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My Friend Drinks Green Smoothies, Loses Weight, Addresses Diabetic Issues


Robyn Openshaw - Oct 31, 2010 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


I have a close friend who rents my basement apartment. Jean is a 46-year old mom of 3 and a Type 1 diabetic since age 16. As with all of my friends, I never undertook to try to convince her to eat whole foods, but she's in my kitchen a lot and sees what I do. And eventually almost everyone tries it–at LEAST the green smoothie habit, and most of them even more of my lifestyle habits. I have quite an army of friends and ex-boyfriends who make green smoothies regularly and tell me they'll never give that up.

One of the most common questions I get is, "How can I get my [sister] (insert name of someone close to you) on board?" And of course I have detailed answers to that in the 12 Steps Intro, regarding your kids and spouse. But my general answer is, "You don't."

You can't change what someone else eats. A minority of people would rather die than eat right. But lots of people WILL change, just by watching you and seeing the results. Example is so much more powerful than lectures.

So this weekend Jean was sitting in my kitchen while I was testing recipes for Junk Food Dude's Yummy Healthy Recipes. It's a companion to The Adventures of Junk Food Dude, and I found a way to reduce the price of the hardback book by $4! Yay!

We were talking about why she left yoga early that morning. And her insulin pump started beeping right about then. She got it out and squeezed it a few times to eat the "mashed potatoes" (featuring cauliflower and spinach) that she'd just tasted and wanted a bowl of.

My son Tennyson was in the room, so I asked Jean to show him her pump and tell him about diabetes. I asked Ten if he has noticed Jean pricking her finger to test her blood, when she sits with us at church, and he nodded. "I have to do that 20 or 25 times a day," she told him.

"And what happens if your blood sugar is low?" I asked. (All in the name of instructing Tennyson–I would talk to him later about what causes Type 2 diabetes.)

"I have to eat a piece of candy," she said.

AAARGH.

"Or a piece of fruit?" I suggested. "Yes, even better," she said.

So we were talking about how she sometimes has to leave yoga (we go to the same class on Saturdays at the gym), because her blood pressure is too low, and yesterday she had a lot of muscle fatigue and just couldn't finish.

She said to Tennyson, "I used to feel like that a LOT, until I started drinking green smoothies, and it almost never happens now." I asked her what other health benefits she noticed, and she said, "More energy and I lost weight."

Good stuff. I'll post more green-smoothie mustache photos and testimonials sent by readers, soon!

Posted in: Green Smoothies, Health Concerns, Healthy Weight, Relationships, Tools & Products, Whole Food

16 thoughts on “My Friend Drinks Green Smoothies, Loses Weight, Addresses Diabetic Issues”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Dear Robyn, My wife is 80, diabetic, on dialysis, has acute anemia, and congestive heart failure. She is 5 ft 2 and weighs about 215. We have started Weightwatchers, again, but I am impressed by what I see of your program. I do have a Blend Tec blender but frankly need to be almost hand – led in getting started. Can you help? What do you suggest?

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Hi Charles, I’m all about that. That’s what my 12 Steps is about, hand holding you through each step towards an ideal diet that anyone can do. 🙂 Good for you for getting started–you’ve got the best tool already!

  2. Anonymous says:

    also read ‘The China Study’, it will help you get on the right track (with scientific understanding) for yourself and those around you

  3. Anonymous says:

    Hi Robyn, I loved your article on fall harvesting 10-06-07. Awesome info! I too brought in the last of my greens & beets. Do you pull out the base of your chard(I was wondering if they would take off again, or should I retire them & start with new plants)?

    How soon do you plant them in the fall or early spring? What can I do now and early spring to have the best supply of greens possible? I know you get leafes; do you work it into the soil or just let them sit on top, then till them in, in the spring?

    What is your favorite spinach? I LOVED mine, but sadly they bolted too soon. I did read where you still will use the bolted leaves in smoothies, and if some of your green are really overgrown, you will use them for the high fiber content!

    Freezing the greens for winter smooties I must say is BRILLANT! Never would I of come to that conclusion!!! Is the flavor stronger or much different?

    Thanks for allowing us to ask you so many questions!!!

    Sure do love ya & all this info, Camille

  4. Anonymous says:

    Sorry, Now I spell checked it, much better!

    Hi Robyn, I loved your article on fall harvesting 10-06-07. Awesome info! I too brought in the last of my greens & beets. Do you pull out the base of your chard (I was wondering if they would take off again, or should I retire them & start with new plants)?

    How soon do you plant them in the fall or early spring? What can I do now and early spring to have the best supply of greens possible? I know you get leaves; do you work it into the soil or just let them sit on top, then till them in, in the spring?

    What is your favorite spinach? I LOVED mine, but sadly they bolted too soon. I did read where you still will use the bolted leaves in smoothies, and if some of your greens are really overgrown, you will use them for the high fiber content!

    Freezing the greens for winter smoothies I must say is BRILLIANT! Never would I of come to that conclusion!!! Is the flavor stronger or much different?

    Thanks for allowing us to ask you so many questions!!!

    Sure do love ya & all this info, Camille

  5. Anonymous says:

    Robyn – energy has been an issue for me. With all the good happening with green smoothies – my red hair coming back, great skin, super digestive and colon health, I have been dismayed that my energy has gone in exactly the opposite direction. I would sleep for hours but wake up depressed and tired every single day, tried to exercise and gave up after a few minutes – just no oomph. Hubby says I haven’t been the same since ‘going green’. Also, I was hoping for migraine improvement that never really came.

    Rather than give up, I knew I just needed to expand my horizons and I added the coconut oil – also bought Dr. Fife’s book, at your recommendation. WOW. What great results I’m having! My energy is up, but in an even way – no highs and lows – just calm, sustained energy throughout the day. This was the first Sat/Sun in the longest time where I didn’t take a long nap both days. I wake up in a better mood. My headaches have improved. I even tried just rubbing CO into my feet on a whim, to see if it would help with foot odor and heat (I’m on my feet in a big way all day long and they take a beating). It made sense, since CO is antifugal/bacterial, etc. It did the trick – in one day. I can’t tell you the money I have wasted trying to address that problem with OTC products and herbal remedies from the internet. I will never again be without my big bucket of CO. It’s not a miracle cure all, but it is part of the big picture. My feeling, purely anecdotal, is it somehow lets all the good stuff you are doing really ‘kick in’. Point is, folks, don’t give up. Keep trying new, healthy things. You will find your way, if you keep going forward and never go back to all that old crap you know was killing you.

    I rode my exercise bike this moring before work for the first time in months 🙂

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      mgm, thanks for that–I’ll post it in a blog entry soon so more people see it, great stuff!

  6. Anonymous says:

    You have me and my family hooked on your green smoothies. My 26 year old son trains triathletes and competes himself. He can’t get enough and now makes his own green smoothies. I have 2 questions. I want to buy one of your cookbooks. I want a variety of your recipes but I want your cinnamon almond recipe in particular. Which cookbook should I get? Are raw almonds and unpasturized almonds the same thing?

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Susan, retailers can sell RAW almonds that are pasteurized (heat treated above 116 degrees, killing enzymes) simply because they are not roasted. What we are doing through Nov. 30 in the group buy is arranging for you to get up to 100 lbs. of RAW and UNPASTEURIZED almonds.

      Yay for you and your son!

      The 12 Steps course has, in Ch. 7, the almond recipes.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Darn – wish I’d checked it for typos better : )

    Just thanks so much for all the great info, Robyn. Reading The Coconut Oil Miracle really brought clarity to me on using other oils, too. I knew they weren’t good for me, but still played with fire, but since reading Fife’s book, I really ‘get’ just what a dumb choice it is to use other oils. Except for olive oil, but even that, I now use less than before. I recommend that book highly – it’s a quick read and well worth your time and consideration.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Feel kind of silly (stupid), but what is the green smoothie recipe?

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      My friend Jean doesn’t seem to limit her carbs, so she just makes a green smoothie like the rest of us do and uses her insulin pump, though I don’t think she adds any sweetener. Just 1/3 water, 1/3 greens, 1/3 fruit.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Hey Robyn, can you recommend any nutrition certifications/degree programs through any schools that are not funded by the meat/dairy industry???

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      I think the Integrated Nutrition course (in New York City, and available by distance learning) looks interesting, but I haven’t taken it myself to know for sure.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Hi Robyn, I know you eat alfalfa sprouts. Have you studied anything about the toxin canavanine in them? We eat the sprouts (home grown) and came across this web site: http://www.foodrevolution.org/askjohn/17.htm

    Thank you for you knowledge. Ketena

  11. Victoria says:

    With Type 2, how does the Green Smoothie Girl proteins affect it?

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