What are the long term health implications of eating green smoothies with a 60 - 40 mix of fruit and greens as the raw food fanatic are advocating? At the end of the day, this diet is 60 percent fruit with all the sugar. Now we are told juice is bad for you but is fruit and all its sugar better?

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I think if you balance out the natural sugers with fresh veggies, you'll be fine. Fruitarian1 eats all fruit, so the natural sugars can't be all bad for us.

If you're calling Victoria Boutenko a fanatic I would hasten to disagree. I'd recommend you read her book. I am assuming that you have not read her book because otherwise you would not think she was coming from a place of being wacky.

I've been doing the green smoothies to great benefit. I had a mental block against them for a very long time -- from before Boutenko's book GREEN FOR LIFE. Anytime someone suggested blending greens with fruit it just sounded ick to me.

I was wrong. I LOVE them and they seem to be taking away my cravings for junk foods as well.

I read GREEN FOR LIFE of Victoria Boutenko and I agree that blending green is very healthy but we have to pause and ask ourselves if a diet of 60 percent fruit is good for you in the long run.
Just because we want the smoothies more palatable, we need to add more fruit, that is a bad approach.
To me there were two giants of living food movement in the last century, Dr Norman Walker and Ann Wigmore. Walker introduced juicing and colon cleansing to the world and Wigmore introduced wheatgrass, sprouts and blending to the world. They had a scientific approach to all of this. I have also to agree that Boutenko provided scientific research and experiment in her book green for life but advocating 60 percent fruit to greens is not healthy in the long run. Ann Wigmore who introduced blending never said that because it is not good for you. We have to find other ways to make the smoothies more palatable without fruit. I make smoothies daily using sprouts, sunflower greens, green peas greens grown indoor but I use a little bit of sea salt, seaweads and other ingredients to make it eatable without that avanlache of fruit.

This is my take:

If you are just recently transitioning from the S.A.D. then too much fruit might not be a great idea. All the microforms and yeastie beasties like it even more than we do. After we get ourselves clean and have kept ourselves clean for some time, then fruit and their natural sugars are said to be very strengthening to our bodies.

Having said this I did once follow the principles set out in the Diamonds' book "Fit for Life" for several years and ate tons of fruit in the morning as a rule. I felt terrific during this time. But that was then. Now, several years later, I come to raw, cleansing diets with symptoms of over-acidity in my body and choose to keep fruit to a minimum most of the time.

My rule of thumb is this: Let your body dictate your nutritional philosophy and not the other way around.

At this point in my transition I moderate fruit. In smoothies or juices I use fruit as flavoring and in very small amounts and focus more on green leafy veggies and other vegetables. Most vegetables, if not all, contain a subtle sweetness to them that after awhile you begin to detect and enjoy.

I've noticed in my experience that what tastes a bit strange or even icky at first, if my body likes it, begins to taste better and better...even to the point that I begin to crave what at first I had to "hold my nose" to drink.


peace,

~K

Very neat, thanks for the lines

i usually put afew spoons of seeds in my smoothies, for added taste and nutrition.
Is there any reason this is not done by everyone?

The problem with seeds is that they contain enzyme inhibitors so they need to be sprouted first and most times I forget to do that

Our green smoothies are packed with fun ... Avocados, lemon juice, cucumber, cellery, banana pepper,tomato,and some kind of greens,sea salt and fresh pepper to taste. Sometimes we put Zuccinni but sometimes not. If we do fruit we do a fruit smoothie for dessert.

Do you use avocados seed in your smoothies?

raw hemp seeds don't contain any enzyme inhibitors and are beneficial for everyone.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

I am a fruitarian and I have to admit, I don't see harm in mixing a little greens in a smoothie. I drink all sweet fruit juices daily, it is very very good for me.

I mean, just eating alot of greens one has to conver it with heavy dressings that are too salty for me, I dehydrate like that.. and I know it takes long to break down in the stomach..anyways
if you BLEND it up and /or juice greens with your normal fruit juices I think it will be absorbed way easier.

Why would someone want to juice fruit? The fiber in fruit is soft already. Eat your fruit and juice or blend your green. You could add fruit to the smoothies.

Why wouldn't people want to juice fruit, it tastes great!

Ian.