Cures for cancer and the common cold!?

I watched the movie, A Beautiful Truth, recently (have you seen it? you should...). It is the story of a doctor named Max Gerson who found a cure for cancer: diet! Imagine that.

Here's a picture/link to it on amazon.com:


The movie also highlights some other natural health remedies, one of which is hydrogen peroxide. Apparently hydrogen peroxide can cure the common cold! And it can be used as a nontoxic cleaning solution (with vinegar) that gets rid of dangerous germs like Salmonella and E. coli better than conventional cleaning solutions you buy at the store! Here is a video where I talk about some of this stuff....

Take the Green Smoothie 30 Day Challenge!

When I was home (in Michigan) for Christmas, my brother told me about this new thing he's been eating: green smoothies.

What is a green smoothie? It is basically a regular (fruit) smoothie with "greens" - i.e. spinach, kale, celery, wheatgrass, etc. - added to it. Upon first hearing about this, most people are disgusted by the thought (myself included). But my brother made me one when I was home and I was pleasantly surprised by the delicious taste! They really don't taste any different than a regular, fruit smoothie b/c the fruit masks the taste of the chlorophyll in the greens. It is a fantastic way for people who don't like the taste of things like spinach, kale, celery, wheatgrass, etc. to get the NECESSARY nutrients from these greens/veggies without having to "choke them down."

So, upon hearing of this, my roommates suggested we take the 30 day Green Smoothie Challenge. I am committed to eating at least one green smoothie everyday for the next 30 days.

Here is a link to the book on Amazon.com by Victoria Boutenko in case you might be interested (you can also click on the picture above). It's only 10 bucks and it includes over 200 recipes!

One of the biggest cautions about taking the 30 day green smoothie challenge (if you're not going to read up on it before starting) is to make sure you vary your greens! The reason for this is:

"Green leaves are typically the most nutritious part of a plant, and creatures naturally want to eat them. Plants carry a trace of alkaloids in their leaves to ensure that animals will move on to eat other green plants and will not exterminate any one species. Although alkaloids are poisonous in large quantities, in small quantities they cannot hurt you, and even strengthen the immune system. The science of homeopathy is based on this principle. However, if you keep consuming kale, or spinach, or any other single green for many weeks without rotation, eventually the same type of alkaloids can accumulate in your body and cause unwanted symptoms of poisoning. Most greens contain different kinds of alkaloids, which is why, by rotating the variety of greens in our smoothies, we can avoid poisoning and strengthen our immunity."

Victoria, the author of the book, discovered this when she ate kale for 3 months straight and her face started to go numb!! (wouldn't be my choice to find this out this way...)

So here is a summary of a few rules of thumb in case you want to join in on the 30 day green smoothie revolution:

1. Rotate/vary your greens! (see above quote for explanation)
2. Sip your green smoothie slowly, mixing it with saliva for better absorption.
3. Don't add anything to your smoothie except greens, fruit, and water. Other things can slow down the assimilation of smoothies in your digestive tract and may cause irritation and gas.
4. Drink your smoothie by itself, and not as part of a meal. You can eat anything you want approximately 40 minutes before or after your smoothie.
5. Do not add starchy vegetables such as carrots, beets, broccoli stems, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, pumpkin, squash, okra, peas, corn, and green beans to your green smoothies. They combine poorly with fruit and cause gas.
6. Don't add too many ingredients to one smoothie, such as 4 different fruits and 6 different greens. To keep things easy on your digestive system, try to keep most of your recipes simple to maximize nutritional benefits.
7. Learn to prepare a really delicious green smoothie so that you are always looking forward to the next one.
8. Choose organic produce whenever possible. The absence of pesticides and other toxic chemicals is only one of the many benefits of organic food. The most important reason to consume organic food is the superiour nutrition of organic fruits and vegetables in comparison to conventionally grown produce.

Got it? Let's get started! :)