Greem Smoothies Make It Difficult For Me To Breathe

[livenraw]

Can anyone explain why?

The only combination I found that I liked and was able to tolerate was:

2 bananas
strawberries (around 5 extra large)
handful of spinach
purified water to taste

Yet, after drinking this, I had a difficult time breathing. I thought maybe it was just me. So I tried it the next day and the next day and the next day for about a week. Still same results-difficulty breathing.

I'm done with these green smoothies unless someone can pinpoint why this might be happening.

[bodaflower]

Do you have any known allergies to any of the ingredients? My friend is allergic to bananas and she had a sip of my green smoothie the other day and although she thought it tasted good, she said her mouth started to itch after one sip. For some reason it seems to me like bananas could cause a problem with breathing

Other than that I'm not really sure what could be causing your problem

[Lukychrm42]

Not just the bananas, but the strawberries, the spinach, or maybe even the metal in your blender or something else that has touched the smoothie. Also if the ingredients aren't organic, it could be from a pesticide, dye (strawberries!), or such.
Some allergies can cause difficulty breathing. I wouldn't write off green smoothies in toto, but I'd definitely get checked out so that you can be careful.

[amack00]

Strawberries are HUGE allergens. My nephew cannot touch them. Here is the green smoothie from Natalia Rose's book, which I like
6 stalks kale
1 head romaine lettuce
lemon
2 apples
put in a juicer - it tastes like lemonade:o

[Glow Worm]

I also have been experiencing discomfort after drinking green smoothies. Has anyone had stomach cramps? I get them after only a few drinks. I wondered if it was related to the sugar content. Any ideas?

My typical recipe...

20 oz water
3 bananas
1 apple
6 c greens (kale and swiss chard)
1/3 of a large cucumber
1/2 c broccoli
1/4 c raisins
1/4 c sunflower seeds
bee pollen
pinch of salt

[Katelyn]

I also have been experiencing discomfort after drinking green smoothies. Has anyone had stomach cramps? I get them after only a few drinks. I wondered if it was related to the sugar content. Any ideas?

My typical recipe...

20 oz water
3 bananas
1 apple
6 c greens (kale and swiss chard)
1/3 of a large cucumber
1/2 c broccoli
1/4 c raisins
1/4 c sunflower seeds
bee pollen
pinch of salt

I would say... stomach pains could be from:
-the water in the smoothie. Drinking with a meal dilutes stomach acid and makes the stomach have to work harder to digest things.
-the combining of your food. Fruit likes to pass quickly, whereas vegetables take longer. Eating both at the same time can cause the fruit (or both?) to spoil.
-raisins might be more difficult to digest because they are dehydrated
-adding sunflower seeds to the mix will slow digestion down even more, again a problem with having the fruit.

Don't take my word on any of this, because I'm REALLY new to learning about natural hygiene/food combining, but based on that, these reasons might be the cause of your pains.

[Stina]

It's more likely to be a food allergy issue, but there's a chance it could be a dramatic detox sympton.

[rawkchicster]

I would say... stomach pains could be from:
-the water in the smoothie. Drinking with a meal dilutes stomach acid and makes the stomach have to work harder to digest things.
-the combining of your food. Fruit likes to pass quickly, whereas vegetables take longer. Eating both at the same time can cause the fruit (or both?) to spoil.
-raisins might be more difficult to digest because they are dehydrated
-adding sunflower seeds to the mix will slow digestion down even more, again a problem with having the fruit.

Don't take my word on any of this, because I'm REALLY new to learning about natural hygiene/food combining, but based on that, these reasons might be the cause of your pains.

broccoli, does it every time :P

[Green Life]

Just introduce the foods gradually if you see detox/allergy symptoms occur. Eventually, the body will be able to tolerate more and more of the raw, organic, fresh food in question. This, at least worked for me.

I used to get itchy all over as the green smoothies were cleansing my blood and the poisions were leaving my body. It's just a huge detox symptom as far as I can tell, for me, anyway. I used to get itchy eyes, skin, fatigue.
And the way I could tell it was detox is that as soon as I tried to slow detox down by eating some lightly steamed green beans, the detox symptom would suddenly dissappear and I was symptom free (and relieved, LOL).
Hope this helps you!:rolleyes:

[jerseygirl1969]

Are you trying to drink it all at once? I water my smoothie down and put it in a 2.2 liter bottle and drink it all day long. Never any problems.

[GHOST27M]

I also have been experiencing discomfort after drinking green smoothies. Has anyone had stomach cramps? I get them after only a few drinks. I wondered if it was related to the sugar content. Any ideas?

My typical recipe...

20 oz water
3 bananas
1 apple
6 c greens (kale and swiss chard)
1/3 of a large cucumber
1/2 c broccoli
1/4 c raisins
1/4 c sunflower seeds
bee pollen
pinch of salt

I cannot do apples or I get nasty belly pain. also if you sun seeds are sprouted it helps with the digestion .

[Glow Worm]

Thanks for the suggestions.

What really confuses me is that I've been doing this smoothie (give or take a few ingredients) for over a month and all of the sudden I'm having these stomach pains. I've read that with blending, one can combine veggies and fruits, so I didn't think that would be a problem. And I don't know how people have a green smoothie without adding water, I would have to eat mine with a spoon instead of a straw if I didn't add the water. I'll try leaving certain ingredients out and see if that helps.

[livin]

I have been having extreme bloating / discomfort each evening when I have a green smoothie, although I ususally have the GS between 7:30a and 9am. It started with headaches that only went away when I took something for indigestion. I began reducing the variety of fruit I add and finally got down to only pineapple and banana. (Prior to that I tried differenty types of greens.) The headaches stopped, but the bloating continued.
My naturopath suggested I eliminate all fruit and add protein, perhaps superseed (Garden of Life product). The superseed seems to help, but didn't fix the problem. Yesterday and today I eliminated the pineapple and had only a little bloat. Tomorow, I'll try to eliminate the banana, but fear the taste might not be be very pleasant.
I hope this works, because I am otherwise loving the green smoothies and the fact that since starting them 5 weeks ago, I am having more daily BMs and dreaming more. However, if I can't get rid of the bloat, I'm afraid I'll have to give up the GS.