The Healthy Green Drink Diet (2011) is a guideline for green drinks. It isn’t a diet per se; it suggests having green juices and green smoothies to supplement what you usually eat.
- Eat at least one green drink a day, preferably before a meal.
Below is a description of the food recommendations in the diet. Foods to include in drinks | Create a green smoothie | Blenders and juicers | Foods to limit or avoid. There’s a lot more in the book.
Use this page as a cheat sheet alongside the book. Send this page to friends, family, and anyone else who you want to understand what you’re eating on this diet.
Get a copy of The Healthy Green Drink Diet for nutritional benefits of individual greens, discussion of juicing vs. blending, and recipes.
The reasoning behind The Healthy Green Drink Diet
The book claims that adding green drinks will slowly replace your bad habits and transform your health for the better. It’s suitable to supplement any type of diet, including vegan, vegetarian, meat-eating, Paleo, raw food, Zone diet, etc.
The Healthy Green Drink Diet plan – what to eat and foods to avoid
- Foods to include in green drinks and smoothies
- How to create a green smoothie
- Blenders and juicers
- Foods to limit or avoid
Foods to eat in The Healthy Green Drink Diet
- Drink at least one green drink a day. You can increase this to 2-3 green drinks a day, before your biggest meals
- Liquids
- Water, ice
- Coconut water
- Greens and veggies for green drinks
- Arugula/rocket, anise/fennel, fresh basil, beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot tops, celery, chard, Chinese broccoli, fresh cilantro/coriander, collards/collard greens, dandelion greens, green onions/scallions/spring onions, kale, kohlrabi tops, lamb’s-quarters, lettuce, mixed greens, fresh mint, mizuna, mustard greens, fresh oregano, parsley, purslane, radicchio, radish greens, spinach, fresh tarragon, turnip greens, watercress
- Use vegetables in season where possible
- Non-green/non-leafy veggies for juicing
- Avocado, beets, bell pepper, cucumbers, radish, sweet potato (semicooked), pumpkin (cooked, fresh or canned), tomato
- Fruits for juicing
- Use these when in season to sweeten your green drinks, enhance flavor, and add a nutritional boost
- Apricot, apple, banana, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cantaloupe melons, cranberries, grapes, grapefruit, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, kumquat, lemon, limes, mango, nectarine, orange, papaya, pear, peach, persimmon, pineapple, plums, pomegranate, raspberries, star fruit, strawberries, tangerine, watermelon
- “Superfoods” to add to green drinks
- Fruits – acai berries
- Vegetables – avocados, pumpkin
- Sprouts – alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts, broccoli sprouts, clover sprouts, fenugreek sprouts, etc. – the author recommends http://sproutpeople.org/ for sprouting supplies
- Nuts – almond butter, coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut water, coconut meat
- Seeds – flax seeds, flaxseed oil
- Spices – cayenne pepper, garlic, ginger; also other spices such as chili/hot sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper
- Other – aloe vera, bee pollen, organic raw chocolate nibs, wheatgrass (fresh if possible); also others such as echinacea
- Sweeteners
- Use these only if you must – if you use fruit in your green drinks there shouldn’t be much need to sweeten them more, but sometimes a stronger sweet-kick is in order
- Agave nectar (a teaspoon or two), dates (a few), honey (a teaspoon or two will do)
- Buying tips for fresh fruits and vegetables
- Most desirable first: local farmers’ markets, small local markets, grocery stores
- Look for vibrant colors, crisp leaves, and stout, strong stalks
- Buy organic where possible
- Grow your own if possible to guarantee freshness
- Storing fresh fruits and greens
- Don’t prewash your fruits or greens. Store them in sealed plastic bags to keep out air and water
- Keep most fruits (except citrus) on the countertop and out of the refrigerator. Avocados can be ripened on the counter and stored in the refrigerator to slow the process of ripening
- Store cut fruit in a sealed plastic bag to prevent it from absorbing weird refrigerator smells
- If something can’t be eaten before it goes bad, chop it up, put it in a sealable bag, and freeze it
- Fresh basil and other herbs can be stored in the refrigerator wrapped in a slightly damp towel, or you can freeze them in ice cream trays covered with water – you can use these to chill your smoothies and get some extra flavor and nutrition
How to create a green smoothie
There are 25 smoothie recipes and 25 juice recipes in the book.
Follow the recipes, or experiment. This is what the author’s morning smoothie routine normally looks like:
- Start with liquid – fill the blender a quarter of the way with water or coconut water
- Add fruit – e.g. some frozen berries (whatever you have in the freezer)
- Add vegetables – e.g. two giant handfuls of greens (whatever you have in the refrigerator)
- Add superfoods – e.g. a spoonful of raw almond butter or canned pumpkin; melt a big tablespoon of coconut oil in the microwave for 30 seconds and add it to the blender
- Blend
For newbies and children, start with a higher percentage of fruits and slowly add more and more greens as time goes by. Skip uncommon greens and stick with spinach until your palate adjusts.
Blenders and juicers
- Pro blenders
- The book author prefers Blendtec Total Blender over Vitamix blenders
- Economy blenders
- The book author recommends Oster blenders on his website – they struggle a bit with tough, waxy greens, but are the best out there for the price
- Pro juicers
- The book author blends way more than he juices, so he can’t rationalize spending so much on a juicer – if you’re fighting illnesses and concerned with getting more nutrients and less oxidation, his recommendation on his website is an Omega pro juicer
- Masticating juicers chew the fruits and vegetable fibers at lower speeds, causing less oxidation and producing more enzymes, vitamins, and fiber
- The best type of juicer is a triturating (twin gear) juicer – this operates at the lowest speed so oxidation is hardly an issue at all. These are quite expensive
- There are also specialized juicers specifically for wheatgrass; however, most masticating and triturating juicers can handle wheatgrass as well
- Economy juicers
- The book author owns and loves a Breville Ikon Juice Extractor – it’s a centrifugal juicer, which means it grinds the fruits and veggies and spins the juice through a mesh strainer at very high speeds. This causes a bit more oxidation, but that shouldn’t be an issue if you drink the juice straight away
- He also suggests a Breville juicer on his website.
Foods to avoid or limit with The Healthy Green Drink Diet
- Fruits and vegetables
- Keep away from anything wilted or overly pungent, and also greens that are dry and yellowing
- Sweeteners
- Processed sugars
Health benefits claimed in The Healthy Green Drink Diet
The diet in this book claims to reduce the risks for: heart disease, cancer, skin conditions, eczema, psoriasis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, bacterial growth, viral growth, tumors, asthma, headaches, insomnia, bladder infections, bowel issues, irritable bowel syndrome IBS, celiac disease, overweight/obesity, acidosis, heartburn
As always, this is not intended to be a replacement for professional medical diagnosis or treatment for a medical condition. Consult your doctor before starting a new diet. This page describes what the authors of the diet recommend – Chewfo is describing the diet only, not endorsing it.
Get a copy of The Healthy Green Drink Diet for nutritional benefits of individual greens, discussion of juicing vs. blending, and recipes.
The book’s website is www.healthygreendrink.com, and has resources and recipes.
How has this diet helped you? Please add a comment or question below.
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