My morning Wild Food Green Smoothie and WHY I do this
Most days I'm up at first light, there's nothing wrong with me, it's just the way I've always been. When the world wakes up and I hear the birds I have to be up with them.
My health and vitality are very important to me. I want to stay active to pursue my passion for travel and wildlife photography for as long as I possibly can. This year I turned the dreaded fifty but I'm as healthy as I've ever been.
My nightmare is to be constantly suffering from some ailment or worse. I'm a BIG believer is preventative medicine. Surely it's better to stay healthy than wait for illness to strike and only then try to sort it out. Just like most of the medical profession, most of us just treat symptoms of sickness and never wonder about the cause. That's fine if you get a cold or a mild infection, but what if something more serious strikes you down. Is your immune system strong enough to fight back and even reverse disease?
According to the Smithsonian Institute, there are approximately 37.2 trillion cells in the average human body. Every single one of these cells needs amino acids which we obtain from nutrients in our diet, without them the cells lose their integrity and start to break down and die. During this process, the cells can undergo dangerous mutations which can spiral out of control when the immune system can't keep them in check. This is very simplified but essentially this is how disease starts in the body, whether it's cancer or skins problems. Every function and part of our body is made up of cells and we tend to abuse this intricate biological system at our own peril.
The modern diet is horribly low in essential nutrients. It's overprocessed, overcooked and filled with all kinds of sugars, salts and very dangerous chemicals. Don't get confused, the food business is just that, it's business. They are not responsible for your families health and wellbeing. They bombard sell us effective propaganda through all our media. In 2016 McDonald spent over £85.4m on advertising a food source that might taste good but essential is very unhealthy and ethically immoral. (I faintly remember the days of stuffing my face and then suffering for hours afterwards).
We have to be responsible for our own health and well being and especially our children. Education about nutrition is completely missing from our schooling, in the UK and across the world. This needs to change. Our societies have become obese, sick and acquiescent to the food industry and big pharma. We stopped questioning what we consume. Unfortunately, this behaviour is fed by our diet. Poor nutrition often leads to poor cognitive ability and often manifests itself as stress.
Heartburn, indigestion, "take an anti-acid and wash it down with a coke" it'll take away the discomfort and you'll look cool.....no thanks!!
Minor symptoms such as above if left ignored our years lead to serious disease as the body starts to lose the battle against the storm of poisons we pour into our bodies, three meals a day, year after year.
Sound familiar?
Drip, drip, drip, one bite after another on the path to destruction.
Society has become addicted to junk, processed food. Addicted to the consumer kitchen. Hardly anybody cooks nowadays. The high streets are full of takeaways and restaurants. Fifty percent of us die of cancer and the rest die of diabetes, stroke or degenerative brain diseases.
Coincidence? It didn't use to be this way at all and this epidemic is relatively a recent development but it's gathering pace.
Who benefits?
Food Industry and Big Pharma
Right, now that I've scared you all to death (see what I did there) I have some very good news.
The natural state of the human body is wellness, a state of strength and energy. Even in a place of sickness if you provide the correct, natural molecules your body requires to heal and rebuild the system the body responses. I've seen it with my own health which was in a very fast decline ten years ago and I've witnessed it in other very sick people. Remarkable recoveries after years of disabling health issues.
It's simple.
FEED THE BODY WHAT IS NEEDS TO THRIVE and SURVIVE
Often when I tell people this is the answer to regaining their health I get a standard response.
"I don't like vegetables and I can't afford it"
Well, if you've never tried to regularly eat fruit and veg then the taste buds will find it strange but they very quickly come round and you'll find your body will start liking if not craving the 'real' food you're feeding it.
As for cost, Yeah sure if you go the lazy vegetarian / vegan route and live off processed plant based foods from the supermarket then sure it can be very expensive. But compare that to the monetary cost of constantly being ill, losing your job, the quality your life and almost guaranteeing a painful and early death before your time.
Now that's a high price to pay!
There is a better, healthier way.
Our countryside is full of nutritious FREE food. You don't have to be a trained botanist, you have google and a gazillion foraging, healthy living websites. But fundamentally if you can identify half a dozen common, edible plants you'll be fine.
The one monetary outlay that I'd suggest is a decent smoothie maker. A machine that is powerful enough to break down all the healthy fibre (mostly lacking in the modern diet). I use the fantastic Magimix, seriously you could put your sofa through it and it would come out a palatable, smooth drink.
I make sure I have all my nutrition and more every day by drinking my nutrition in the form of a green smoothie. Today as with many days I harvested my greens from my local countryside while I was walking the dog and trying to photograph the local flora and fauna.
Washed and mixed with a selection of berries and fruits, plus some additional powdered superfoods which are optional I've downed 2 pints of superman nutrition which was delicious before 13:00. I have two pints stored in the fridge for later or even for the following day.
In all the washing, chopping and blending took me no more than 10 minutes. You don't need to be a Michelin chef to prepare this at all. wash, chop and fill with filtered water or if you prefer coconut water, then hit the button on your blender and voila, your very own preventative, restorative medicine. You could also consider it as a long life pension fund.
I know for sure I've had more nutrition in my 2 pints this morning than most of the population have in an entire week or even month. It's just so easy.
Trust me you'll feel amazing after a week of doing this. It will be a little strange at first and it will help if you start to cut out the junk in your diet. If it's frozen, tinned, sweet or salty then if most probably is terrible for you.
Health is your wealth, so start saving it today.
Below is the recipe I used today, give it a try. At first, you'll probably need more fruit, ripe bananas and blueberries work really well and help give a smooth texture. The ratio I tend to use is 70% greens 30% fruits. If your struggling reverse these percentages so you have 70% fruit 30% greens and then adjust them as you go.
Very important to remember the 'greens' are where you obtain the chlorophyll, that's where the healing magic lays.
For a better explanation go here to a previous blog posts
Also, check out our range of books at Vidda Publishing, we have many No1 titles, plus we have new books due for release any day now. I highly recommend the outstanding work by Mark Plummer who has completed a trilogy of books for Vidda discussing the world of GMO's Food Additives (coming soon) and even the terrible Bread Industry (you wouldn't believe what goes into your bread)
Any questions just drop me a line here or you can get hold of us on our social media pages
If you give the smoothie lifestyle a go please leave a comment and let me know how you're getting on. Also please feel free to hare this article and recipe with your friends and family.
Thanks and good future health.
John Hodges
