Welcome to the best birthday present I ever received:  Victoria Boutenko’s classic book, Green For Life.   I was standing in a bar lounge filled with smoke and friends with my third Grey Goose & soda in hand and my dear friend arrived clutching a raw Oreo (raw-e-o) cookie made with cacao and cashews  in one hand and this book in the other.  Do you think he was trying to tell me something?! I actually tried to read the book in 2009 when I received it, but I wasn’t ready to hear the grand scope of nutritional prowess contained inside.  This past year I didn’t just read the book, I voraciously incorporated its wisdom into my life.  I feel so blessed, and so does my formerly-exhausted body!

Even though it took me over two years (!) to read this book… I am so glad that I did!  I am a person who needs pretty compelling evidence to start a new habit or routine.  The green smoothie craze that swept Pinterest and the whole Internet – blending leafy greens with fruit and pouring them into a mason jar as the look of choice- it pretty much began with Victoria Boutenko and her glowing family.  But, it really began with chimpanzees and the way that they eat…and the amazing health that they enjoy.

Apparently,  juicing or blending greens helps to extract their goodness and make them more available and digestible.  I learned so much about chlorophyll and how much it benefits our bodies.  I was astonished at the nutrition in common “weeds” and now I keep them in the house for both raw green smoothies and cooking as well.  As I write, dandelion greens from the Farmer’s Market are waiting for me!

The Boutenko’s ran their own “case studies” supplying daily green smoothies by the quart to people who participated and tracked their results.  After reading the testimonials they included in Green For Life, I was encouraged that these people had noticeable changes:  more energy, improved skin tone, weight loss, better sleep, better moods…all by adding in green smoothies and not changing their regular diet.  I find that very encouraging!!!  It was encouraging enough that I bought a Vitamix, and I will never regret it for a split second!

Now, I have read some controversy about drinking too many of these smoothies and over-doing certain nutrients in your system, so I will say that I do not drink these every day… more like twice a week, especially when I am very busy or sleeping less than usual.  Sometimes I don’t drink them at all.  Because I have been extremely busy, I’m going to try for a smoothie a day in April, but I’m rotating in less “intense” greens like romaine lettuce and small handfuls of parsley in place of action-packed greens. Balance means a lot to me!   You may not be suited at all to these smoothies. I ask my doctors tons of questions before I do anything new in my diet that is potent, and I suggest that to everyone.

All tolled, this little book that I got for my birthday three years ago made it easier for me to step into a much better and more educated world of nutrition in the past year.  A little knowledge can be a lot of power! Do your homework, learn what works for you, and rock on with your personal food-shui goodness!   Be well & feel awesome!  xoxo Dana