What results will I experience by upping my greens?

[RawSinger]

I'm eating more greens and I'm just wondering what changes I may see/feel?

[Revvell]

Why don't you do it and tell us? Be surprised. :)

[RawSinger]

Okay Revv :)

[Revvell]

LOL You're cute. :)



Okay Revv :)

[RawSinger]

I try. It's a tough job ;)

[Revvell]

LOL

So, where you moving to?

[RawSinger]

Oh because I said my location is the northeast, for now? Well, after I finish my Bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree, I plan on moving to California. That's been one of my dreams for a while. I'm tired of the cold.

[Revvell]

I know the feeling. Moved from Ct. to Ca. when I was 21. Been back to Ct. ummm, 3 times since. 85 degree here today. :D

[Bethanie]

It seems my hair is shiny and it seems to be growing a bit.
I am so excited because it had become so thin and a weak spot wasn't growing no matter what i did with my hair.
Also i use to get jittery when i would lay down at night now i can go to bed and go to sleep with that jittery feeling and my heart stopped racing at night.
I've read that it's great for the nerves.
So come on people what have you all experiened from drinking green drinks?
B.

[Callybop]

Does this include green smoothies? :D

[Arky]

I wouldn't drink a smoothie near to bedtime, because they actually require quite a bit of digestion, despite their liquified consistency, however, I have found that if I drink a mineral-rich green juice before bedtime, I get the most intense dreams and extremely refreshing sleep - it's almost as though my brain is slurping up all the wonderful minerals and trace elements and going about it's various tasks during REM sleep with that much more gusto than it otherwise would. I realise this sounds odd, but it is nonetheless the truth - I've checked it many times since I first noticed the possible connection between my sleep, dreaming, and pre-sleep green juices. However, please note that this doesn't happen with any old green juice - you may have noticed that I said 'mineral-rich' - I've noticed it is most significant if I use wild greens that I've foraged earlier in the day, particularly stinging nettles. The juice you get from wild stinging nettles is just bursting with minerals in a way that shop-bought greens (even organic ones) just cannot match.

I'd be intrigued to hear from any of you who now try this and find similar, different, or no such effects on your sleep.

My skin is also definitely smoother and silkier when I'm regularly consuming high levels of greens, and my muscles are often more relaxed (presumably due to the magnesium content).


J.

[cara4art]

good points by others here! But here's my experience, within only two DAYS of doing green smoothies, and having lots of dark greens at other meals, I noticed a difference in how I feel, and I'm not completely raw yet(maybe 75% right now). On me, I noticed a huge boost in my mood, and the green smoothies in particular are very energizing in a good way. With those, who needs coffee???
I've been on this pattern for about 6-7 weeks now and it just feels great, so no reason to just quit-LOL! My eyes are starting to look a little clearer, and my features are getting a little more defined. I know that on a dietary change sometimes things show on the face before the body, but I also dropped about an inch off my waist, despite only a 2-lb. scale weight loss. Personally I pay more attention to how my pants fit than the scale as the latter ONLY tells you what you weigh at that particular moment and nothing else. I did have a few days last week when I was feeling tired, constipated and like my little post-menopausal belly was putting in a re-appearance, but I am feeling much better right now, plus the pants have gone back to being a bit looser, good sign. Again, since we're all different and works in progress here, your mileage may vary.
Just do it, like Revell says - you won't regret it!

[rawererin]

Definitely decreased cravings, you'll probably feel more hydrated and lighter too, better BM's <--- hate using that, and a general feeling of good

[RawSinger]

OK-sounds like something to look forward to!

[janem]

It is so hard to explain - you will feel "awesome" - rally! I am drinking a gs right now and in the last ten seconds I feel totally energized and am wondering why I don't drink these all of the time and just now eat - they are fabulous!

[cayenne]

*Being more calm and relaxed

*Better sleep

*If you get lazy or careless, you may be overdoing it :D

*Weight gain, may be not short term, but long term

*No more dental problems

There will be more to it.....
Try it and see how you feel, and......let us know :)

[cara4art]

"*Weight gain, may be not short term, but long term" - cayenne

Does this only happen when one is underweight to begin with, or will this be the case for overweight people as well? It seems that many raw people release unneeded weight with this eating pattern, not gain it. Just a thought here.

[Bethanie]

You spoke about "no more dental problems", that's great.
What changes have you seen concerning with your teeth?
What are you juicing?
B.

[cayenne]

"*Weight gain, may be not short term, but long term" - cayenne

Does this only happen when one is underweight to begin with, or will this be the case for overweight people as well? It seems that many raw people release unneeded weight with this eating pattern, not gain it. Just a thought here.

It depends on the ratio calcium/phosphor. This applies to anybody thin or obese. For a thin person, if they want to gain weight, then it would be advisable to combine fats and greens, for optimal utilization of the calcium. However, it can take a while before the body is sufficiently alkalized to be able to retain the fat.

It also applies to people who are overweight. I think this can explain why people who eat lots of fats initially and not much greens, still loose weight, because their diet provides an excess of phosphor.

You can manipulate your diet to make it work for you!

[cayenne]

You spoke about "no more dental problems", that's great.
What changes have you seen concerning with your teeth?
What are you juicing?
B.

Initially we used to get very sensitive teeth, sore gums, inflammation of the gum, and toothaches. probably because of the many fruits plus lots of fatty foods. But I have noticed that with increased intake of greens any tooth problems just vanish.

We don't take as much greens as we should, because of availability etc. We may get 250 gr of greens per day, which is not much, plus green juices (chard with carrot mainly) may be three times a week. Not a good example, I know we need a lot more. On the other hand, we use a lot of wild greens, which count double... And always sesame seeds which supports the greens.

[Pitaya]

i must have been calcium deprived, even though i was taking calcium pills, because just 3 weeks on raw, including a green smoothie every day (just 1-2 cups at first) my nails turned hard and white. teeth are whiter too.

[cara4art]

"It depends on the ratio calcium/phosphor. This applies to anybody thin or obese. For a thin person, if they want to gain weight, then it would be advisable to combine fats and greens, for optimal utilization of the calcium. However, it can take a while before the body is sufficiently alkalized to be able to retain the fat.

It also applies to people who are overweight. I think this can explain why people who eat lots of fats initially and not much greens, still loose weight, because their diet provides an excess of phosphor.

You can manipulate your diet to make it work for you!"

I'm post-menopausal by 10 years, and would like to take OFF those 5-7 pounds that settled onto my tummy, and somewhat upper body. Should I not be eating fats and greens at all, or really reduce fats to a bare minimum, or what? I'm afraid of overdoing it on fruit as well, even though I LOVE fruit! But the green smoothies have made me feel so-o good, as well as having plenty of greens during the day. If I just do my smoothies with no greens in them, I get hungry an hour or two later, while the green ones hold me for at least 4 hours. For fats, I have my tablespoon of flax seed in my green smoothie, and something like one-half of an avo diluted with water and lemon juice as a dressing for my salad. Should I reduce this fat further to go down in weight? I'm working out too, have been for some time. I HAVE lost a couple of pounds since the beginning of February, but close to an inch off the waist which is a big accomplishment. I want another inch or two gone, however, plus a smaller bust up top - I was petite and preferred that - now that top feels just a little too heavy for my liking. I'm used to being small as I have a very petite bone structure at 5'5", and really do feel better at a very light weight of 110(I weigh 115 now).

[cayenne]

cara4art, it is true that greens have a lot of calcium which helps to gain or to retain weight, especially when combined with vit D (sun!), but we can not do without because they are loaded with minerals, phyto-nutritients, etc., they are absolutely essential, so don't compromise on the greens!

It would be wise to keep the fat intake low. But that depends on how and what you are eating too. A lot of fruit should not be a problem when your fat intake is low (10-15% or so of your calories), but greens and variety are still important.

You could add more phosphor residue foods, that would be grains/legumes/nuts and seeds in general. You could add sprouted grains like amaranth or quinoa, or sprouted lentils and things like that, rather than increase on the fats.

What could work for you is the 'anti-estrogenic diet' of Ori Hofmekler. He is not raw, but his diet can be adapted to your liking. Check it out!

[cara4art]

"cara4art, it is true that greens have a lot of calcium which helps to gain or to retain weight, especially when combined with vit D (sun!), but we can not do without because they are loaded with minerals, phyto-nutritients, etc., they are absolutely essential, so don't compromise on the greens!

It would be wise to keep the fat intake low. But that depends on how and what you are eating too. A lot of fruit should not be a problem when your fat intake is low (10-15% or so of your calories), but greens and variety are still important.

You could add more phosphor residue foods, that would be grains/legumes/nuts and seeds in general. You could add sprouted grains like amaranth or quinoa, or sprouted lentils and things like that, rather than increase on the fats.

What could work for you is the 'anti-estrogenic diet' of Ori Hofmekler. He is not raw, but his diet can be adapted to your liking. Check it out!" - Cayenne

Thanks for the info - yes, I've looked into the anti-estrogenic diet and it makes a lot of sense and it seems that it would work even better raw, from all the raw research I've been doing. I happen to LOVE broccoli, cabbages, and collards(I use a collard leaf as a wrapper for my green burritos, for instance, and love to use shredded cabbage anytime I can as well. Broccoli is the only one of these types of veggies that I eat cooked, as my digestion does NOT like raw broccoli yet.
Is the amount of fat that I mentioned in my note too much, or should I eliminate it altogether(meaning the avocado, any nuts at all, AND the flax seeds?) Should I not eat things like flax crackers, as flax is full of fat? I was hoping to not be totally fat-phobic, if possible! If so, this is going to be very hard, as I do get hungry easily with NO added fats in my diet. I'm glad to hear about the sprouted grains and legumes though, as I sprout buckwheat to make my raw granola in the dehydrator, and quinoa as well to make dehydrator flat "breads".

[cayenne]

cara4art, you do need some fats, I don't think you should cut them out all together, especially as they are needed for good bone health, and for absorption of fat soluble vitamins ADEK (check out my blog, there are 2 entries on osteoporosis on http://www.natureshealingsecrets/weblog ). One tablespoon of flaxseed and one half avocado seems more than 10-15&#37;, but probably still acceptable, if that is all you get, and depending on the size of the avocado.

Actually, nuts and seeds are anti-estrogenic, so they are highly recommended for fat loss on the anti-estrogenic diet. It comes with a plan, as far as I understand you alternate high carb and high fat days, and you have to find out which is your best fuel, carbs or fats.

Broccoli and other high sulphur foods are often better tolerated with salt and fats, the fats also help absorption of the nutrients. (not that I recommend salt....)

Another thing, do you know that working out 'before' you have any meals will also boost burning of fat?

[cara4art]

Thanks, Cayenne, again for the good input about fats. Maybe I should drop avocadoes from my diet altogether(hard, as I love them, and especially since I hear about such great fat loss benefits from them!)to get my diet down to less than 10-15% fat? I'm still a little confused here, as you say that nuts and seeds are good for fat loss, but at the same time that I am getting that more than 15% fat in the diet(of any type)is not good? This is going to be tough, and likely I will have to give up my recent dehydrator forays, as they have had fats in them as well. I know that this is not Alyssa's approach, but there are other raw food advocates who recommend a maximum of 10% fat in the diet. If this indeed the case, this IS going to be a bigger adjustment than I thought. But back to the greens thing, should I keep doing my green smoothies and large green salads, only with no added fats in them?

[cayenne]

There is no harm in experimenting a little :) ,after all, whatever you are going to try for one week, 2 weeks, a month, you don't need to do this forever! Why not make some changes and see how you feel and find out what works best for you?

You can try to see if a low fat diet can work for you (not more than 10-15%), but make sure you get enough greens, and calories from other sources to prevent cravings. If it doesn't work, nothing is lost.....

The anti-estrogenic diet is planned in such a way that with a higher intake of fats the body can still burn excess fat. There is a plan there. So it all depends on how you are doing it.

Exercise before your first meal especially will encourage the burning of excess fat.

Whatever you do or try, don't compromise on your greens, you need them if you want to make the raw diet work for you.

It would be good to enter your data at a program like fitday.com, to see where you are at the moment.

[cara4art]

thanks again Cayenne! I am loving the greens so much - in fact, that's the one thing that has really made a difference in the way I feel, as well as having some healthy fats in my diet, so I think I will stay pretty much where I am now with the fats and be moderate with my dehydrator stuff. After all, I HAVE lost an inch off my waist already, so my body fat is going somewhere OFF my body, best to be patient! I realize that this is a lifestyle change, not a "diet" as such. When I do eat fat, other than my 1 T of flax seeds in my green smoothie and hemp protein powder(which I LOVE, btw), it's usually in the form of a couple of "flat-bread" type slices(made from a combo of sprouted buckwheat, flax, veggies and a bit of onion)with the salad dressed with just lemon or lime juice. For that half-avocado that I mentioned(which I don't eat every day), I'll have that as a spread on the flat-breads along with just a big heap of greens and lemon juice. I haven't made any dehydrator desserts other than the simple soaked oat-groat-banana-date cookies, or gotten into eating coconut oil(I just use that on my body as a terrific lubricant!) If I'm not having any flat-breads/crackers with my salad, I'll maybe mix up a teaspoon or two of raw tahini,, water, and lemon juice to dress my salads. If not that, a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
As far as morning exercise - I've tried and tried to do it in the am. but I just feel awful doing it at that time of the day! I'm far stronger, more flexible etc. in the mid afternoon - just the way my body works! I'm one of these folks who has to have something pretty soon after she wakes up, and not eat much at night at all. The latter is difficult since my husband likes to have dinner. I could take it or leave it, myself(and did, pretty much, when I was single!).