules

 Back in chapter 4 you were provided with very specific “rules” about food combinations and choices. Hopefully you noticed that the chart contains the words “recommended” and “discouraged” rather than “do” and “don’t do.” This chapter on blended foods will make them easier to swallow if you take note of those soft directions.

Blended smoothies and soups are an excellent and delicious way of assuring that we consume enough alkalinizing foods. An alkalinizing recipe section is planned for later in this book to offer enough choices to keep the palate excited. Meanwhile, let’s take a closer look at some possible green smoothie options:

kaleRecipe #1:

  • Put a handful of fresh, organic kale in a blender.
  • Add 2 cups water.
  • Blend and drink.

Okay, if just the idea of that made you push your chair back away from this e-book, you are not alone. Would that be a healthy smoothie? Absolutely! Would many people be able to get it down? Not very likely!

 Now, consider the following ingredients, all blended into a smooth, cold, milk-shake-like consistency:

BasicBlueberrySmoothie-300Recipe#2:

  • 1/2 cup organic raisins
  • 1 cup clean water
  • 2 cups organic young spinach leaves, washed
  • 2/3 cup frozen organic blueberries
  • 1 teaspoon sunflower lecithin
  • Enough ice cubes to produce a milkshake-like frozen consistency

If you are thinking this still doesn’t sound good, it is only because you have never had one, or, you are allowing your disdain for any of the ingredients to repress your imagination. In all the years I have been offering people this or a very similar shake, I only remember one who didn’t absolutely love it. Her response concluded with “…but, I could live with that.”

“I could live with that” is one of those phrases people say which contain many more meanings that the speaker may have intended. Assuming that she only meant “it is tolerable to my taste,” also take a look at the alkaline factor breakdown: (refer to chart, page 15)

  • 1/2 cup organic raisins —————————–— +42
  • 2 cups organic young spinach leaves, washed — +278
  • 2/3 cup frozen organic blueberries —————–— +5
  • 1 teaspoon sunflower lecithin (neutral, enhances nutritional uptake, provides EFAs)

———————————————————————————-

Total alkalinizing factor of this shake ————— +325

Dividing 325 by 4 (80/20 = 4) equals an alkalinizing factor of 81.25 of acid-ash food that can also be eaten and still have the proper 80/20 balance.
(i.e. 2 eggs (-9), 2 slices bacon (-10), a quarter pound of beef (-24) and 5/8 cup of brown rice (-29))

Yes, you can “live with that” — probably for decades longer than you could without it …

 

About Blenders

VitamixDo you need a super-blender, like a VitaMix or Blendtec, to make great smoothies every day? The real answer is “Yes” and “no”, but mostly “yes.” No matter how good those “other” brands claim to be, and the presence of the words “ice crusher” on the box, my experience is that they cannot handle ice and frozen fruits without snapping the drive shaft. In a pinch, you can use them to make room-temperature smoothies. For my personal taste, if it isn’t like a delicious cold milkshake, I will not be as excited to go make one.

That said, if you don’t have a Ninja, VitaMix or Blendtec, and you don’t have $200 to $500 available to invest in your health, don’t let that dissuade you from making smoothies every day! Just let the fruits thaw until they are soft (ESPECIALLY frozen bananas!!), use more water in place of the ice, then put it in the refrigerator until it is chilled.

Or, maybe you are like my wife. She prefers them to be room temperature. (She is also a person who could do the kale-and-water smoothie and actually enjoy it, but God broke the mold that made her …)

TIPS

  • Some information about super-blenders is available at http://pathtoyoungness.com/blenders.
  • Avoid overdoing the poor food combinations. For instance, bananas with pineapple or bananas with blackberries. Apple seems to go with most things okay. Raisins are my answer to sweeteners, but you could use agave nectar in place of it.
  • Banana (organic only!!) has a magical ability to neutralize harsh greens, like kale. We buy the brown ones that are marked down, then peel, quarter and freeze them. Adding raw cacao powder or nibs makes a delicious substitute for a chocolate-banana milkshake.
  • Make a full blender-full, even if you are alone, then put the extra in the refrigerator, or in your cooler to take to work.
  • Using a sprayer-bottle filled with clean water helps get the goodies off the sides and top of the blender.
  • For a zillion amazing smoothie recipes, get socially connected with “The Raw Family” and Sergio Boutenko.
  • I personally prefer the VitaMix over the BlendTec. The BlendTec has push-button choices, but each fill of ingredients requires a slightly different set of adjustments. They are both awesome!! I have not tried the “Ninja.”

nextpage50PrevioiusPage50BookIndexButton50