10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse: Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 10 Days! (2 page)

Chapter 1
What Is the 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse?

The Green Smoothie Cleanse is a ten-day detox/cleanse made up of green leafy veggies, fruit, and water. Green smoothies are filling and healthy, and you will enjoy drinking them. Your body will also thank you for drinking them. You can expect to lose some weight, increase your energy levels, reduce your cravings, clear your mind, and improve your digestion and overall health. It is an experience that will change your life if you stick with it!

Most common health improvements after the 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse:

• Weight loss (most lose 10–15 pounds when they stick to the regimen)
  
• Increased energy
  
• Mental clarity
  
• Better sleep
  
• Reduced cravings
  
• Better digestion
  
• Less bloating
  

Why Detox/Cleanse the Body?

There are many factors that contribute to weight gain, and the one that is most overlooked by traditional diets is excess toxins in the body. When the body is overloaded with toxins, it transfers energy away from burning calories to work harder to detoxify the body. In other words, the body does not have the energy to burn calories. However, when the body is efficiently getting rid of toxins, the energy can be used to burn fat.

Simply put, traditional diets so often don’t work because they don’t address the toxic waste in the body. Counting calories does not detoxify and cleanse the body. Weight loss won’t be permanent if your body’s systems are sluggish or impacted with waste matter or toxins. You must first rid your body of toxins to ensure that your body can best metabolize the food you eat without leaving excess waste, which results in weight gain.

The following symptoms indicate the presence of excess toxins in the body: bloating, constipation, indigestion, low energy, fatigue/brain fog, depression, weight gain, chronic pain, infections, allergies, headaches, and gut/digestion problems.

Do You Need to Detox/Cleanse? Take this Self-Assessment Quiz!

Take this quiz to determine whether you have toxic overload in your body leading to weight gain and poor health.

Read each question and give yourself one point for every “yes” answer.

• Do you crave sweets, bread, pasta, white rice, and/or potatoes?
  
• Do you eat processed foods (TV dinners, lunchmeats, bacon, canned soup, snack bars) or fast foods at least three times a week?
  
• Do you drink caffeinated beverages like coffee and tea more than twice daily?
  
• Do you drink diet sodas or use artificial sweeteners at least once a day?
  
• Do you sleep less than eight hours per day?
  
• Do you drink less than 64 ounces of good, clean water daily?
  
• Are you very sensitive to smoke, chemicals, or fumes in the environment?
  
• Have you ever taken antibiotics, antidepressants, or other medications?
  
• Have you ever taken birth control pills or other estrogens, such as hormone replacement therapy?
  
• Do you have frequent yeast infections?
  
• Do you have “silver” dental fillings?
  
• Do you use commercial household cleaners, cosmetics, or deodorants?
  
• Do you eat non-organic vegetables, fruits, or meat?
  
• Have you ever smoked or been exposed to secondhand smoke?
  
• Are you overweight or do you have cellulite fat deposits?
  
• Does your occupation expose you to environmental toxins?
  
• Do you live in a major metropolitan area or near a big airport?
  
• Do you feel tired, fatigued, or sluggish throughout the day?
  
• Do you have difficulty concentrating or focusing?
  
• Do you suffer bloating, indigestion, or frequent gas after eating?
  
• Do you get more than two colds or the flu per year?
  
• Do you have reoccurring congestion, sinus issues, or postnasal drip?
  
• Do you sometimes notice you have bad breath, a coated tongue, or strong-smelling urine?
  
• Do you have puffy eyes or dark circles under your eyes?
  
• Are you often sad or depressed?
  
• Do you often feel anxious, antsy, or stressed?
  
• Do you have acne, breakouts, rashes, or hives?
  
• Do you have less than one bowel movement per day and/or get constipated occasionally?
  
• Do you have insomnia or trouble getting restful sleep?
  
• Do you get blurred vision or itchy, burning eyes?
  

Results

The higher your score, the greater the potential toxic burden you may be carrying and the more you may benefit from a detoxification and cleansing program.

• If you scored 20 or higher:
  You will
  significantly
  benefit from detoxifying your body, which could lead to weight loss and improved health and vitality. It is strongly recommended that you look into different ways to detoxify the body.
  
• If you scored between 5 and 19:
  You will
  likely
  benefit from a detoxification program for improved health and vitality.
  
• If you scored below 5:
  You might actually be free of toxic overload in the body and living a very healthy, toxin-free life. Good for you!
  

Although our bodies have the ability to eliminate toxins, it’s when the body gets overloaded with toxins that it stores them in fat cells. Fat cells don’t get broken down very easily, so they literally weigh down the body and make it bigger. As toxins accumulate, we begin to experience health problems like allergies, migraines, major diseases, and fatigue/low energy.

The 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse is a truly health-transforming experience. Here is how you do it:

1. Each day you drink up to 60 ounces of green smoothies per day. Simply prepare your entire day’s worth of green smoothies in the morning and pack it up to take with you. Keep it refrigerated as much as possible. Drink one-third every three to four hours throughout the day or sip on the smoothie as you get hungry.
   
2. You may snack on apples, celery, carrots, cucumbers, and other crunchy veggies throughout the day. Other high-protein snacks include unsweetened peanut butter, hard-boiled eggs, and raw or unsalted nuts and seeds (only a handful).
   
3. Drink at least eight glasses of water (64 ounces) per day as well as detox or herbal teas, as desired.
   
4. Perform one of the two methods for colon cleansing, as needed (see chapter 5).
   
5. DO NOT CONSUME refined sugar, meat, milk, cheese, liquor, beer, coffee, sodas/diet sodas, processed foods, fried foods, refined carbs (white bread, pastas, donuts, etc.)
   

Also, be sure to join our Facebook group to get support, encouragement, and tips from me and others at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Green.Smoothie.Cleanse/

So let’s learn how to detox to jumpstart losing weight and getting healthy! Keep reading!

Chapter 2
Why Green Smoothies?

Green Smoothies are quickly taking the health world by storm! Green smoothies are surprisingly simple, consisting of raw organic fruit, raw organic leafy greens, and water. (The recommended fruit:greens ratio is 6:4.) Despite their simplicity, green smoothies provide a ton of nutritional benefits that lead to a healthier lifestyle. These benefits include weight loss, increased energy, reduction in food cravings, clearer skin, and much more.

Ten Great Reasons to Drink Green Smoothies

1. NUTRIENT-RICH. The ingredients in smoothies are all raw and thus more nutritious. The extremely high temperatures often used during cooking destroy many of the nutrients in our food. Green smoothies are loaded with beneficial vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory substances, phytonutrients, fiber, water, and more! They are also stuffed with chlorophyll, which is similar in structure to the hemoglobin in human blood. So drinking green smoothies is much like receiving a cleansing blood transfusion.
   
2. WEIGHT LOSS. If you are trying to lose weight, you will be pleasantly surprised to learn that green smoothies are an excellent way to do so. They have a high water content and are filled with green leafy veggies, which you can eat in abundance and still not gain weight. They also have a high fiber content that will help you stay full and reduce cravings.
   
3. DETOXIFICATION. Our body naturally tries to eliminate toxins, but overexposure to any of them will slow down the body’s detoxification systems. The reality is that you can assist the body in detoxifying and eliminating toxins that cause weight gain and harm your health. You can and should detoxify and cleanse the body if you want to live better and live longer. After your body utilizes nutrients from the food you eat, it must dispose of the unused food particles and waste produced by the digestive process. Without proper and complete elimination, undigested food can back up and leave toxins and waste in your body. But thanks to green smoothies, you can get the fiber you need to cleanse your body, tone your digestive system, and eliminate toxins.
   
4. VIBRANT, RADIANT HEALTH. A healthy body is vibrant, full of energy and life! I believe that natural, healthy eating is the secret to inner and outer beauty. When you eat natural, raw foods, you simply look and feel better and younger. Once you eat in a manner that keeps your cells clean and healthy, you will begin to look radiant, despite your age. Human beings are designed to eat a diet primarily made up of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. With these types of natural, healthy foods, our bodies flourish and receive all of the necessary nutrients to keep our bodies toxin-free and looking our most beautiful. When you start drinking green smoothies, one of the first places where you’ll see changes is in the quality of your skin. Healthy eating and living will remove years from your face, eliminate wrinkles, fade age spots, and give you a “second youth.” Your skin will become supple, and acne will clear up. Your eyes will become brighter and begin to sparkle. The dark circles and puffiness will diminish as will the yellowness in the whites of your eyes. On the inside of your body, your cells will become rejuvenated as well, causing your organs to function more efficiently.
   
5. EASY TO DIGEST. Green smoothies are much easier to digest and metabolize than solid food. Just because you “eat” the right amount of fruits and vegetables every day does not mean you are automatically getting all the nutrients necessary for your health and well-being. There are many people who cannot effectively digest solid whole food, so the nutrients from the food are not completely absorbed by the body. Green drinks, which are in a blended, liquid form, are far easier to metabolize. In fact, these delicious smoothies are so bio-available that their nutrients start to get absorbed by the body even while the smoothie is still in your mouth!
   
6. IMPROVED DIGESTION. Today’s standard American diet (SAD) has created numerous digestive issues such as heartburn, acid reflux, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), just to name a few. The root of most digestive issues is low production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. If enough stomach acid isn’t produced during digestion, much of the food we eat goes through the digestive tract largely undigested, creating gas, bloating, and other digestive disturbances. Once undigested food builds up as plaque on the intestinal lining, it sets the stage for disease. Processed foods, excessive gluten and proteins, fried foods, and other unhealthy fats are the main reasons behind these digestive issues. Since green smoothies are thoroughly blended, the majority of the work your digestive system would normally need to do is already done. Your body can then more easily extract the nutrients needed for optimum health.
   
7. HYDRATION: Staying hydrated gives you energy and helps ensure that your brain, muscles, digestive system, and immune system all work properly. Being dehydrated can be very dangerous. Drinking soda or coffee, eating processed foods, and smoking cigarettes all dehydrate the body. The best way to tell whether you are sufficiently hydrated is to check the color of your urine. If it is very pale, yellow, or clear, then you are properly hydrated. You do not want it to be a strong yellow color. It’s easy to forget to drink water throughout the day because of our busy, hectic lives. Many don’t like the taste of water, but it is essential to a healthy, functioning body. To improve the taste of water, just add in fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Green smoothies allow you to rehydrate your body thanks to their high water content.
   
8. SIMPLY DELICIOUS. The sweet taste of the fruit in the smoothie offsets the taste of the greens, making for a tasty and filling meal or snack. Many people who turn their noses up at green smoothies when they first see them become hooked after they taste them! Even children love the taste.
   
9. EASY TO MAKE. Preparation time is five minutes or less, and cleanup is quick and easy, too. If you place all of your ingredients in a plastic bag in the evening, all you’ll need to do in the morning is toss them in the blender the next morning. After you finish blending, you simply rinse the blender and it’s ready for the dishwasher. The storage, blending, and cleanup really take only five minutes a day.
   
10. UNLIMITED NUMBER OF RECIPES. There are over a hundred green smoothie recipes in this book and many more online with which you can experiment. That means your taste buds never have to get bored. There are so many possible fruit, greens, and liquid combinations that you can literally have a different recipe for each day of the year. I keep my favorite recipes on index cards so I can use them over and over again.
    

I could go on and on about the numerous health benefits of green smoothies, but you’ll learn more of them as we go through this book. When you try them, you’ll soon discover the wonderful health benefits yourself.

Which Greens and Why?

Here’s a list of the most popular greens to use in green smoothies. Keep in mind that they are in alphabetical order, not necessarily in order of the most nutritious.

• Arugula:
  Arugula is a great source of folic acid as well as vitamins A, C, and K, and provides a boost for bone and brain health. It has a zippy, peppery flavor.
  
• Beet Greens:
  Beet greens are the leafy tops to the beet vegetable. They are rich in vitamin K. They are known to help improve vision, help prevent Alzheimer’s, and boost the immune system.
  
• Bok Choy:
  Bok choy is a Chinese cabbage that is mild tasting and crunchy. It is full of vitamins A, C, and calcium, as well as antioxidants.
  
• Chard (aka Swiss Chard):
  Chard is a green leafy vegetable that displays red stalks, leaf veins, and stems. It has a beet-like taste and a mild texture. It is known to help prevent cancers and is good for cleansing the digestive system.
  
• Collard Greens:
  Collards are green leafy vegetables that are nutritionally similar to kale but chewier and with a much stronger taste. They are a superior agent for binding to bile acids throughout the digestive tract, which makes them very good at lowering cholesterol.
  
• Dandelion Greens:
  Dandelion greens look like weeds in your lawn, but they are yet another great source of vitamins A and K. They help the digestion process and can help constipation issues because they are a natural laxative.
  
• Kale:
  Kale is lightweight with ruffled leaf edges. It is loaded with vitamins A, C, K, and more. It is known for lowering the risks associated with developing prostate, ovary, breast, colon, and bladder cancers.
  
• Lettuce:
  Lettuce has been a popular staple in salads since the time of the Ancient Egyptians. It contains essential amino acids and vitamins. Be sure to eat lettuces with dark green leaves to get the highest nutritional value. Romaine lettuce, in particular, has high levels of vitamin C, K, and A and is a good source of folic acid.
  
• Mustard Greens:
  Spicy mustard greens are effective in lowering cholesterol and provide a healthy dose of riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, and iron. They are a storehouse of phytonutrients that have many disease-preventing properties.
  
• Parsley:
  Parsley is rich in antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and fiber and is known to help reduce aging and regulate blood sugar levels.
  
• Spinach:
  Perhaps the most beloved green leafy vegetable of them all, spinach is mild tasting and not as bitter as other greens. Its dark green leaves really pack a punch with high levels of omega-3s, calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, E, and K. When most people start drinking green smoothies, they start with spinach!
  
• Turnip Greens:
  Turnip greens, although slightly bitter, are very flavorful. Turnip greens are effective at providing many numerous health benefits, but they stand out amongst other green leafy veggies in their ability to fight the development of cancerous cells.
  

Milder-Tasting Greens:

• Baby beet greens
  
• Baby bok choy
  
• Butter lettuce
  
• Carrot top greens
  
• Kale
  
• Romaine lettuce
  
• Spinach
  
• Swiss chard
  

Stronger-Tasting Greens:

• Arugula
  
• Collard greens
  
• Dandelion greens
  
• Mustard greens
  
• Radish tops
  
• Sorrel
  
• Turnip greens
  
• Watercress
  

How Is Blending Different From Juicing?

Juices and smoothies both have their health benefits, but I feel that in most cases, blending provides a wider range of benefits than juicing. Smoothies have more fiber, fill you up better, and are both less expensive and less time-consuming to make.

Smoothies contain whole foods with loads of fiber. In juicing, the pulp is discarded and you lose essential fiber. The main argument for those who prefer juicing is that the absence of fiber provides easy absorption of nutrients straight into the bloodstream with little digestion required, and this allows the digestive system and body to heal. But fiber is critical for slowing the passage of food through the stomach and it keeps sugars from getting into the bloodstream too quickly. This helps regulate blood sugar and aids in weight control. Consuming greens in your smoothies helps to balance blood sugar, and the high fiber content of greens helps slow carbohydrate digestion.

Smoothies are more filling than juices, leaving us full and satisfied and less likely to overeat throughout the day. This is excellent news for those who wish to lose weight. It is very easy to replace a meal with a smoothie, and many do this for breakfast every day.

Smoothies are less expensive because it takes less fruit and vegetables to make a smoothie than it does to make the same size glass of juice. When we drink green smoothies, we are filled up longer so this also prevents us from needing to buy a lot of other food throughout the day.

Blending is faster than juicing and easier to clean up afterwards. To make juice, all the fruit and vegetables must be cut up small enough to fit into the juicer and then processed one piece at a time. To make a smoothie, the fruits and veggies can go into the blender all at once. Additionally, a juicer must be taken apart to be cleaned and then put back together, which requires a lot of time and cleanup. Blenders just require rinsing, with no parts to disassemble.

It’s also easy to add superfoods, like maca or acai berries, to blenders as they will be blended through very evenly.

The Protein Myth

Green smoothies that consist of 40 percent greens are a great source of protein. Greens provide protein in the form of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. These are easier for the body to utilize than complex proteins like those found in meats and other animal products. Greens supply ample amounts of amino acids, which provide us with all the protein we need.

When one eats foods that contain proteins, the digestive system has to break down the proteins into individual amino acids in order for the body to utilize them. The proteins found in animal products are extremely difficult to digest, and after being cooked, they’re even harder for the body to break down and utilize. The body spends so much energy breaking down these proteins into amino acids that much of their nutritional value is rendered invaluable to the body.