Or, of course, for those that have a distorted view of what is healthy and what isn’t, there is no telling the category they will drop a particular food in.

Funny statements made by people in my life:

“Chocolate bars are healthy because they have milk in them.”

“The gum is healthy, it is fruit flavored.”

“We don’t sell fruit, but we have fruit flavored Jello. That’s healthy.”

I am very specific on what food that I get from the grocery store, in fact, most of my food comes from local organic (in trust) farms. When my kids are at my house, the unhealthiest of the foods (dried fruit) comes out only on occasion.

Family members have learned early that the majority of what they eat cannot be shared with my kids.

They used to assume they knew what was acceptable to feed them.

For example, they would try to feed them those gold fish crackers, fruit flavored gum, honey coated or BBQ peanuts, peanut butter cookies, fruit candies (that are made from 100% fruit allegedly), and so on.

They always offered “I didn’t know they couldn’t eat that” as the response when we said no, followed by “I thought that was healthy.”

Since they knew vegetables are OK, they felt, deep fried veggies, or veggies with dip or butter were OK too.

Worse, they would hear the kids talk about having ice cream at daddy’s and popcorn at mommy’s. So, they felt, we can give them that too.

What’s in ice cream?

• Soft serve ice cream: What’s in there, anyway?
• Is Your Favorite Ice Cream Made With Monsanto’s Artificial Hormones?
• Antifreeze in Your Ice Cream

Check out the video below to find out what is in “typical” or “default” ice cream. No, I don’t want my kids putting that in their bodies. Why would I?

My kids LOVE the ice cream that I make, so they aren’t missing out on anything, except some nasty ingredients, that I wouldn’t even pour down the sewer.

Now, what about pop corn? Buttery, salty, GMO, pop corn. Well, if you get organic, GMO-free corn kernels and pop it in coconut oil, while not raw, isn’t something that I’m too concerned with.

I don’t buy into the “cooked food toxins” bit by the way.

Then we top it off with melted coconut oil and a bit of sea salt. I’m OK with that.

But when we say, our kids eat pop corn, please don’t mistake that for a bag of microwave popped corn poison.

Better yet, let us send the food we want you to feed to our kids

Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s not the healthiest menu on the planet. I’m not suggesting that at all. However, it is a far cry from the smoothies at Burger King and McDonalds.

That’s a fact.

The stuff behind the counter can be put together to make a very tasty healthy drink. Now, I know people knock the price and say “we can make that at home cheaper.”

But, just like any restaurant, or place of business, we’re paying for convenience. Of course they need a profit for catering to us right?

Build your own smoothie

Now, I don’t know if this is standard across the board or perhaps I’m just special but ever since I’ve been going to Booster Juice I’ve been getting them to put together a green smoothie for me.

There are a bunch of different menu sections, and truthfully, as far as what I would consider healthy, only the “Lifestyle” and the Green juice section had anything that closely fits the bill (for me).

But even still, the drinks in the lifestyle section needed some tweaking. I don’t want soy, sorbet, or dairy.

Asking to remove those and add spinach and parsley was either accepted with a smile, or accepted with a frown, but accepted none the less.

Either way, I got my green smoothie from Booster Juice in the end.

New smoothie at Booster Juice

It has been awhile since I’ve been in Booster Juice, probably 4 or 5 months or more, but I popped in today after bringing the kids to a local play center (where they, the play center folks, suggested fruit-flavored jello when I asked for fruit!).

Anyway, today I was happy to see that the menu had changed. First it looked brighter and fresher with a new font, but more than that it had a green smoothie on the menu!

I know, I’m a man, and I shouldn’t get excited by such a thing, but, excited I was!

I can’t remember the name of it and I can’t seem to find anything on it online. Where’s the press release? C’mon Booster Juice!

And who’s updating your site? Let me be the web guy for free Booster Juice for life. Holler.

And the take home menus weren’t available today. Ah well, it is new after all.

The name of the smoothie was something like: “There’s spinach in it.” If I recall correctly there was freshly juiced apple (although I had them but the whole apple in), spinach, parsley, mango (I believe), and I think that was it.

It was OK, a 7 out of 10 for flavor. I think it could have used a banana. My son loved it, I had to order a strawberry, banana, cranberry concoction for my daughter though because her response was “this is yucky daddy.”

The girl (very amazing service at this particular location always) was happy to accommodate even though it was very near closing time.

Boosta Juice ingredients

Now, if you want my opinion… if ever ordering from there I would say hold the yogurt (likely antibiotics, etc. like in standard dairy), hold the soy milk (likely GMO as in standard soy), and hold the sugary sorbet (it’s one of the main ingredients, I checked the big plastic tub).

And the Booster bakes (sugar sugar sugar), and the Booster mints (fake sugars) I would avoid as well.

But there are lots of fresh and frozen ingredients. I would choose whole fruits over “juiced” fruit personally. I think the fiber keeps the glycemic levels down (and so does pairing the fruit with the greens from what I understand).

Don’t be afraid to choose a smoothie recipe from the menu as the base and then ask to add or remove an ingredient or two. Ask to avoid the fountain juice and opt for whole fresh or frozen ingredients whenever possible.

If they are confused on how they can make a smoothie without liquid, tell them to add water.

Just don’t do like I did and make the lazy assumption that everything in there is healthy, and do your due diligence.

You really can’t beat the convenience though.

How to make Booster Juice at home

Now, Booster Juice shares all of the main ingredients for their smoothies (not necessarily the ingredients of the ingredients but I digress) so you really have enough to go on to duplicate the smoothies at home.

Maybe you simply want to make green smoothies, and that is covered on this site, here, and here, and across the web, and in books at offline and online book stores, in great detail.

Maybe you want to whip up a Funky Monkey.

Either way, get your hands on the menu and put the ingredients in. Estimate how much of each ingredient to include or ask the staff.

For sure you can whip these up at home. It really is just specific measurements of fruits, greens, juices, powders, etc. combined together and blended.

There is nothing “gourmet” or “secret” about it.

The nice thing really is the experience of it all, and the convenience.

Enjoy some video below that I came across for those that want to try making Booster Juice style drinks at home.

Make sure you get a good blender, like the Blendtec.

How To: Make a Booster Juice Smoothie

While I would never suggest freezing food in plastic, or using soy (I’m a fan of almond milk, Booster Juice should maybe get some of that), this video looks like it’s attempting a Funkey Monkey (a trademark, I assume, of Booster Juice)

How to make immunity booster juice

This video is, I think, is just adding the words “Booster Juice” and “Immunity” to the title for the sake of getting people to stumble on the video when looking for those terms.

Enjoy!

The message in the article is that the measles case is linked from a recent visit to Mexico, and that people should keep up to date with their vaccinations, especially when travelling.

I am on the “no vaccinations” side of the fence, but I’m still standing close to the fence with one hand on the rail, and for the most “largely unsure.”

I brought my concerns of vaccination up to my ex just before our first born arrived.

While I didn’t get enough answers, as I wanted to talk directly with local professionals who decided not to vaccinate, I was semi-comfortable with the idea to avoid vax. In the end, we did not vaccinate.

Our children have zero vaccinations.

My belief system however is that a strong immune system is a key focus when not vaccinating.

I think that a parent is throwing caution to the wind when vaccinating.

AND when not vaccinating.

However, when the immune system is of focus I think the odds are in your favor.

Building a string immune system I feel DOES NOT involve the consumption of sugar (including boxed sugary cereals), and anything to do with the standard diet of Canadians, or Americans, or most of the world for that matter.

There are foods that should be consumed, and those that shouldn’t, in my opinion, when a strong immunity is of focus.

It’s not as simple as having a healthy meal each day and making poor choices the rest. It is about making great choices consistently day in and day out.

I know it’s not easy.

I also know that it’s not impossible.

Ultimately, as parents and caregivers, we control what goes into our children’s mouths for the most part.

And, as they are growing up, we control, for the most part, their education surrounding health, food, diet, and everything else for that matter.

I don’t think that giving a kid antioxidants in the form of freshly squeezed orange juice after they get sick is the answer.

I feel that prevention is the best medicine.

Our body need the macronutrients: fats, proteins, and carbs.

The carbs, or sugars, are the key to immunity from my understanding.

The white blood cells are the immune system in a sense.

They need the essential sugars to “communicate” effectively (again, from my understanding).

It’s easy to destroy the immunity. Just eat packaged, processed, foods with additives. They are readily available and kids (and adults) love them.

It’s hard to eliminate those foods, in general.

It’s also hard to include the “right” foods, but aren’t our kids worth a little bit of sacrifice and hard work? No, they are worth A LOT of sacrifice and hard work.

The path of least resistance is always the easiest, but at what cost?

The article linked to above states: “The best protection is to keep your immunizations up to date.”

Clearly I disagree, but only if we pay attention to the strength of the immunity in natural ways, which unfortunately most people do not.

What a shame there are not more authorities (doctors and other medical staff, teachers, parents, care givers, leaders etc.) that aren’t on board with this stuff.

No matter what age we are at, we often still look up to authority figures.

It’s too easy to be sick by following the norm and the standards, and there is such resistance to those that buck the system and go a different route.

I have to go now, my kids are asking me to make them a green smoothie.

That, my fellow health seeker, makes us parents smile ear to ear.

The healthiest green smoothie I would say, is ANY green smoothie with quality ingredients. Some of the most nutrient dense greens include kale and spinach, with practically any fruit to be considered cleansing and nourishing.

Using a variety of fresh ingredients and, at a minimum, rotating the greens, is the best approach, washing the body over with nutrients from a wide variety of plant foods.

Adding in non-typical foods like colostrum (non-vegan), mushroom and pine pollen powders, seaweeds, etc. can really kick the nutrition levels up in a smoothie.

Smoothies blend better with some sort of liquid, either freshly squeezed juice, but more often water is used. The amount of water to include depends on desired consistency and how good the blender is.

Coconut water often makes the drink too sweet, so experiment with small amounts at first. Pure filtered water is best in my opinion.

Creamy cleansing green smoothie recipe

This recipe includes a plant source of healthy fats: the avocado

water base
1/2 inch piece of ginger
1/4 lemon (with skin)
2 apples (cored)
2 handfuls of kale
1 avocado
pinch of sea salt

Tropical green treat

A very simple, rich, nutritious smoothie

1 mango
1 cup kale
1 cup water

Beginner smoothie

The taste will vary based on the brand of blueberries, the type of spinach (baby is better), and the freshness of the banana, but a lot of times this will come out tasting like bubblegum.

1 cup frozen blueberries
small handful spinach
small handful parsley
1 banana
1 cup water
a dash of cinnamon
1 cup freshly squeezed OJ

Img credit: bring-joy.com

How to achieve a healthy level of biochemical functioning

What you eat and drink, and how you breathe, factors into whether your body is cleansed and nurtured or clogged and poisoned. The basic assumption here is that the better the body is functioning, the better the mind will function. A healthy physical body can be a determining factor in ones state of mind, and their overall mood. More than just physical energy… food, drink and breath can play a role in mental energy.

As anyone that has picked up more than half a dozen health books at the local book store can attest, there is more contradicting information out there from the so called professionals and experts about what is needed to achieve ultimate health. The Internet really is no better in terms of contradictory information.

This post is a subset of what Tony Robbins has learned from real people doing real things. He located people that have already achieved what it is he wanted to achieve and applied that information for himself. You won’t find complicated metabolic typing diets, or suggestions to eat right for your blood type, or eating piles of supplements (although he feels differently about supplements today, as shown in his Inner Balance program), or counting calories, just straightforward methods to achieve health one day at a time.

I wasn’t looking for credentials. What I wanted was results. So I found people who were producing results in their body, people who were vibrant and healthy. I found out what they were doing, and I did the same. I compiled everything I learned into a set of commitments or principles for myself, and I set up a sixty-day program for healthy living. ~ Tony Robbins

6 keys to living health

1) Breath – Breath is important as a means to oxygenate the cells and control the pump-less lymph system. I’m sure that you’ve heard it before that shallow breathing is not healthy, and to watch a baby breathe as their belly rises with every breath, because they have not yet “forgotten” how to breathe properly.

Dead cells, blood proteins, and other toxic material must be removed by the lymph system. And the lymph system is activated by deep breathing. ~ Tony Robbins

“Lack of oxygen clearly plays a major role in causing cells to become cancerous.” ~ Dr. Harry Goldblatt, (Journal of Experimental Medicine) Source: breathing.com

The ratio that Robbins recommends for breathing is: inhale for one count, hold for four counts, and exhale for two counts. Remember, this is a ratio and 1:4:2 doesn’t have to represent seconds. The numbers in the ratio can be doubles or tripled, etc.

When the breath is being held, it oxygenates the blood. Toxins are removed during exhale. Try the ratio for 10 breaths 3 times each day for optimum results. In through the nose, and out through the mouth slowly. Doing it outside amongst the trees would likely have more value than in a closed up house.

Besides breathing, aerobic exercise (to exercise with air) is advantageous. Rebounding, or trampolining is a valuable form of exercise to oxygenate the blood cells and move the lymphatic system around.

2) Water-rich foods – Robbins talks about the standard eight to twelve oft-recommended glasses per day of water as being “crazy,” and that the amount we drink should be dictated by thirst. The typical supply of water has chlorine, fluoride, and other toxins, but water-rich food should account for at least 70% of our diet, in the form of sprouts, fruits and vegetables and their freshly squeezed juices.

One way to keep the bloodstream and body as free as possible from wastes and toxic poisons is to limit ingestion of those foods or nonfoods that strain the eliminative organs of the body; the other is to provide enough water to the system to assist in the dilution and elimination of such wastes. ~ Tony Robbins

Eating a salad with every meal, juicing, and making green smoothies are great ways to ensure you are getting a sufficient amount of water rich food into the diet on a regular, hopefully daily, basis.

Eating fruit as a snack (on an empty stomach) is a meaningful change, but dried/dehydrated fruits (i.e. raisins) don’t count obviously because by definition they are fruits without water.

3) Food combining – Mixing certain foods within the body can have negative effects. Not to say mono-eating is the only way to go, although once in awhile mono-eating can help the body catalog nutrients in foods to generate cravings when certain nutrients are needed, but there are some basic food combining rules that should be adhered to.

Dr. Herbert Shelton is best know for his studies in food combining, but the “stimulus/response” doctor Ivan Pavlov studied this concept extensively as well. The basic principle is that not all digestive juices are compatible, and the body provides the appropriate digestive juices to help breakdown food that is currently in the gut. The body will mix incompatible digestive juices if necessary to breakdown the hodge podge of food that entered the system.

For example, do you eat meat and potatoes together? How about cheese and bread, or milk and cereal, or fish and rice? What if I were to tell you that those combinations are totally destructive to your internal system and rob you of energy? ~ Tony Robbins

The problem lays in the fact that starchy food like rice, potatoes, and bread require an alkaline environment for digestion, where in contrast, protein foods like meat, dairy, nuts and seeds digest in an acidic environment. So, what happens when foods from both groups are consumed at the same time is the creation of digestive juices, by the body, that end up neutralizing eachother, impairing or arresting the digestion process.

When the digestive juices are unable to perform their intended purpose, digestive issues and gas are the result. This robs the body of energy and potentially creates an environment appropriate for disease to manifest. The excessive acid that gets created during the process causes the blood to thicken which slows its movement preventing oxygen from moving freely through the body.

These digestive issues force the body to require more sleep because it is working overtime processing the food. A simple approach is to just consume one condense food (non water-rich food) per meal. This should eliminate the food digestive issues that occur, hopefully resulting in more energy from easier digestion.

Robbins recommends: Food Combining Made Easy by Dr. Herbert Shelton, and Fit For Life (filled with recipes perfectly combined) by Harvey Diamond and Marilyn Diamond

4) The law of controlled consumption – “The surest way to increase an animal’s life span is to cut down on the amount of food it eats.”

The suggestion here is that regular fasting, and/or eating lots of water-rich foods (see Key #2) more so than non-water-rich foods, can extend life. In addition, normal deterioration of the immune system is delayed by restricting food (or perhaps reaching for water-rich foods instead).

5) The principle of effective fruit consumption – Fruit provides a lot for the body and is the simplest for the body to digest over practically any other food. It provides brain energy and is cleansing and nourishing at the same time.

To be most effective however, it is suggested that fruit be consumed on an empty stomach. It’s main digestion occurs (and therefore the release of its energy in the form of sugar) is done in the small intestine. If other foods are in the way it will hinder digestion, and worse, cause the fruit to ferment which can encourage digestive issues.

Fruit juice and fresh juices are best to consume. Commercial fruit juice on the other hand was likely heated which can render it acidic.

Do you want to make the most valuable purchase you can? Buy a juicer. Do you own a car? Sell the car and buy a juicer. The juicer will take you much further. Or just buy the juicer now! ~ Tony Robbins

Digestion of fruit juice is around 15-20 minutes allowing you to consume a meal shortly after ingesting nature’s cleansing and nourishing food first. A suggestion by Robbins is to start the day (and even up until noon) consuming nothing but fresh fruit and freshly squeezed fruit juices. Also, if you are to eat at all at night, nothing but fruit should be consumed after 9:00 p.m.

6) The protein myth – There is a great deal on information by Robbins about protein sources and the myths about its purpose. He talks about how meat doesn’t have to be, or perhaps shouldn’t be, our primary source of protein. In fact, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a source at all. In summary of a lot of what he said, here is a direct quote from the chapter:

You know what Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Henry David Thoreau, George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Mahatma Gandhi have in common? They were all vegetarians. Not a bad group of people to model, right? ~ Tony Robbins

Now, I can’t be sure that Robbins is using the words “vegetarian” as what we may call a “vegan,” but it seems as though he is, because he discusses issues with milk and how it may be an inferior source of protein.

Studies by Dr. William Ellis are discussed. Dr Ellis states that “if you want allergies, drink milk.” He talks about the difficulty in digesting casein (a milk protein), and how many people who drink milk regularly have lower levels of blood calcium.

If you’re concerned about getting enough calcium, simply eat plenty of green vegetables, sesame butters, or nuts – all of which are extremely rich in calcium and easy for the body to use ~ according to Dr. William Ellis

Eliminating or reducing cheese, pizza, brie, yogurt and ice cream might not be a bad idea. The texture of ice cream can be achieved by using a food processor to blend frozen bananas, and it tastes great.

I used to be just the way you may be now. Pizza was my favorite food. I didn’t think I could give it up. But since I have, I’ve felt so much better there’s not a chance in a million years I’ll ever go back. Trying to describe the difference is like trying to describe the smell of a rose to someone who has never smelled one. Maybe you should try to smell that rose before you make a judgement about it. Try eliminating milk and limiting your intake of other dairy products for thirty days and judge by the results you feel in your body ~ Tony Robbins

Of course Tony Robbins’ book, Unlimited Power, really hits all of these points home more than I can in this post. He talks about the strategies he used with his brother, for example, to eliminate his brother’s “fetish” for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and create a “love” for carrots, a food that he previously found “disgusting.”

Check out some of the comments made by people who read the book. One statement from a reader says: “Chapter 10 covers changing your diet to improve performance. I tell you it works. I started on it 18 months ago and I am a different person. I am brighter, sharper, more alive, better at my work….I could go on all day but I think you get the idea.”

Tony Robbins’ complete Living Health audio course is available on Amazon.com.