I only eat blended raw greens. My system seems to prefer lighter ones like romaine and red or green leaf lettuce. My issues aside, which greens offer the most nutrition in their raw state?

I don't know, although I've read that romaine is excellent. But I want to stick up for Iceberg Lettuce before it gets trashed as being less nutritious because of the high water content.

I read a while back that truck drivers stop at diners and buy a whole head of Iceberg Lettuce in order to help them stay awake while driving because it contains something or other that's stimulating.

Also, Dr. Norman Walker talks about how Iceberg Lettuce is full of nutrition - just different properties than the usual dark greens. I have his books; I'll try to look it up later.

I make green smoothies every day and I often use Iceberg, Bibb, Boston, those types of head lettuces, because they provide water without a real strong taste that can overpower the smoothie. I use a lot of various greens including Swiss Chard, Beet Greens and Bok Choy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2014 09:45PM by KidRaw.

I also make green smoothies every day and consume a Vita-Mix blender full which I believe is 64 oz. Interesting about Iceberg. I think I'll give it a try. I know that Dr. Wilson, one of the people that PL follows, is not a big fan of the green smoothie. I at least seem to recall reading that. I wonder why.

Found this -

The Iceberg Lettuce Nutrition Myth

[www.raw-food-health.net]

"The Iceberg lettuce nutrition myth is really getting old.

You've probably heard it: Iceberg is the least nutrient-dense cultivar of lettuce available, so you should avoid it and go with romaine lettuce, kale, or some other type of green.

Someone even saw me buying iceberg a few years back and told me, "you might as well be chewing on cardboard."

Besides being blatantly wrong, the iceberg lettuce nutrition myth comes from the same sort of thinking that leads to poor eating habits."

Iceberg Lettuce GrowLet's start off with the idea that iceberg is the slacker of the lettuce kingdom."

**********

"The Iceberg Lettuce Nutrition Myth: Taking A Deeper Look


Iceberg actually leads in two areas: water and sodium. The reason it appears so much lower when we compare by mass is that it's rich in water, meaning that it's lower in calories and there's less room for other nutrients.

This has lead to it being deemed as worthless, but that's hardly the case.

Water is a key nutrient, and one of the reasons a raw food diet works so well. Virtually every bodily function is dependent upon water. Our need for it is so great that losing just one percent of total body weight is considered mild dehydration. At just 5 percent water loss the medical community considers our lives to be at risk. This is a big plus in iceberg's favor.

Sodium is one of the key minerals responsible for the osmotic pressure that allows the movement of fluids and nutrients through our cells' semipermeable membranes. This is how the body mantains electrolyte balance."

When cellular metabolic waste (which happens to be disolved in water - fancy that) is carried out of the cell, its makes the ride hitched to sodium."

and a comment --

[www.thetruckersreport.com]

"Outlaw March 17, 2013 at 3:29 am

One of the best ways to stay awake is to eat lots of iceberg lettuce, especially near the root. A lack of boron causes narcolepsy. The only drawback is you will be unable to sleep until you get it out of your system. Magnesium gives the body stamina and a good source of magnesium is celery. Celery also is a diuretic so keep the bottle handy. If night driving causes you problems you must increase your intake of vitamin A. An easy source for it is a raw carrot. Walk a little (minimum of 30 minutes) daily. Coffee and cigarettes are a major source of problems in the health of a long haul trucker so if you can cut back or wean yourself you might be around for a long time. There is one thing that I learned to do before trucking and I consider it crucial to a successful and happy life; TITHE!"

Great info. I'm going to add Iceberg back in.

I've been having a green smoothie issue the last couple weeks. For a few days last week after drinking it, I felt nauseous. I add quite a few herbs and superfoods to it - bee pollen, hemp seeds, pine pollen, rice tocotrienols, chlorella, a tea herb, one or two other powdered herbs - and half a banana, a cup of sprouts, greens, a vegetable, a root vegetable, coconut or coconut water, and fresh juiced beets, apples and carrots. A super green smoothie.

So through the process of elimination over a few days I found out that Holy Basil - about a half teaspoon - was making me nauseous. I don't know why it would have that effect. And now for the last few days, there's some other taste in it that's turning me off - I think it's the Rhodiola Crenulata.

[www.shamanshackherbs.com]

Time to stop that one now. I'm starting to realize that if you put too much in your green smoothie, it's too much.

I used to do a super smoothie with tons of ingredients but eventually went back to the basics because they didn't sit well with me. Today mine included green leaf lettuce, romaine, celery, pineapple, one banana, one orange, blueberries, ginger, cinnamon, and local organic apple cider. It was delicious.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2014 03:18AM by HH.

That apple cider sounds yummy! I tend to put more vegetables in my smoothie and only enough fruit to make it taste OK, but then sometimes it's not so good. Yesterday my smoothie was spicy and I felt icky after drinking it and I realized it was from the broccoli sprouts I had put in. I finally got a big aloe leaf from Whole Foods and started putting about an inch of it my smoothies, so I'm expecting big health benefits from that Also been putting in a half teaspoon of pine pollen, but who knows if it's doing anything for me or not.

I should mention that the cider is also non-pasteurized. It is really good.

Today my smoothie ended up way thick and fluffy and I think it must have been the aloe vera gel because I had put in a bigger piece - about an inch square. So that gives me an idea to do an experiment. I want to try using aloe vera gel added to the soaked cashews, banana and blueberries to make the yummy raw pudding I've been enjoying lately. The aloe vera will make it more like mousse - or is that mouse



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2014 03:50AM by KidRaw.

Haha. Sounds good!

KidRaw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Today my smoothie ended up way thick and fluffy
> and I think it must have been the aloe vera gel
> because I had put in a bigger piece - about an
> inch square. So that gives me an idea to do an
> experiment. I want to try using aloe vera gel
> added to the soaked cashews, banana and
> blueberries to make the yummy raw pudding I've
> been enjoying lately. The aloe vera will make it
> more like mousse - or is that mouse

hey, just discovered this thread... your aloe-experiment sounds interesting! So, any news on the mousse?



KidRaw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Today my smoothie ended up way thick and fluffy
> and I think it must have been the aloe vera gel
> because I had put in a bigger piece - about an
> inch square. So that gives me an idea to do an
> experiment. I want to try using aloe vera gel
> added to the soaked cashews, banana and
> blueberries to make the yummy raw pudding I've
> been enjoying lately. The aloe vera will make it
> more like mousse - or is that mouse

Hey, thanks for asking, aprilster. I never did try the aloe vera in the pudding because I determined the reason my smoothie was so thick was because I had put in extra banana and carrot. But I did end up adding melted coconut oil into the pudding and putting it in the refrigerator and it was definitely a mousse consistency. Made with soaked cashews mixed in the blender with grapes and blueberries as a sweetener. Then add about a teaspoon of melted coconut oil and put it in the refrigerator. After it sets, you can add crushed nuts, banana slices or other fruit, broken up raw brownies if you eat chocolate - it's good!

The latest ingredient I've been putting in my smoothie is cilantro. It's supposed to be good for getting rid of metals in your body and it tastes good, too, if you don't put in too much.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2014 10:22PM by KidRaw.

But does not high speed blending destroy nutrients?

Hi RawPracticalist,

Yes, I've heard that it changes the molecular structure or something or other, but for me the benefits outweigh the negatives. I make mine with loads of vegetables that I wouldn't eat otherwise or I wouldn't eat that amount of vegetables. Plus I feel that when it's blended, I might digest it better, because I'm not the greatest chewer. In my smoothie today, I had coconut water, hemp seeds, pine pollen, bee pollen, rhodiola root, tocotrienols, pumpkin seed butter, dried mulberries, half a banana, clover sprouts, carrots, radicchio, endive, bok choy, cilantro. I never would have eaten all those vegetables today if I hadn't blended them. I would like to be more pure in my RFD, but right now, the blended smoothies work for me.