Christian Dittrich-Opitz: Green smoothies - pure vitality

Christian Dittrich-Opitz | www.christian-dittrich-opitz.de

Victoria Boutenko had already been a raw foodist for more than ten years when she realised that she was dissatisfied with her previous form of raw food. In 2004, her idea to make green smoothies from green leaves in a high-performance blender arose from her findings about the diet of primates, which consists mainly of green leaves, but which can be better utilised due to the intact teeth and the presence of cellulase in the saliva of our animal relatives. As I was living in the small US town of Ashland in Oregon, where Victoria also lived, I learnt about this new trend very early on and experienced the convincing results of green smoothies right from the start.

Chlorophyll belongs to the porphyrin group of substances, molecules that are particularly sensitive to electromagnetic waves. This is why chlorophyll can capture sunlight and focus it on carbon dioxide in order to break up this very stable molecule. This process is of such high physical intensity that chlorophyll is always accompanied by many micronutrients. Green leaves contain more minerals, trace elements, enzymes, vitamins and other micronutrients than other parts of the plant, with the exception of young buds. Green leaves are also natural attractors of free electrons, identified by Johanna Budwig and Reinhold Voll as the scientific correlation to TCM's concept of qi, or life energy. Green plants draw free electrons into their leaves from the earth's excess electrons, which also ensures that the positively charged raindrops are attracted. So we see that green leaves have a unique key position for life on earth and that makes them uniquely valuable as food.

Since we civilised humans no longer have intact dentures and a chimpanzee has about eight times more bite force than a full-grown man, the high-powered blender is a welcome way to tap into the nutritional richness of green leaves. After more than 30 years of expanding various nutritional measures, what impresses me most about green smoothies is how many people feel such convincing effects that they continue to stick with them even after many years.

Ideally, green smoothies should be made with freshly picked wild herbs or microgreens, fruit and pure water. Microgreens are the alternative to wild herbs when summer drought or winter or even the place of residence prevent regular access to wild herbs. In the young growth stage, small green plants produce large quantities of plant hormones that are so valuable for human health that an entire naturopathic method, Gemmo Therapy, is based on them. Of course, fruits should preferably be less hybridised, i.e. contain seeds and, above all, not go from unripe to rotten, which is not a good sign for the vitality of a fruit. For example, I like to use lemons with plenty of seeds in combination with dates, two very original, vital fruits. The water for a green smoothie can be warmed slightly. It is never good to consume very cold smoothies, even if they are thoroughly salivated in the mouth.

Green smoothies are an ideal first meal of the day because they only slightly reduce the lightness of the time without food and provide valuable nutrition without triggering a strong relaxation reaction, as many other meals do. In addition, a green smoothie as a first meal supports healthy instincts in relation to other foods - I am always impressed by how well green smoothies help to reduce the desire for sugar or overeating.

Smoothie fasting is a welcome option for people who have problems with pure fasting due to their physical disposition or as a cleansing cure for the liver and digestive organs in spring, which is suitable for the season with the bitter substances of wild herbs. Smoothie fasting can involve 7-10 days of green smoothies, water and herbal tea. For people who have a Vata constitution according to Ayurveda teachings and therefore tend to lose a lot of weight, the body can be cleansed and nourished in this way. In general, spring is the time when the liver and gallbladder are particularly challenged and wild herbs in the concentrated form of a smoothie fast are particularly valuable.