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Back from Africa: Green Smoothies, Detox, and Dr. Oz


Robyn Openshaw - Jan 09, 2011 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


I’m just back after 2 weeks in Africa, perhaps the most amazing trip of my life. I’ll show-n-tell about it this week. Meantime, I’m getting a late start on our detox, but I’m on it! Are you? I’m doing half a gallon of green smoothies daily, and 100% raw, for the rest of January.

 

Someone ran up to me in the airport waving a magazine she’d bought at a newsstand: For Women First. The weight-loss section (wouldn’t be a women’s magazine without that, would it?) has an article on Dr. Oz’s “#1 Fat Cure.”

It says, “Dr. Oz’s humble blend of cucumbers, apples and leafy greens has ignited a trend that’s got women surfing to sites like GreenSmoothieGirl.com in droves.”

Fun stuff. I was glad when Dr. Oz started promoting green smoothies. Specifically he quotes the following benefits.

Blending breaks apart plant-cell walls better than “even the most persistent chewing could, which gives green drinks an intestinal absorption edge that food-form produce can’t match.”

One GS enthusiast in Ohio said she lost 19 lbs. and gained lots of energy in just a few days. But her periods and PMS were less severe too. (Note from Robyn: I have virtually no PMS, though I had terrible cramps and mood swings in my 20’s.)

Chlorophyll, the plant pigment concentrated in greens, binds to mycotoxins, acidic waste products made by fungi and yeast, to block these toxins from entering the bloodstream. That makes green drinks “life changing” for the 70 percent of American women who have an overgrowth of candida albicans yeast. That overgrowth leads to persistent fatigue, chronic sinusitis, allergies, carb cravings, and yeast infections, among other things.

The writer talks about how three-quarters of women are depleted of enzymes by age 35. (Note from Robyn: men too! This is just a magazine for women.) Nutritionist Michelle Schoffro Cook explains that digestive enzymes produced by liver and pancreas are needed to break down food and absorb nutrients. Some of them assist in breaking down and burning fat. But cooked foods can’t supply enzymes. Green and fruits are chock-full of enzymes that reduce the workload on liver and pancreas, “allowing them to focus on their metabolic tasks like fat burning and energy production.”

Magnesium prevents fat storage, and 80 percent of American women don’t get the magnesium they need from their diets, according to Carolyn Dean, M.D: “When magnesium is low, cells don’t recognize insulin and glucose builds up in the blood–and gets stored as fat instead of being burned as fuel.”

“Magnesium in supplements is packaged in particles too large for the body to fully absorb, reducing its bio-availability down to about 4 to 15 percent,” said Dr. Dean. “Green plants take up the mineral from the soil via tiny rootlets, making their magnesium particles much, much smaller.” That means more than 90 percent is delivered in the form of energy to you!

I love that the mainstream is starting to talk about enzymes.

Posted in: Green Smoothies, Healthy Weight, Whole Food

7 thoughts on “Back from Africa: Green Smoothies, Detox, and Dr. Oz”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Robyn,

    There is a sweet older lady that I go to church with, and she and her dear husband get up almost EVERY morning at the crack of dawn (literally) to go and pick up food from grocery stores that is about to expire, so it doesn’t go to waste, and so they can deliver it to those who may need a little extra! I happened to be at someones house when they delivered and they offered some to me! She opened the back of her car to reveal a PLETHORA of greens and veggies and asked if I would like some! I of course said yes (visions of all the green smoothies I could come up with dancing in my head) and she has been coming to MY house ever since because she has a hard time “dumping the greens’!! NOBODY wants (wanted) them!! So after a few deliveries to me, I felt like I needed to tell her what I was doing with them and now she and her husband are hooked!! Not ONLY that, BUT………she has told everyone on her route how to use them!!! Now there are a TON of folks around these parts who are “GOING GREENS”!! LOL She has told her chiropractor and he was telling his wife about it and………………………….well, needless to say, we have a small “green smoothie revolution” happening in these parts, all because of you and your passion for wellness, and a precious woman who loves others much more than herself!!! Thank you Robyn for giving us the gift of knowledge, and with it enabling us to help others! Life is good………..

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Stephanie, what a great story. Thanks for sharing it! I’m feeling thankful for that beautiful lady myself, today! Tell her somebody named GreenSmoothieGirl says God bless you!

    2. cynthia ross says:

      And that was the beginning of GSG ❤️

  2. Robyn, I hope you’ll be willing to share with us a bit about your detox experiences as well as a few ideas on raw meals for those of us who can only be with in spirit as our budgets right now are overloaded. Thanks.

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Patti, will do! Watch the blog.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I just returned from a breakfast meeting with a business associate/friend and went online to find more about the green drink she told me about from an article by Dr. Oz in the First for Women 1/10/11 issue (This was what led me to your blog.). I had shared with her my story about getting Diabetes Type 1 in my 50’s ( which is rare) and was told it was due to the extreme stress from work, financial issues and other things going on in my family. I told her that I have not gotten it under good control and have many hypoglycemic and hperglycemic episodes daily, keeping my A1C over 7.5 (which is not great control). I eat relatively healthy and start each day with a mix of fresh berries, plain yogurt and almond milk drink. I Limit my carbs and eat fish and chicken with fresh organic fruits and vegetables. I do a lot of business meetings where i eat in retaurants and don’t always eat as well as I should.

    My friend’s husband has been battling stage 4 cancer for the past 6 months and now that he is done with a very aggresive radiation and chemo treatment, she and he are adding this green drink to replace breakfast each day to improve their health after reading the article. I was inspired by her enhusiasm and the potential for it helping my blood sugars. My plan is to begin drinking this green alternative to the fruit smoothie. I realize I need to take more control of my health and not leave it to the doctors who use the insulin and carb counting as the main method of attack. Even the American Diabetes Association and the nutritionists who work with the endocrinologists I have seen recommend a diet of complex carbohydrates (like brown rice, beans and whole wheat), lean protein and mix of fruits and vegetables with good fats (like olive oil) at each meal.

    Many years ago when my three kids were young (they are all now in their 20’s) I had bought a juicer and was having my whole family drink both fruit and vegetable drinks every day (My youngest daughter had acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 5 (and was on chemotherapy for 3 1/2 years) and I was trying to improve all of our health through good nutrition and exercise.

    Now many years later, I realize that I was on the right track, but let the inconveience andcost of buying large quantities of fresh veggie, time commitment of juicing with the resistance of my family to not eating “regular food”, cause me to lapse back into old patterns.

    I am interested in learning more about the benefits and effects of this green drink on my blood sugar levels and ability to have better weight control (the insulin I take at meals and another type of insulin at bedtime make it diffcult to keep weight off or lose weight) and will do more research. After I start drinking it every day I will follow up with you and let yo know what improvments I have after several weeks time.

    Please let me know more about your story andthe way you got to be “the green smoothie girl”.

    Thanks,

    Elizabeth

  4. Rebecca Oliver says:

    A decade plus after this post and I am reading it on day 21 of my 26 day detox. Feeling super grateful for having all this information at my fingertips to digest and share with loved ones in hope of encouraging them to their best life❤️

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