Get Your Green On

How many fruits and vegetables did you eat today? If you’re like most people, you skipped a few servings.

Health Canada recommends seven to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, but the latest Statistics Canada data reveals that only 43 percent of Canadians eat more than five daily servings. In other words, most people are missing out on crucial elements of nutrition. And that’s a good reason to reach for a green drink.

Liquid nutrition

Green drink formulas vary, but most contain a combination of spirulina, chlorella, organic sprouts and/or powders of beet juice, kamut grass, and barley grass.

These nutrient-packed combinations are reputed to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that improve immunity, energy, and endurance. They are also believed to aid in detoxification, digestion, and elimination; to stabilize cholesterol; and to assist in brain function.

Reduces cholesterol and slows aging

In a recent randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 101 apparently healthy smokers were divided into three groups. For three months, they received either a placebo, a fruit/vegetable juice powder; or fruit/vegetable/berry juice powder.

Both groups who consumed the juices experienced significant decreases in total cholesterol and oxidized LDL cholesterol.

Testing also showed that the juice groups had reduced oxidation alterations that are usually attributed to long-term smoking. In other words, green drink juices reduced cell damage and aging.

Keeps cold symptoms at bay

In another study 529 health care professionals received either a placebo or a fruit/vegetable juice powder concentrate for eight months.

The group who supplemented had 20 percent fewer common cold symptoms. Their symptoms lasted an average 7.6 days compared to 9.5 days in the placebo group.

Improves skin circulation

In a new study, 52 healthy middle-aged women received either a placebo, or a fruit/vegetable juice powder. By 12 weeks, microcirculation in the juice supplement group increased by 39 percent. Hydration increased 9 percent; skin thickness, 6 percent; and skin density, 16 percent.

“Ingestion of a fruit- and vegetable-based concentrate increases microcirculation of the skin at 12 weeks of intervention and positively affects skin hydration, density and thickness,” the authors concluded.

For today’s busy lifestyle, green drinks powders are a convenient and tasty way to improve your health and vitality and slow the signs of aging. Reach for the green, and go!