Whenever people begin to take their baby steps down a new path to health, especially a path that involves the marvelous and luminous wonders of blended green drinks, there are inevitably questions.
We had some fantastic questions about green smoothies submitted during our 10-Day green smoothie challenge. If you are or have been a participant in one of The Queen’s green smoothie programs, you’ll find a Question and Answer section under “General Green Madness” in The Emerald Lounge. You can go there to ask your questions of The Queen and periodically we’ll collect the questions and add more answers for everyone to benefit from.
Wondering about how much to drink? Wondering about giving green smoothies to your children? Wondering about your pro-biotic digestive health if you’re moving towards a non-dairy diet? You’ll find answers to those questions and more in our member’s lounge (you can even take The Queen’s Free 3-Day Green Smoothie Mini-Course to become a member! 😉 )
Three of the questions we received were so good, we decided to check with Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo for some more in-depth answers.
Green Smoothie Q & A With Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo
Q1: How much greens are too much?
A: It’s hard to eat too many greens, unless you are choosing only one type. If you eat a variety, it would be hard to get too much. I recommend eating 2 pounds of green leafy vegetables a day.
When using green juices for cleansing, it’s not uncommon for a person to consume up to 4 pounds of greens a day. There are no side effects, unless you happen to be on anti-coagulant medication and the excess Vitamin K consumption may interfere with the drugs. In cases like this, monitoring intake and working with a doctor knowledgeable about nutrition is advised.
If you get excess of any water soluble nutrients, your body can store some and eliminates the rest.
Q2: Can the body utilize the full amount of Vitamines given in a nutritional breakdown? I.e. if 1 cup of kale (how much is that in grams?) has 10,000 units of Vitamine A, can the body utilize all of it?
A: Depends on how deficient you are. The vitamin A in kale and other vegetables is not the fat soluble Vitamin A, which can be toxic in excess. It’s in the form of beta carotene, which your body makes into Vitamin A as needed. Beta carotene is a pigment and the excess can be stored in your skin, thus the lovely orangey glow of healthy greens consumers.
Q3: If using greens such as chard, kale and others high in A and K, should one even the intake out over a period of time?
A: I don’t think we need to be so rigid or scientific about it. Unless you are on anti-coagulant therapy or have a clotting disorder, just eat lots of greens, 2 pounds a day ideally, get a variety and it will all balance out over time.
Love, Health and Joy,
Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo
Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo is a leading authority on
Nutrition and Health. She’s an author, speaker and
health practitioner with over 2 decades experience
empowering health through education, inspiration
and loving care. She’s a Doctor of Chiropractic with
certification in Acupuncture, a Certified Clinical
Nutritionist, a Diplomat of the American Clinical
Board of Nutrition and a Medical Herbalist.