Why Greens?

Superfoods of the Ancients

Long ago, organic cereal grasses, blue-green algae, sea vegetables, and green land vegetables (such as spinach and parsley) were our ancestors’ original dietary supplements. Ancient peoples knew these foods were their health protectors. For example, within the tradition of Chinese medicine, vegetables were – and still are – believed to be the source of important nutrients not provided by animal foods or rice. Greens were an important part of the ancient Polynesian traditional diet. The ancient Polynesians consumed greens because they were super-nutritious foods available to them for sustaining and protecting life. Concentrated green foods provide the same benefits to us today.

Cereal grasses

In addition to having nutritional value, cereal grasses may protect the cells from toxic substances. This benefit may arise from the abundance of chlorophyll – a plant pigment known to protect normal cellular metabolism – found in their blades.

The antioxidant effects of flavonoids found in cereal grasses may also have cell-protective benefits, as well as slowing the aging process.

Green leafy vegetables (spinach and parsley)

Green leafy vegetables mirror the benefits of cereal grasses. Additionally, they are excellent sources of the carotenes lutein and zeaxanthin. Research studies indicate these phyto-nutrients are helpful in protecting the macula

– the part of the retina responsible for sharp, central vision – from the harmful effects of UV radiation.

Spirulina

Spirulina is a blue-green algae that has been living on the planet for 3.6 billion years. As one of the oldest living plant species, spirulina has been a source of food in some cultures for millennia. Spirulina is 60% protein, perhaps higher than any other food. It also has the highest level of the protective antioxidant beta-carotene. In fact, to receive the amount of beta-carotene obtained from 10 grams of spirulina, you’d have to eat about one half pound of raw carrots. This chlorophyll-dense food is also rich in vitamin B12 and iron, and contains essential fatty acids, including gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).

Green Superfoods: New Awareness

Until the 1930’s, barley and wheat grasses were sold commercially in health food stores as the original nutrition supplements. Then pharmaceutical and nutritional companies discovered how to isolate individual vitamins and synthesize them in the laboratory. The emergence of vitamins and minerals in a “pill” became immensely popular.

For this reason, green foods fell out of vogue until the 1970’s, when whole foods experienced a renaissance. Green food popularity has been on the rise ever since. Naturally sourced vitamin and mineral supplements are important to health in our modern world; but green foods provide a wider array of nutrients and anti-aging factors.

Importance of Growth Factors

Many multiple vitamin and mineral formulas rely heavily on synthetic or isolated vitamins. For example, much of the beta-carotene and vitamin E on the market today is synthetic. The fact is, our bodies sense the differences between natural and synthetics at the molecular level. They simply do not metabolize synthetic vitamins as effectively as naturally sourced ones. This is, in part, because vitamins occurring in nature come with related molecules we call “bio-enhancers” which appear to increase the vitamins’ absorption and health benefits. There are thousands of unidentified bioenhancers in green foods that our bodies likely require for optimal health.

Barley greens are a good example

One phyto-nutrient in barley greens is known as the “grass juice factor.” What little we know about this water-soluble growth factor is that it is markedly different from all other nutrients. Experimental studies have shown that without this molecule, deficiency symptoms – including poor growth, lethargy and dull hair

– are easily induced. As essential as it appears to be to health, only one source of this growth factor has been identified to date: whole grasses.

Scientists also are discovering unusual molecules in spirulina. Researchers in North Carolina, Japan and China have noted that, when added to animal feed, spirulina helps boost the resistance of farm animals naturally.

Think Green for Vital Health

The following scientific studies are testament to the potential green foods have to benefit human health.

• In one study, the children of nursing mothers who drank milk from grass-fed cows developed more rapidly than the children of nursing moms who drank milk from cows fed dry rations.
• The journal Critical Reviews in Food, Science and Nutrition reported that chlorella and other green foods contain not only chlorophyll but other “unique pigments” and “may also have potent probiotic compounds that enhance health.” This finding was strongly supported by a 1998 report published in another journal, the British Journal of Rheumatology. Researchers from the Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland, divided study participants, all of whom suffered from joint discomfort, into two groups: intervention and control. The people in the intervention group, who ate an uncooked vegan diet that included chlorophyll-rich drinks, experienced significant relief from their discomfort compared to the control group. In fact, one of the strongest predictors of overcoming joint irritation was consumption of the chlorophyll-rich drinks!
• Chinese researchers discovered that zinc-deficient children, age three and up, recovered better from zinc-deficiency when they took high-zinc spirulina tablets than when they took common zinc sulfate. In fact,

more than twice as many children overcame their deficiency through the use of high-zinc spirulina. The researchers theorized that high-zinc spirulina provided these malnourished children with an array of bioenhancers which improved mineral absorption, and hence, resulted in better general health and a stronger immune system.

• In Nanjing Children’s Hospital, 27 children, aged two to six years, recovered quickly from poor appetite, night sweats, diarrhea, and constipation by using a baby-nourishing formula containing spirulina and barley grass, with supplemental thiamin and zinc.
• In the Ukraine, spirulina is used as a medicinal food to mediate the immunity of the children of Chernobyl.
• In the United States, National Cancer Institute researchers have identified molecules in spirulina that may support the body’s ability to defend itself against attack from foreign invaders.
• Green sea vegetables are also highly protective. Laminaria is rich in algin,

which binds heavy metals and toxins for excretion. Equally important are the nutritious minerals and immune-stimulating polysaccharides it contains.

Spirulina Aids in Detoxification

If you are exposed to environmental toxins, the green superfoods may be even more important to your health than they are to the average person.

For example, spirulina appears to contain specific detoxification factors. Heavy metals are toxic to the kidneys. In one experimental study, the effect of spirulina on mercury-disrupted kidney function was examined. Although a high mercury dosage caused kidney toxicity – measured by rising blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and specific urinary enzymes – a diet containing 30 percent spirulina significantly reduced these indicators, netting an improvement in kidney function. The results of this study suggest spirulina may have a beneficial effect for humans suffering from heavy metal overload.

Prescription for Healthy Living

Be sure to enjoy a super green drink every day. It is not only a wonderful mid-afternoon pick-meup, its detoxification powers will help your body to cleanse itself daily of potentially dangerous pollutants and toxins. You may feel the difference within minutes!

Smart Shopping Tips for Selecting a Quality Green Formula

1. Beware of fillers. Fillers are ingredients in dietary supplements that are used to either save on expense by cheaply “bulking up” the product or facilitate blending with liquids. Lecithin, apple pectin, apple fiber, brown rice germ, and barley malt are examples of common fillers. To be sure, these are all good nutritious ingredients for other formulas, but fillers should never be the main ingredients in a greens formula, because then they crowd out more beneficial green foods. As a result, you ingest less green food nutrients per serving. Read labels carefully; otherwise, you may end up with a product that is more filler than greens.
2. Be sure to purchase high-potency concentrates. Green formulas typically use cereal grasses in a 5:1 concentration, meaning five grams of raw material are required for one gram of final powdered extract. But more potent concentrations are available. Choose a formula that features organically grown cereal grasses.
3. Beware the number of ingredients. Large ingredient lists on dietary supplement labels are meant to impress you. But don’t be fooled – they are not necessarily indicative of great value. Quality is an expensive proposition. To receive the full therapeutic benefit from a few key

ingredients often requires that the number of ingredients be limited. Obviously, in a greens product, it is not wise to limit the formula to simply one green food. Each cereal grass, algae, land vegetable, and seaweed brings your body the goodness of its own array of phyto-nutrients. A combination of all of these greens is desirable. However, the addition of small amounts of a vast number of other ingredients in order to present an impressively large list of ingredients for advertising/marketing purposes adds little to the value of the product.

At first glance, a long list of ingredients may look good, but upon closer inspection none is being provided in a high enough level to be of therapeutic value. There’s no point in consuming a trivial amount of bilberry, green tea, ginseng, or ginkgo. Those botanicals are best consumed as separate products in potencies large enough to have a physiological effect. Remember, optimal potencies of judiciously selected ingredients produce optimal results.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

References:

1. Footnote* Kay, R.A. “Microalgae as food and supplement.” Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 1991; 30(6):555-73.
2. Nenonen, M.T., et al. “Uncooked, lactobacilli-rich, vegan food and rheumatoid arthritis.” Br J Rheumatol, 1998; 37(3):274-81.
3. Yonghuan, W., et al. “The study on curative effect of zinc containing spirulina for zinc deficient children,” China Department of Pediatrics, hospital attached to Capital Medical College, Beijing, China. Presented at the 5th International Psychological Congress, Qingdao, China, June 1994.
4. Ren, M.J. “Spirulina in Jiangxi China.” Academy of Agricultural Science. Presented at Soc. Appl. Algology, Lille France, September. 1987, China.
5. Hirayama, T. “Epidemiology of breast cancer with special reference to the role of diet.” Preventive Medicine, 1978; 7: 173-195.
6. Wynder, E.L. “Dietary habits and cancer pidemiology.” Cancer, supplement, 1979; 43(5): 1955-1961.
7. Kagawa, T. “Impact of westernization on the Japanese. Changes in physique, cancer longevity and centerians.” Preventive Medicine, 1978; 7:205-217.
8. Fujimoto, I., et al. “Descriptive epidemiology of cancer in Japan: current cancer incidence and survival data.” National Cancer Institute Monographs, 1979; 53: 5-15.
9. Nomura, A., et al. “Breast cancer and diet among the Japanese in Hawaii.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1978; 31: 2020-2025

Green Foods: Yesterday and Today

The observation that humans are biologically dependent on green vegetation for survival and well-being has served as the basis for the most ancient practice of including green leaf nutrition in the diet. If you want to feel your best consistently, then try adding a super green foods drink to your daily health regimen, in addition to the green leafy vegetables that comprise part of a healthy diet. Mix these green leaf extracts with fruit juice or a smoothie, or enjoy the wonderful clean green taste with only pure water added. Many people include a greens beverage in the morning as part of a successful weight loss program; because green foods are so nutritionally concentrated and complete, they are great for appetite control. Greens beverages are also an easy way to get finicky kids to consume more green vegetables.

This reprint provided courtesy of

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