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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
Thank you Sarah for an excellent article about the perils of green leafy smoothies. The main thing is to avoid putting any kind of cruciferous vegetables into your smoothies. Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables should be completely avoided from the diet. For the scientific evidence please see my new book which is currently free.
Russell Eaton, author, ‘Don’t Eat Your Broccoli: The Shocking Truth’, broccoli-info.info
Unless someone’s got hypothyroidism or thyroid disorder, I would not be recommending to everyone to cut out broccoli and cruciferous vegetables from their diet. When it comes to health and nutrition, it’s not a one size fits all. Cruciferous vegetables have many benefits. They aid in liver detoxification and are anti-carcinogenic. You would need to be eating kilos of these veggies for them to affect a healthy thyroid. It really worries me when people start to give out advice like what you just did. What qualifications do you have to be given out advice like that?
Cruciferous vegetables like Broccoli Cabbage and Brussell Sprouts are three of the healthiest foods when eaten in moderation. Even for hypo, eating small amounts won’t affect you.
Everything is OK in moderation. Whether it’s drinking a green smoothie or drinking alcohol you need to control yourself!
I am in need of help from drinking a green smoothie at the end of June. Where can I get help?? I became deathly ill after drinking it. I have been to many doctors and now they say I have fibro. I need help!
I would recommend that you see a GAPS Practitioner such as those who work at biodynamicwellness.com in San Diego (they do Skype consults).
Sarah, Thank you. I found your reply again. I will check into it. I went to the Rheumatologist today and they did say I have ffbro. I know 100% it is from the green smoothie. I never had any problems until I drank that. One day I am perfectly fine, the next I can barley walk. I do have all the fibro symptoms but I also have blood vessels busting in my hand and I am swollen like a balloon. Again, for anyone reading this.. I would not play with my life with a green smoothie, it’s not worth it. Just eat your veggies. I do not mind anyone wanting to contact me. I do not get any notice though when I get a reply. Sarah, I just came back to the web site looking to see if I received any reply. I did not get an email. Thank you Sarah for your help.
could i use splenda in with the green smoothies?
Splenda is a dangerous artificial sweetener … it shrivels the thymus gland over time.
Can you provide a source for this claim? I’d like to read more about it. Thanks.
SM, check out this link…however it’s from 2004 and the thymus shrinking was in lab rats.
I think better use agave syrup or pure honey will help instead using low sugar (Splemda). By the way, I’m still using low sugar Sweetlow, not sure if it safe ?
Stevia is a safe 0 cal sweetener that you can use. I use the liquid but you can also purchase powder.
I would stop using Agave Syrup all together. It has been tested and it has been proven to have a higher glycemic index than fructose corn syrup..VERY BAD NEWS for agave.
how many pounds can i lose per week doing the green smoothie only diet and exercise? and how can i get more energy while i am on it?
You probably shouldn’t limit your daily calorie consumption to just green smoothies. Your body needs other nutrients as well; you shouldn’t neglect them and giving up foods you love (yes even the unhealthy ones) is going to drive you crazy. Plus you’ll miss chewing; I promise, I’ve been there.
The safest amount of weight to lose per week at max is usually around 2 lbs and the calorie range is based off of a formula that includes your weight and how many calories you’re burning a day.
I started losing weight this past January at 225 LBS eating 1200-1500 calories a day with no exercise. If I exercised (which I do frequently now: jogging, cycling and hiking) I ate more calories and this worked for me (even considering I have PCOS, which makes it a little harder to lose weight). I’m down to 162 now, and I still follow this calorie restriction.
I do drink green smoothies though as they do have good stuff in them (if you’re making them right) and I drink them in the mornings when I am in a rush and don’t have time make eggs.
The best way to lose weight is to avoid fad diets and eat a myriad of good foods so as to not get bored of anything. You just need to remember calories in < calories out and to boost your metabolism by cutting back on the sugar and doing good exercise and you'll do fine. 🙂
Good luck!
(Sorry I'm not the owner of this blog, but you commented back in march and didn't get a reply yet so I thought I'd at least try to give you some advice or help. Don't mean to preach at you and I wish you the best!)
There are some handy tips on this webpage…it’s all about gut flora at the end of the day, as with most health issues…our over sanitised lives are one small piece of the problem…as is the over-prescription of antibiotics
Also some intermittent fast can do so much to restore balance!
Peace… Vince
http://bodyecology.com/articles/boiling-your-vegetables-low-oxalate-solution-reduce-pain.php#.VQEIs00cTL8
You’re very right in what you say regarding gut flora….more than 70% of our immune strength resides in the gut….balancing gut fora, canddida, fungus etc here means better health and wellness. I swear by drinking the only bio live (natural pre biotic) aloe vera drink daily …
I’ve just been to the doctor today with searing pelvic, lower back and abdominal pain along with lethargy, low body temp and chills. She had me do a urine sample and is pretty sure I have kidney stones. I have to drink 2 qts. water per day and re-check in 2 wks. I have been drinking smoothies made with orange juice (a no-no for kidney stones) mixed with Emerald Balance, a green powder. I eat a lot of cruciferous veggies. This pain is like nothing I have ever had and I am 64 years old. Does anyone know any natural remedies? I have heard a cup of warm water, apple cider vinegar and honey taken several times a day will help dissolve them. Feeling like cr– and have no energy, just want to sleep. This is very much UNlike me. On the last weekend I helped pack and move my 86yr. old mom to a new place, lifted heavy furniture with the guys and worked for two 10 hr. days straight. Back is killing me but the kidney stuff is worse.
What worked for me when I was diagnosed with a kidney stone many years ago is about 4 oz of warm water with lemon juice in the morning. I have it every day and haven’t had a kidney stone ever again. Fresh lemons are pricey so I use 2 packets of True Lemon instead. It is crystallized and next best thing to fresh. Good luck.
Norman Walker talks about oxalates in his book, “Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices” I notice by the above article that there is not a difference made in the organic raw vs. cooked greens such as spinach, which is high in oxalates. However, in Norman Walker’s book, p. 56, he does a complete chapter on oxalic acid…..He says, “Organic oxalic acid is one of the most important elements needed to maintain the tone of, and to stimulate peristalsis….We have in previous chapters covered this important question of organic versus inorganic atoms in our food. It is very vital to stress this matter in regard to oxalic acid. When the food is raw, whether whole or in the form of juice, every atom in such food is vital organic and is replete with enzymes. Therefore, the oxalic acid in our raw vegetables and their juices is organic, and as such as not only beneficial but essential for the physiological functions of the body. The oxalic acid in cooked and processed foods, however, is definitely dead or inorganic, and as such, is both pernicious and destructive.
Kidney stones are awful, hope you feel better soon.
Lemon juice in water is helpful, depending on the type of stone, it can help to dissolve, or at the least help to keep them from forming. I drink mine through a straw to help keep the acid off my teeth. I used apple cider vinegar for a while also. I use magnesium citrate to help bind the oxalate in meals, 20 minutes before if it is a capsule or tablet, with the meal if it’s powder. Lots of people use calcium citrate for the same purpose, I’m not comfortable using it yet, since I form calcium stones.
If you start lowering oxalate in your diet, go slowly, too fast can cause detox-like symptoms, and possibly form more stones as oxalate gets released from storage in the body.
I have been able to pass several stones without medication (or non stop vomiting!) since I started the diet.
There is lots and lots of information available at the Trying Low Oxalates yahoo group. The list owner is researcher Susan Costen Owens, who has been focused on oxalate issues for about 20 years.
The lowoxalate.info website has lots of info as well.
Do you drink tea or coffee?
Yep and they can apparently even kill you over time.
http://www.townsendletter.com/Jan2015/green0115.html#.VNgQ3J7LXQE.facebook
All but one of your sources links to this same web site, and the one that doesn’t isn’t very strong. It’s going to take more than that to convince me that spinach is bad for me.
I am 70 and in great health, neighbours giving me 10-15 years less, friends keeping quiet about it. Not thanks to my genes and not thanks to my eating habits either. An ex chain smoker, alcohol user and heavy coffee drinker, I credit my good health to my mind-style much more than to my having quit (cold turkey) ALL that crap. After having read more than thousand non-fiction books on human nature, MY OWN formula for great health is a good stress-management, insisting on a happy attitude, not complicating life and relationships, and yes – eating everything in moderation.
Eating is more like my “back-up” concern. Worrying about calories and a whole army of those popular bio-chemical boogie-men parading in our health market – boils down to worrying; and in my VERY modest opinion you can worry yourself into sickness much easier than smoke yourself into sickness. Of course, it’s ME, and I am not being normative here, just expressing myself. Nutrition? Biochemistry? I have been there. There was a time when a health food store manager mentioned how I probably had more of those little bottles at my home than there was in his store. – These days you would see on my coffee table the book by Pam Grout titled “Energy Squared” – and staying there for weeks, or months, just as a reminder and an inspiration every time I see it . Or you would see it in my hands again – while I may be munching on a chocolate, have a banana smoothie, or a sandwich. Guess what – I am a great believer in placebo-effect. It works in conventional medicine, works in nutrition, works in energy medicine. Choose your cure – but for Pete’s sake don’t scare yourself. Some of my dearest books in those hundreds were books about human suggestibility and about the effects of our belief-fueled-emotions on our health and our quality of life.
When I hear all those sermons about foods and their effect on health, I can’t help thinking about an old and senile sexologist very knowledgeable about sex. What’s missing in his equation is that certain “spark” which would make all his knowledge obsolete – that same spark for life and vitality that a happy heart would serve on your dinner plate. But, to each his own. Feel free to disagree – I just hope you feel as good as I do when you reach your 70.
nicely put!!
I would love it if you could give me the titles and Authors for some of the books you have mentioned ab I am interested in the human suggestibility, belief -fueled- emotions, Something about your comment has awakened a hunger in me. I love your outlook. I suffer more than 1 autoimmune disease. Graves Disease being the latest, Knowing that autoimmune is greatly related to stress levels I believe I need an outlook adjustment,
Hi Angela
Some include: The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggert; Healing Beyond the Body by Dr Larry Dossey; Defy Gravity by Caroline Myss; The Biology of belief by Bruce Lipton; most things by Deepak Chopra; the movie what the bleep do we know etc and the books by the people in that movie…Dr Emoto’s work…too many to mention…I hope that’s useful…also you may like to look into an amazing yoga practice called yoga nidra…there are many great tracks on YouTube…make sure you get versions that have the affirmations in them which can be used to change belief systems…peace…Vince
Angela, there are some great free ebooks if you do an online search, written by Joseph Murphy (1898-1981).
He discusses disease and ‘miracle cures’ from all over the world, which all boils down to one thing and one thing only – the power of subconscious mind.
Two of his books that I have are:
Power of the Subconscious Mind – and – The Miracles of Your Mind
There are countless books on the subject, but I find Joseph Murphy’s, although spoken in the language of the time (very old fashioned, in other words) to make the most sense, without using ridiculous and confusing jargon.
Val, I hear you loud and clear. I read one book and it is telling me I can eat as many veggies as I want, another tells me too may green smoothies are no good. I am 73, and only in fair health. I was obsessing about my high blood pressure so much I’m sure it was contributing to keeping it up there so I stopped taking my pressure daily and now take it only weekly. I fear all of the Rx I am on (which indicates it may cause a rise in blood pressure) is causing some of the spiking as well. Too bad we live in a pill pushing nation where doctors are taught more about drugs than nutrition, to the point that refusing to take an Rx may even get you dropped by a physician. I feel if one is piling one drug after another on top of the other, all with the same side effects, there has to be a cumulative effect. Seeking out a holisitic physician, imagine my disappointment when the first thing he offered was another Rx. I felt totally betrayed. I have noticed that my frequent internal cleansing has worked to lower my pressure far more effective than the multiple hypertensive Rx that I have been frightened into taking..
The web page at:
http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home/eng/oxalates.asp
indicates that calcium citrate may neutralize oxalates if taken with the food that contains the oxalates. Do you have any guidelines on how much calcium citrate to mix based on oxalates in food?
Does anyone have a specific recipe on how to ferment beets, with the idea being to juice the digested beet after five days.