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Green smoothies are all the rage these days. Many people are drinking them every day or at least several times a week in an attempt to get healthy and “alkalize” the body.
Whenever I visit the cafe of my local healthfood store, there are usually several people in gym clothes lined up to order a green smoothie to sip after their workout.
Green smoothies are made by blending large amounts of raw leafy green vegetables with fruit to soften and sweeten the taste. Typical vegetables included in green smoothies are cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli, collard greens, maca (usually as a supplemental powder) as well as others like spinach, swiss chard, celery, and parsley.
Is the green smoothie fad a truly healthy habit over the long term? Or, could regular consumption of these seemingly healthy drinks contribute to serious health problems over time?
Raw Leafy Greens Contain High Oxalate Levels
Frequent consumption of large quantities of raw, leafy green vegetables blended up as green smoothies can be deceiving at first. This is because green drinks facilitate an initial detoxification process that makes a person feel great. This is especially true when coming off a highly processed, nutrient poor diet.
While very nutritious, the vegetables used in green smoothies are almost without exception high oxalate foods. Over time, a high oxalate diet can contribute to some very serious health problems particularly if you are one of the 20% of people (1 in 5) that have a genetic tendency to produce oxalates or if you suffer from candida or other fungal challenge. In those cases, a high oxalate diet can deal a devastating blow to health.
Oxalate Toxicity Not a New Problem
The effects of oxalate toxicity have plagued humankind since ancient times. For example, scientists discovered an oxalate kidney stone about the size of a golf ball in a 2000 year old mummy from Chile using x-ray analysis.
Build-up of shards of oxalate crystals can occur almost anywhere in the body. Whatever tissue contains them, pain or worse is the result.
75-90% of kidney stones are oxalate related with 10-15% of Americans afflicted at some point during their lives. As the star shaped crystalline stones pass from the kidney, they cause pressure and pain in the bladder and urethra and can actually tear up the walls of the urinary tract.
Oxalate Stones from Excessive Green Smoothies
Oxalate stones can show up in any body tissue including the brain and even the heart.
Crystals comprised of oxalates resemble shards of glass. They can become lodged in the heart causing tiny tears and damage to this vital muscle. With every single contraction, more damage is caused as the heart pumps life giving blood to the rest of the body.
Oxalate crystals which end up in the thyroid can cause thyroid disease by damaging thyroid tissue.
A frequent location for oxalates to end up is skeletal muscle which will cause pain with even normal movement and make exercise nearly impossible. Dr. William Shaw, Director of The Great Plains Laboratory for Health, Nutrition and Metabolism who has studied oxalates extensively, is convinced that oxalate toxicity is a factor in fibromyalgia the pain of which can absolutely devastate a person’s life (1).
Vulvodynia – Painful Sex
Cases of women experiencing painful sex are on the rise with oxalates a possible culprit.
Vulvodynia is a condition causing pain in and around the vagina. It is linked to oxalates deposited in this delicate reproductive tissue. Oxalate crystals are very acidic and they cause irritation, burning, and stinging sensations for affected women. An accompanying feeling of rawness is typically experienced during sexual relations.
Oxalates Are Fungal in Origin
A surprising finding is that oxalates are produced in large amounts by fungus. Large stones have been found in the sinuses and lungs of people suffering from systemic fungal infections such as candida or Aspergillus.
Therefore, anyone who suffers from any sort of candida overgrowth or other fungal challenge like fungus nails or dandruff would be wise to be very concerned about oxalate intake via the diet.
Consumption of green smoothies would not in any way contribute to improvement of health in these situations. The majority of people today suffer from gut imbalance and candida (yeast) issues caused by antibiotic and prescription drug use including the Pill. This renders a high oxalate diet which includes frequent green smoothies an unwise practice for virtually everyone.
Does Cooking Destroy Oxalates?
What about cooking the greens first? Would this reduce the risk of oxalate overload and make consuming greens safer?
Not really, because oxalates are extremely stable. While cooking high oxalate foods and discarding the cooking water does reduce the level of anti-nutrients, it remains quite high.
Green smoothies are usually consumed frequently by those who swear by them. As such, a light steaming of the veggies first would not make a significant difference over the long term if they are consumed regularly. If you consume green smoothies only occasionally, however, a light steaming is a good idea. This practice adds a degree of safety to the process. Other tips for preparing safe smoothies are contained in this linked article.
Healthier Alternatives to Green Smoothies
The best course of action for health, then, is to opt out of the green smoothie diet fad. This is especially important if you have any sort of gut imbalance or candida issues.
If you enjoy green leafy vegetables, be smart about it. Don’t overdo like so many in the health community are doing with the best of intentions. Enjoy green drinks in moderation in salads. Or, cook them and carefully drain and discard leafy green cooking water. Never use it in soups and sauces!
Be sure to serve cooked leafy greens with a healthy fats like butter or coconut oil. Avoid margarine or any factory fats synthesized with rancid and/or GMO vegetable oils like Smart Balance. Using natural fats will facilitate maximum absorption of minerals.
Another option is to drink raw cultured vegetable juice or eat raw cultured vegetables. Not only will you get enhanced nutrition from the culturing process which adds enzymes and nutrients, but you will also get a beneficial and therapeutic dose of probiotics to help balance gut function and improve digestion. It also suppresses fungal overgrowth like candida.
Wheatgrass an Excellent Alternative!
Another option is to do shots of fresh, green wheatgrass juice.
Wheatgrass juice is very low in oxalic acid.
Here is a link to my favorite green juice recipe using wheatgrass and ginger. It is safe to drink regularly, daily if you like, instead of green smoothies. It is also an excellent drink for gently detoxing before pregnancy. The ginger assists with morning sickness issues too if you are already pregnant.
What to do if a Green Smoothie Diet Has Already Harmed Your Health
Are you already are suffering from some of the ailments described in this article? Do you suspect a high oxalate diet which includes green smoothies or a daily spinach salad may be the cause? If so, stop this practice immediately and consult with a holistic physician. You will likely need professional assistance to guide you on the road to recovery. Ridding your body of oxalate crystals that are potentially irritating one or more of your body tissues is no simple task! It is not advisable to attempt this protocol on your own.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist, author, Get Your FATS Straight
References and Additional Information
The Role of Oxalates in Autism and Chronic Disorders, William Shaw PhD
Top 4 Cleansing Myths to Watch Out For
Why should he listen to you, he provided 3 articles and you refused to even glance at them.
Never constrict yourself to a biased doctrine that refuses to ever stand corrected — despite all the evidence of bunk studies ignoring the grains, starches, and sugars consumed with the oils and fats in question, as well as the cooking methods.
What about the constant floods of people curing themselves of the same things you mention, but with oils (in moderation) and quality meat and eggs as well as raw vegetables and some fruit? There are a steady stream of positive results from people with no bias in the world other than that they were unhealthy under doctor’s and dietician’s orders until they started eating that way. If it made them sicker, those people would be up in arms about it — it’s far easier to vent on the internet than it is to type up good experiences, as far as an average citizen with health concerns goes.
People have been combining the value of raw vedge, SOME fruit, and a couple healthy oils and meats in moderation and having the same claims of curing themselves of heart disease and diabetes, and baffling their doctors. I’m not trying to convert you, just try not to box yourself in to a doctrine that may have bias since there are conflicting studies constantly being published.
I can point you to studies proving the effect too much fresh fruit fructose has on the liver almost immediately, (despite any fiber buffer present) but that would be ignored too.
In recent news, they found arterial blockage in mummies – something that might back up your stance a bit more than mine.
All oil has saturated fat, a know killer….keep using oil if you like
Ken,
That’s just not true – have you heard of mono-unsaturated fatty acids and poly-unsaturated fatty acids? In fact, a defining property of oil – liquid at room temperature, is BECAUSE it isn’t saturated. So, not sure what you are trying to accomplish with your post, but it is just completely wrong.
@Ken
More unwarranted fat phobia. The issue in The United States as well as many other countries with large rates of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic health conditions is processed foods and sugar. A whole foods diet of unprocessed foods including meats does not promote inflammation except as described below in regards to some small subset of people who don’t deal with animal fats well.
Fat is only a an issue regarding cancer when the wrong fats are consumed. Inflammation is at the root of cancer and many other chronic conditions. An ideal Omega 3/6 ratio is one of the more important issues. That ratio is around 1:4 3/6 to 1:1.
One of the major reasons cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions are on the rise is that people are eating too many Omega 6 oils in processed foods. People have a range of ratios from 1:20 to 1:200 depending on how much processed junk food with Omega 6 oils they eat. Omega 6 fats are not bad but when they aren’t balanced with Omega 3s it leads to inflammation.
Much of it is vegetable, corn, and soy oil. They are PUFAs that end up getting oxidized in the process of making the processed foods and makes them even worse. Further hydrogenation of oils creates trans fats that are even worse than Omega 6s out of balance.
Saturated fat is good for us as long as its not paired with large amounts of carbohydrates as in junk food. Candy, hamburgers, hotdogs etc.. Many of the “high fat foods” are also high in carbohydrates and there in lies the problem.
They drive blood sugar and insulin up and lead to inflammation.
e-saturated-fat-and-cholesterol-are-bad-for-us
http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-chol esterol-part-i
http://www.askthelowcarbexperts.com/2013/01/35-dr-steven-gun dry-high-fat-diets-good-vs-bad/
There are some people who may want to avoid animal foods besides fish because they may promote inflammation. These people should only get saturated fat from coconut oil and other vegetable sources.
Its about 20% of people and can be determined by an ApoE gene typing test as detailed in the Gundry podcast.
@johnathan.
I never said fat!!!! Where did you get that from, read Dr Caldwell Esselstyn study how they reversed heart disease, everything else is BS…we know what cause heart disease, why keep putting fuel on the fire? 500,000 people will die from heart Disease and another insane amount will suffer. they have a study about the so called good oil, olive Oil, it still promotes plaque. people have cured themselves from diabetis from going all plant. It works, you may not believe it. they did tests on after just 1 meal of meat your arteries constrict
Funny, The united states has the highest rate of heart disease. If you want to see where they have the lowest, you can find it. It’s where people comsume almost 100% Fruits and vegetables. Its been now proven, if you remove all animals from your diet and oils you can now either stop heart disease and even reverse it. You can also cure diabetes as well
This article was very informative. From it I discovered I have an high oxalate problem. It got me looking at everything else I’m eating and drinking and I discovered that black and green tea is very high in oxalates. That means I Have to stay off of Kombucha, too. I’ve been substituting different kefer drinks in its place, but boy do I miss the kombucha.
source:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/cancerupdate.asp
@Kathy
While I and most of us agree with most of what is posted in that forward, that forward is fraudulent, as Hopkins Univ never published that info, and actually has a warning on their site addressing this fraudulent email that started circulating around 2007.
I agree with the things mentioned, but it makes the whole cause look bad if someone had to flat out lie and be deceptive to get their message out there. There is no need for deception, that all can be helpful, but it’s dangerous to abuse information like that. I can only assume that whoever originally made the false claims knew it would quickly be exposed in hopes to invalidate all the wonderful claims that can indeed be very helpful.
That said, It’s extremely important to put that in perspective. What better way to detract people from truths we don’t want them to know than to discredit and expose as a fraud? Because “who’d take any of it seriously after knowing the context was forged?”. We know better. But we must check out sources.
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (‘TRY’, BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .
Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body.. These cancer
cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a
person’s lifetime.
3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer
cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day
and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc., and can
cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars
and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often
reduce tumor size.
However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9.. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb
to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made
with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute
would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in
color Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus.. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat,
like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
d.. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked
food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw
vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)..
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer
fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or
filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
13.. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By
refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes
to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the
body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy
cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known
to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s
normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.
A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior
be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave..
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Please share this with your whole email list…………………….
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.. Cover food with a paper towel instead.
This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life…
Well an olive is a plant, and so is a coconut.
Olive oil is largely monounsatured (only one double C=C bond).
Coconut oil is largely saturated (no double bonds).
The lack of a double bond means that coconut oil is very stable, even un-refrigerated, and does not degrade over time, or with cooking at fairly high temperatures. It is solid below about 25°C, which means it’s solid at usual UK room temperatures, but is still referred to as an oil, probably because it would be a liquid at room temperature in its usual countries of origin.
Olive oil is somewhat less immune to heat degradation.
Saturated fat is knot a “known killer”. It has been unfairly demonised, partly by vested interests, including the producers of polyunsaturated oils, which are known carcinogens.
As a matter of interest, the fat in beef and other herbivores is a mixture of saturated and mono-unsaturated fat. Quite healthy, especially if the animals are mostly grass-fed.
(Sorry Kathy, that was meant to be a reply to Ken. There was a hiccup in posting).
What I meant to reply to your posting Kathy was that it should have included “No microwaving – ever” (not just no plastic in the microwave).
Thank you for this. My aunt has liver cancer. She’s 86 years old. She is receiving chemo and has lost her hair. Her immune system is also very compromised as a result. Imagine doing this to an 86 year old woman, esp. in a cancer that is always fatal. This is an outrageous criminal act, IMHO. We have advised her to some of this info. that you just published, but to no avail. She comes from the generation that submits to any doctor’s authority. The tumors have not significantly shrunk, but the medical establishment will squeeze every dime they can out of her insurance company. I hope and pray future generations will arise with a new consciousness – one that listens to the individual’s body, mind & spirit, rather than seeing people as $$$ -and nuking people as if they are microwaves
*margarine
I Didn’t realize there was no edit function.
No science that magarine is less healthy than butter, Ryan? The FDA would love you.
Interesting post! I’m sure some of it will be helpful to green smoothie junkies out there. I am a bit worried about your margarine comment, however. There really is no science backing your claim that margarine is less healthy than butter, which also makes me question the science behind your other statements. Are your statements backed by clinical trials or studies?
http://wellnessmama.com/2193/why-you-should-never-eat-vegetable-oil-or-margarine/
http://www.drbriffa.com/2006/09/01/is-margarine-really-better-than-butter/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/01/enjoy-saturated-fats-theyre-good-for-you.aspx
Butter is better…people have been eating butter for quite a long time long before the obesity epidemic and high rates of diabetes.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/01/enjoy-saturated-fats-theyre-good-for-you.aspx