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Although everyday is a green smoothie day for me, this Saturday, August 15th is International Green Smoothie Day!

Join me and the Raw Divas in celebrating simplicity, affordability, empowerment and health!

Click here for details http://www.greensmoothiequeen.com/

Whilst away, I finally got round to reading Dr Douglas Graham’s The ’80/10/10 Diet’ which had been sitting on my bookshelf for ages!

I know that although this book is popular, it may not appeal to everyone as it advocates quite a strict way of eating. The basic principle is that your entire nutrition is based on raw food with 80% of your calorie intake coming from carbohydrates (mainly fresh fruit), 10% from protein and 10% from fat. As most of your calorie intake comes from fruit you need to eat large quantities of it, many of the meals being monomeals in which only one type of fruit is eaten, and therefore being easier to digest. In addition you are required to eat a lot of green leafy vegetables.

This is quite a unique plan and may require a lot of adjusting to especially if you are new to raw foods. In his book, Dr Graham discusses why he believes this to be the best way of eating, and backs up his theories with scientific evidence, which provides a wealth of interesting information for anyone who is health conscious, whether looking to follow this plan or not.

Dr Graham also stresses the importance of regular exercise and lifestyle issues such as sleep, stress and emotional well being etc.

It occurred to me that inadvertantly I had been largely following the principles of this way of eating for two weeks and I really did feel and looked fabulous! I wondered if it was just the effect of the climate and the abundance of delicious fresh local produce or whether this way of eating did really work for me. I have decided to follow the summer menu plan from the book for a week to see if this is the way forward.

I’ll blog what I have eaten each day and how I feel. I’ve started today with watermelon, and have just had a banana and peach smoothie. So far so good….

I’ve just returned from a truly relaxing holiday in Italy, and am missing the sun sooo much back here in the UK! We stayed in a remote and somewhat basic apartment with a beautiful wisteria covered balcony which gave us a fabulous view over the Sorrento coastline! Ideal for soaking in  the sun, topping up with some much needed vitamin D, and relaxing with a good book!

Usually on holiday we choose to self cater as it’s easier to meet everyone’s food preferences that way, my husband loving his meat and me loving my salads! But the apartment seemed to conspire against us this year…The hob was decidedly dodgy – you had to turn all four rings on in order to get any one hot and then they seemed to turn themselves off at will! The barbecue was only just big enough for a sausage and after waiting four hours to cook tea one night, we decided it was a lost cause! Not that it bothered me of course, but a plate of salad doesn’t go down well too with my carnivorous husband!

Although, as always I took a good supply of flax crackers, granola, cookies etc and my trusty Tribest PB200, for making dressings, sauces and smoothies, they largely remained untouched!

  http://www.ukjuicers.com/tribest-personal-blender?gclid=CJytu8zWm5wCFUoB4wodLiHidg

During the fortnight we were there I actually ate really simply with virtually no dehydrated food and I feel absolutely fabulous! There was such an abundance of delicious fruit and vegetables growing around us, just bursting with flavour! Oranges, lemons the size of grapefruit, peaches, kiwi fruit, tomatoes like I’ve never tasted before…. the list goes on… it was certainly no hardship to stay raw!

I ate fruit for breakfast and lunch and in the evenings we ate at nearby restaurants which served locally grown produce. I have always found it relatively easy to eat at Italian restaurants in the UK and likewise, eating raw in Italy is just as simple, there was always a selection of insalata on the menu. I would order a couple of salads, simply dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, my husband could have his meat, and the kids loved the pizzas and pasta. All happy – no need to compromise!

I feel amazingly energised!

I’m off to Italy for two weeks, and looking forward to spending time in the sun, eating lushious fruit….

I’ll blog about my trip when I return. x

For every door that closes, there is another that opens.

This is the door that you have been looking for…

but you could not hope to find it while you were locked behind the first one.

Set yourself free!

Karen Knowler says, ‘Awesome Raw Professionals I am currently working with to help them serve YOU’

‘Lisa Simpson | Raw Liberty – http://rawliberty.wordpress.com (Until her site goes live later this year)
- Struggling to enjoy raw because you home life is not as raw as you’d like it? Nagging partner or resistant kids? Fascinated by the raw food journey and wanting to explore it for YOU while living in a cooked food home? Lisa is the perfect teacher and coach for YOU.’

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116103332528

Thank you Karen

Everyone has heard that ‘greens are good for you’, ‘eat your greens’, but few people actually realise how true this is! Greens consist of any leafy green vegetable: spinach, kale, lettuce, sprouts …

I’m fast being famed for my love of green smoothies, and hardly a day passes without me savouring one of these fabulous delights! Green smoothies are simply fruit based smoothies which have fresh green leaves blended into them to give you an incredibly quick, easy and highly nutritional meal!

Greens are one of the most nutritious whole foods we can eat. They are packed with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and amino acids (i.e. protein!) The trouble is that prople rarely eat enough of them…In fact you can gain more nutrients from a green smoothie than you can from a day’s ‘normal’ eating!

As fantastic as greens are on their own, we would have to chew them for ages in order to break them down into a form from which we are able to gain their full nutritional value. That’s where smoothies come in!  By blending your fruits, greens and vegetables, they become far easier to digest. As the blender blades break down the cellular structure of your produce, the nutrients are released from the fibre and become more readily available, so that you are able to gain maximum nutrition from them.

So why do I drink green smoothies?

Because they’re good for you and have unmatched health benefits…because they are full of anti-oxidants, enzymes, and phytonutrients…because they have significant amounts of:

* protein (therefore answering that all too familiar question ‘Where do you get your protein?’)

* calcium

* iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper

* vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A,

* vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6,

* vitamin E,

* omega 3 fatty acids,

* potassium,

* tryptophan, folate,

* and not forgetting fibre

Oh, and did I say, they taste delicious!!!

In preparing green smoothies from fresh produce, we can guarantee that they are not heat treated or pasteurised, which would of course significantly compromise their nutritional value.

Drinking green smoothies can:

* boost your immune system so you are less prone to common ailments

* boost your mental clarity

 * increase the efficiency of your digestive system

* support weight loss

* support the functioning of your liver and kidneys

* reduce bad food cravings

* balance the PH of your body

* increase energy

* help manage of blood sugar

* and in fact drinking green smoothies can help the body prevent and heal disease!

In adding green smoothie to your diet, you will experience a positive change to your body and mind.

How to make a green smoothie

The basic requirements are; add to a good blender:

1 ripe banana

1 cup other fruit e.g. mango, pineapple, berries

2 large handfuls of greens e.g. spinach, kale

water to desired consistancy – I like to make my smoothies thick enough to eat with a spoon.

Simply blend ’til smooth. Enjoy!

One of my favourite recipes for a green smoothie – great for this time of year is…

Tropical Dream

1 banana

1/2 pineapple

Juice of 1 lime

2 handfuls spinach

1 T coconut oil

1/2 c coconut water

for more information on the power of the green smoothie I recommend Victoria Boutenko’s book ‘Green for Life’ in which Victoria details her extensive research.

One question I’m often asked when I say I follow a raw food diet, is, ‘Where do you get your protein?’

There is much written about this, but apart from dark leafy greens, of which I eat a huge amount, one of my favourite sources of protein is the hemp seed. Out of over 3 million edible plants on our planet, no other single plant source can compare nutritionally with the hemp seed. The complete protein and the essential oils that are contained in hemp seeds are in ideal ratios for humans. Unlike soya beans, which have to be sprouted or cooked, 65% of the protein content is in the form of globulin edestin, so that it can actually be used by the body in its raw state.

Hemp seeds have a lovely nutty flavour and are extremely versatile. They can be used in nut milks, smoothies, sprinkled on salads or even eaten with a spoon straight from the packet. I get my hemp seeds from http://www.detoxyourworld.com/ 

I mage a fabulous protein packed smoothie today:

Blend: 1 banana, 1 cup raspberries (you can use frozen ones on a hot day!), 1 date, 2T hemp seeds, 2 large handfuls spinach, 1T maca, 1t vanilla powder, coconut water – vary amount depending on how thick you like your smooties.

Serve sprinkled with hemp seeds, goji berries and cacao nibs!

Tastes delicious and contains all the protein you need!

Now, I’m not really a great lover of sweet treats and desserts ( and never liked cakes etc when eating cooked food either), but when my friend Charlie of http://www.charliesrawtreats.co.uk/ told me about her treats – handmade with superfoods,love and sparkle, I was sooo tempted to try them!

Charlie makes a range of amazing raw cakes, and other tempting sweet treats that are incredibly made without dairy, wheat, or refined sugar, all are handmade with love.

I ordered Lemon Pockets made with almonds, dates, cashews, agave, lemon and vanilla extract – a chewy sandwich with a delicious lemon curd like filling, and Chocolate Superfood Brownies, made with cacao, dates, agave, goji berries, almonds, brazil nuts, mesquite, cinnamon and star anise.

Well, I’m hooked – I’ve found raw sweet treats to live for! The flavours are amazing and they taste divine!

If you’ve ever dared to think that eating raw foods is dull, restricting, uninteresting or uninspiring (you obviously haven’t been reading my blog!!!) then you have to check out these treats! Charlie’s cakes and treats make it possible to indulge yourself in a little bit of luxury whilst maintaining your healthy and guilt free diet! They’re not to be missed! x

STOP PRESS: Charlie’s Raw Treats has just launched a fabulous range of snack packs  which look delicious, and are fantastic if you need  raw treats handy at work or at home, to save you from being drawn to the sugar filled vending machine!