The Healing Power of Green Superfoods

Lose weight and supercharge your diet with superfood greens!

Researchers keep finding more reasons your mom was right – eating those green vegetables every day really is good for you! Whether you are looking to boost your energy, trying to lose weight, or fighting something as serious as cancer, you need green superfoods as your allies in your daily battles against what’s keeping you from living your best life.

And choosing organic is more important now than ever – whether you eat your greens whole, juice them, or use a greens powder.

The Environmental Working Group just released this year’s Dirty Dozen – the list of the 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest amounts of pesticide residues – and it’s not good news for greens lovers. Ranking number 2 on the list is spinach, while kale is new to the list at the number 3 spot. These foods are ranked in order, which means only strawberries are more contaminated with pesticides than these popular greens.

Superstar Greens!

Some of the most humble vegetables have been promoted in recent years to superfood status because of their tremendous health benefits. A handful of those green superfood superstars include these previously unsung heroes:

• Trendy microgreens like sunflower sprouts and sulfur-rich cancer-fighting broccoli sprouts pack a vitamin and mineral-rich punch that not only leaves you feeling satisfied but supports your immune system and helps fight off diseases.
• Parsley isn’t just for garnish – it’s key to helping you flush excess fluids and maintain a healthy fluid balance, and plays a part in balancing homocysteine levels.
• Sea vegetables like chlorella became famous not only for their antioxidant power, but also for their ability to detox mold and heavy metals.
• Celery has grown in popularity recently for its help with gout and supporting your digestive health.
• Grasses like wheat, barley, oat, and alfalfa not only soothe the mucus membranes of your digestive tract, but they also contain nutrients that promote wound healing and new cell growth. Their potent enzymes and antioxidants are also famous for boosting energy and for their anti-cancer properties.
• Kale, spinach, and collards are green superfoods that have gained popularity in recent years solely for their powerful immune support and positive effects on cholesterol levels. 
  
  

25 Reasons to “Go Green”

Whether you are trying to lose weight, need support while battling a disease, or simply want to see how healthy your body can get, you can reap tremendous health benefits by choosing to “go green” with superfood greens.

Here are 25 Ways Green Superfoods Can Recharge You:

1. Purify the Blood
2. Balance pH
3. Oxygenate Your Cells
4. Protect Cells from Free Radical Damage
5. Reduce Inflammation
6. Help with Cell Repair
7. Support Your Immune System
8. Nourish Your Adrenals and Support a Healthy Stress Response
9. Help Remove Heavy Metals
10. Protect Against Radiation Exposure
11. Increase Your Energy
12. Improve Your Memory
13. Contain a Full Spectrum of Vitamins and Minerals to Boost Your Levels
14. Flush Excess Fluids
15. Reduce Blood Pressure
16. Feed Your Healthy Bacteria and Microbiome
17. Support Your Digestive Tract
18. Support Detox and Liver Health
19. Anti-viral, Anti-bacterial, and Anti-fungal Properties
20. Rich in Anti-Cancer Compounds and Enzymes
21. Soothe Inflamed Mucus Membranes
22. Promote Wound Healing
23. Help Balance Blood Sugar and Regulate Appetite
24. Contain Compounds that Soothe Anxiety
25. Fiber-Rich for Help with Elimination
    
    

Get Your Greens In

Truth be told, getting enough dark, leafy greens in your every day diet can be a challenge – especially if you’re not in love with the taste. You can mask the taste while still getting their health benefits by adding powdered or juiced greens to your soups and daily smoothies.

Greens powders are a great solution to boost your vegetable intake – they’re easy to add to water, soups, or smoothies – and have the same health benefits as eating or juicing greens does.

Just make sure your greens powder really is good for you and ask these 5 questions when you look at the label:

1. Is it free from added sugars? Many flavored greens powders use hidden sources of fructose, like concentrated fruit juices, which contribute to blood sugar issues and weight gain. The best formulas are unsweetened and only contain greens, no additives. If you need to mask the taste, make a healthy smoothie with strong flavors like berries or mint that will overpower the greens’ distinctive taste.
2. Do my greens contain fillers or additives? This is where label reading comes in handy – even if the ingredients list contains only greens. Look at the “Total Carbohydrates” section of the label and find the “Sugars” listed. If there’s more than 2 grams of sugars per serving, then there are added sugars hiding in there and should be avoided.
3. Are my greens organic and free of harmful pesticides? Because greens powders are more concentrated than the whole vegetable form, the chemicals and pesticides they are contaminated with also become more concentrated. This can do more harm than good when you are faithfully taking these greens to support your health while you are fighting a disease. The best greens are grown organically, biodynamically, or using hydroponics. Hydroponics is especially important with sea vegetables like chlorella, which is now grown in clean, controlled pools.
4. Are my greens contaminated with radioactive residues, bacteria, or heavy metals? Sea vegetables like kelp, chlorella, and spirulina top the list of the most popular ingredients added to greens powders. While these can be mineral-rich superfoods if they are grown in controlled, hydroponic conditions (like chlorella is), the wild-harvested varieties have been found to be contaminated with radioactive residues, bacteria, and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and aluminum. And even though an ingredient like kelp sounds exotic, it’s actually sold cheaply in bulk for cattle feed, and that very same kelp is often bottled and sold to you in supplement form.
5. Is there gluten in my greens powder? Because wheatgrass, barley, and oats top the list of greens used in greens powders, it’s important to understand when they are gluten free and when they are not – and it’s all about the processing. Gluten is only found in the seed kernel of these plants, which is what we make flour from or sprout the greens from. The stems and leaves are what are considered the “grass” and do not contain gluten. Properly processed greens contain just the young grasses – before the seed kernel is even formed – and are naturally gluten free.

Our Daily Greens Formula contains an optimal blend of 11 greens that are organic and non-GMO, with no added sugars or fillers. These superfood greens include wheat grass, barley grass, kale, spinach, broccoli sprouts, parsley, chlorella, celery, collard greens, oat, and alfalfa and were chosen based on their research-backed outstanding health benefits.