These days, it’s like if you’re not “green” your a monster (pun sort of intended). I feel like this attitude can go a bit over the top sometimes, but hey, I get it, we should care about the world God has given us stewardship over, and do things to better it not worsen it, I agree. But while the environment around us begs our attention, so does the environment within us. You may be greener than Swamp Thing on the outside. You’re a recycling genius, a grandmaster composter of eligible materials, you might even hold a Ph.D in the having/usage of recycled grocery bags, but for real, how are things looking on the inside? Not inside the bag. Inside of YOU. Are you a thriving, well nourished ecosystem in which there is cleanliness and order, or your insides like a polluted ocean in which your cells languish and choke on the garbage that surrounds it? Perhaps your passion is just really focused on the cleanliness of the world around you. Whatever your passion, a prosperous and healthy internal milleu will allow you to live out your passion and express it, par exellence.
There are lots of things to consider when thinking about healthy eating, but what I wanna talk to you about is eating green. Not green in the sense of functioning well on the inside. We’re gonna put that baby to bed now, but.. literally eating green. Like.. consuming.. green things. Like vegetables. Do you understand the importance of the place that organic leafy green vegetables have in cultivating a healthy body? I’ve been told my entire life to eat my freakin vegetables, but no one ever told me why!
Reason to be green #1: Mountain spring, or toilet?
Lemme ask you this: if you could get your drinking water from the purest, most unadulterated source on earth (not at all referring to bottled water), would you rather get it there, or after it’s been recycled through the system (i.e. people’s bodies, toilets, storm drains, water treatment plants, etc), and out from your tap, after having a bunch of unnecessary chemicals added to it? The same question can apply to your food. Biology class taught us about the ecological food chain in which organisms obtain energy from the food that they consume. There are three main groups of consumers as they cycle up the food chain: primary consumers (things that eat plants), secondary consumers (things that eat things that eat plants – carnivores/omnivores), and tertiary consumers (top of the game. e.g. us). At the very bottom of the barrel, forming the foundation of the food chain, you have plants themselves. Plants reside at trophic level 1, because they are autotrophs, meaning they get their energy directly from the sun and make their own food from it. Thus, they are called “primary producers.” The significance of all this, is in considering the relative quality of the energy we garner from the foods that we eat. I believe it’s important to maintain a diet that pulls from all trophic levels (plants and animals alike), but because plants provide chemical energy that, before it’s breakdown in the plant, is obtained directly from the source (sunlight), we are getting energy at the highest possible grade available throughout the system.
As we consume organisms on higher trophic levels, the things that eat plants, the things that eat the things that eat plants, the quality of the energy which we derive from them is less potent, because it’s been diminished as it’s been consumed, and run through the system of consumers since the plant. The energy content of plants, represents the purest form of energy we will be able to harness over any other food source available in the chain.
Reason to be green #2: a new chemical romance
The foods we eat on a regular basis, if we are consuming processed junk foods, are choc full of chemicals that are pretty hard on our bodies. These days, it isn’t just about the kind of foods we eat, we also have to consider the quality of the product. What kind of chemical additives are mingled with my food, that could be harming me, and bringing me down the path of disease? The sad part is, while some of these chemicals are beating us up on the inside, they also serve to enhance the taste of the foods we buy, leading, in many cases, to food addictions and out of control cravings. The good news is, the commercial food industry doesn’t have a monopoly on chemicals, because as it turns out, nature has her own mighty repertoire of chemical weapons that fight for us, not against us. I’m talking about phytochemicals. Phytochemicals (or phytonutrients) are substances plants synthesize to defend themselves against harmful invaders. Turns out, these chemicals are extremely beneficial for our health as well. Many of these phytochemicals are antioxidants that give plants/fruits their bright colors. There is a laundry list of these guys (over 900 in the foods we eat), and they usually roll deep, having, at times, 100 or more present per serving of a fruit or vegetable. They are beneficial for our bodies in everything from immune defense, to cancer killing, to reducing oxidative stress. I won’t even dare list them all, but I’ll intro you to a few of these bad boys.
Chlorophyll. “Chlorophyll, bore-ophyll.” Thanks Adam Sandler, but seriously, as bore-ophyll as chlorophyll may be, when it comes to making things awesome on the inside, this guy is an original gangster. Besides being the reason plants are green, chlorophyll is known for it’s anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative properties. It also contains vitamins D, C, and A, and acts as a powerful natural deodorizer. So if you’re one of those extra stinky people I have to stand next to while I’m doing dumbbell curls in the gym, let’s hook you up with some chlorophyll and get you right.
Ajoene. This one tends to be the George Mcfly of phytochemicals. Has an unfortunate, irrelivant sounding name, usually left out of the conversation of phytochemicals, but when scrutinized, this one truly packs a punch. Ajoene is down with the antioxidant, anti-inflammation game but brings a lot more to the table. Ajoene is also known to have antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral capacities. It’s anti-clotting factors have also been suspected to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Flavonoids. No, nothing that came from or has any association with flavor-flav, just in case you were wondering. Flavonoids are regarded by some to be the most powerful phytochemicals in the game. Flavonoids are all business, complete with anti-allergenic, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and blood vessel reinforcement properties, among many other important benefits.
Now you should get the picture of what your working with when you choose to go green. You’re treating your body to some of the most potent, health stimulating substances available anywhere. It’s food, that literally is medicine. Also, notice some of the things all these phytochemicals seem to have in common: anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, anti-cancer. Nah.. couldn’t be, it doesn’t cost enough money to be something genuinely effective in killing cancer. Think again. When you get cancer, it isn’t because you’re suffering from a lack of chemotherapy, it’s because you’re suffering from deficiencies in key substances that are critical for immunity and the proper functionality of biological processes throughout the body. It’s because the inflammatory response is out of control, trying to keep up with all of the toxic substances we load our bodies with on a regular basis. It’s because the organ systems effected aren’t able to keep up with constant abuse of all give and no take, and having interference in it’s neurological connection to the brain, etc.
“Raw is war”. The problem with cooking your vegetables is that the high heat, this includes steaming, denatures enzymes and kills off a lot of the key substances we’ve been talking about. If you want to get maximum yield of the medicinal properties that come from your vegetables and fruits, you wanna eat them raw. Now, here’s your choice: eat a few carrots, an apple, and try not feeling awkward about chewing on a kale leaf or popping a handful of loose spinach. OR, put the whole lot of em in a juicer, and get it in liquid form. Perfecto. With juicing, not only are you preserving the key nutrients you wanna take in, you are able to fit a ton more content into a manageable serving. Plus, being that it’s in liquid form, the digestive process will be a lot smoother, and nutrient uptake will be as swift as can be.
But vegetables taste nasty though. This is true, if you don’t know what you’re doing. Take the most bitter mixture of dark green vegetables, add some ginger, heck even toss in some garlic (we need our ajoene, after all), throw em into your juicer, and go to town. Now, add an apple, pear, or some other sweet fruit, and (if you’ve proportioned it right) it will literally taste like candy. It’s all about the combination people, and it isn’t hard to get it right.
Also, eat the color of the rainbow. “Leafy” greens are, I believe, some of the best vegetables you can incorporate into your diet, but there are plenty of other vegetables that aren’t green, which have powerful phytonutrients that you are gonna wanna get into your body. Juicing is a lot of fun, and it’s one of the best dietary implementations you can make. There is a popular documentary out now called “fat, sick, and nearly dead” that documents the lives of two men who were physically just as the title suggests, and completely turned their lives around by juicing. It’s worth the watch. Well, we’re all on a journey. A journey defined by our habits. I can only hope your journey is leading you down the path of health, vitality, and long life. If you’re not sure where you are, a glass of the green can serve as a mark today, that you’ve begun down a new path. A path this is confidently running towards physical strength, and vibrant health.
The Biomechanic 