Research on green smoothies: do you get sick less?
In my research I report on in detail, in The Green Smoothies Diet, I asked 175 regular green smoothie drinkers what health benefits they achieved. Because to participate, you had to be in the habit for only 30 days or less, I had one issue I wanted to explore that I wasn’t able to.
So I have a question for you now. This isn’t particularly scientific, but I would like to know from those of you who have gone through a winter with your green smoothie habit:
Aside from any initial “cleansing reaction” (diarrhea, headaches, etc. are experienced by 18.5% in my study, for up to 2 weeks after beginning a very healthy new habit) . . .
Did you notice getting sick less after beginning to drink green smoothies regularly?
I would like to hear about your experience here, if you’ve been down the path for a while. That is one of the greatest benefits for me and my family: before massively increasing our greens consumption, we used to get sick, and now we don’t.
Please tell us your experience.
Posted in: Green Smoothies
Sick so much less often.
YES!!! I seriously hardly ever get sick! I have only been sick once in the past few months that I can remember (and I’m 8 months pregnant), that was a one night thing that probably involved food poisoning. Whenever I go visit my family in Utah I always get sick (usually with a cold). On facebook I notice my brother gets sick all the time (he writes it in his status). Last time I visited he was trying to tell me how lame I was for cutting my meat consumption to nearly non-existent. He’s in the “trying to get huge” stage of life. I sent him some pictures of vegetarian bodybuilders but he is just too smart for his own good, I guess. I’ve been sending my parents the books that I’ve been reading from the list you recommended and they are making more changes. But unfortunately my siblings are still pretty unhealthy and don’t care about it.
Speaking of being sick, my younger sister (20 yo) was feeling really sick this past week and so she went to the doctor who did an x-ray and he told her she was full of poop! She said she hadn’t remembered going to the bathroom in a long time. (MAKES SENSE!!!)
My mom has been making green smoothies regularly now for several months but my siblings only like eating junk food. I guess they reap what they sow!
When baby comes, he is getting 2 things: breast milk and green smoothies! By the way, I just harvested some (a lot) of collard greens from my garden (in a place where I thought I planted broccoli). I know you store your greens up in the winter. How do I do that? Do I just get freezer bags?
I work with first graders who seem to carry every transmittable disease known to man. The first year I worked in the classroom I was sick constantly. Last year, after being on green smoothies for several months before school started, I was not sick once. Not once. This year swine flu is running rampant through our school and I still have not been ill at all. I have been drinking about a quart and a half of green smoothie every day for almost 2 years. Love it!
Marti :o)
Although we’ve only been on green smoothies for only a couple of months, I can testify to the fact that eating a diet full of natural vegetables and fruit leads to better health. My husband used to have asthma and tons of allergies, plus he was diagnosed with cancer. We originally went on The pHmiracle diet. Within a month he lost 40 pounds, stopped using most of his 7+ medications, and was asthma-free. His 2-or-3-times-a-year bronchitis went to a once-a-year cold. It has truly been a miracle in our lives. Oh, and his cancer has gone into hiding!! We are now eating a diet closer to yours and he has found a tremendous benefit from eating the green smoothies! Like I have said before, if we had been eating this way before, the problems would never have been there!! Keep up your great work!!
I have been eating raw foods for two years now. I drink 1-2 quarts of green smoothie nearly daily. Before going raw I had interstitial cystitis and fibromyalgia. Seasonal allergies were a constant, I got bronchitis 2x/year without fail. I would also get various 24-48 hour viruses. I’d get 2-4 UTIs/year as well. Since being raw/drinking smoothies – NOTHING, NADA, ZILCH, ZERO. I haven’t had a symptom, a sniffle,even an inkling of illness.
I am the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been. People ask me all the time what my secret is. When I tell them, they almost seem disappointed. I think they’d rather I’d told them about some “magic pill”. Oh, if they’d only try green nirvana – just for a little while!
H1N1 is a virus not a bacteria.
Sorry to write again, but I forgot to mention that I no longer have seasonal allergies since drinking green smoothies. I have had extremely horrible spring/summer/fall allergies since I was about 12 (40 now) and have been on many kinds of allergy medications. This past summer I thought I would just see what happened if I did not take any pills and I didn’t have a single flare up. It was amazing.
I also seem to heal faster from the odd cut or scrape.
Marti :o)
Yes, right–try to avoid injecting yourself with bacteria OR viruses. 🙂 Thanks for the snag.
I do not get sick less, I’ve been doing green smoothies for a year and a half. Typically, I drink two cups a day, not as much as I should. I’m also pregnant, so I am catching everything now!!! 🙁
I don’t get sick much in general. But I had sinus congestion and a runny nose very often. I would go through at least a box of tissues a week and if it was a bad day I could go through a box a day. I kept cough drops in a container by my bed and in my purse. The mucus, congestion and coughing is all gone.
I was able to drink 32 oz of green drink from the first day and did so for 6 weeks. When it became harder to get them down. I still drink green smoothies but not every day.
I started 3 months ago.
Just wanted to say thanks Crystal for your post. Sometimes I like to hear that stuff as well. I love the testimonials about how awesome people’s health has become with whole food/raw/green smoothies but it’s good to hear the flip side too.
My whole family (5 children and husband) has been hit with the Swine Flu this week. I’m the last one standing. We’re in transition with our diet as a family, but I’m personally fully on board with green smoothies daily and eating as much fresh fruit and veggies as possible, mostly whole grains, very little unrefined sugar and no processed food. I’m wondering how long I’ll hold out, and if I get to avoid it altogether!
After 2 1/2 years of drinking Green Smoothies daily, (I’m up to a quart a day, now) I’m am medicine free, happy and healthy, I haven’t been sick since ’06. I used to get colds and the flu’s several times a year. I used to be diabetic, (shooting up insulin 4 times a day), suffered from heart disease, high cholesterol, eczema, seasonal and food allergies, along with many other illnesses I can’t remember. Oh… I had a couple of strokes that left me paralyzed on my left side. Now I am back to work, driving again and living my life much better than before. Oh… and I’ve lost 85 pounds as a side benefit. Woohoo!
LuAnn, WOW, congratulations!
Tricia, please let us know how your family comes through H1N1, and I’m so sorry you’re going through that. At least you’re healthy to be the mom/nursemaid–that’s a blessing.
Green Smoothies are a HUGE help! I was able to avoid my annual summer cold and the back to school cold! I did however, get the H1N1… I work around school kids and was really pushing one week with too many hours and not enough sleep! I bounced back quickly though and attribute it all to Green Smoothies and a high raw diet!