Day 14.....too many green smoothies?

Day 14....and more greens

I had a massage yesterday and I feel like a new person.  To all of my Madison, WI area friends....go to Sacred Rhythms and get a massage.  It's the best thing ever.

I got this greens dish yesterday at Whole Foods that was a bunch of different greens cooked in coconut milk and olive oil.  It was one of the best greens dishes I have ever eaten!  OMG, the greens were perfect - not too mushy and not too crunchy - and the flavor that the coconut milk gave them was divine.  I'm going to have to play around at home and see if I can recreate them.

Yesterday there was quite the conversation on Facebook about green smoothies and if too many of them are good for you.  Greens have oxalic acid which is what gives them their sort of bitter taste.  Some greens, like chard and spinach, have so much oxalic acid that it interferes with calcium absorption.  So, even though greens have a lot of calcium, the oxalic acid doesn't allow the body to absorb it. (http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400344/Avoid-Vegetables-with-Oxalic-Acid.html)

When cooked, the oxalic acid breaks down and allows the absorption of calcium from other foods.  So, greens are great when cooked.  Also, when cooked with good fats, the body can absorb all of the other wonderful minerals and vitamins in greens.  However, the body cannot readily absorb the good stuff when the greens are raw. (http://holisticsquid.com/are-green-smoothies-good-for-you/).

The question is...can one drink too many green smoothies?  My answer would be yes.  I don't think these 30 days of drinking them are going to really hurt me, and I do eat other greens which I always cook with either bacon or olive oil.  I have never been a huge fan of raw greens, and after this month, I won't be having a green smoothie every day for sure.

This information just reminds me that any diet needs to be varied and that our bodies need fats.  This whole low fat/no fat thing has probably caused more damage to our bodies than any other fad.  Not only do the low fat/no fat products contain all kinds of weird ingredients that we wouldn't give our dogs, we need fats in our diets to be able to absorb all of the vitamins and minerals that make us work and heal and grow and move.

I am off to cut the grass now.  Hahahaha...wonder how grass would be in a green smoothie?