Liz Swann Miller

I received this book free in return for a review.

It’s a great, little book. (I especially love little books, as they’re so easily read.) Its most important feature is the obvious one – that it introduces (at least to me) the concept of “green smoothie”.

The addition of “greens” - leafy green vegetables such as baby spinach, kale, parsley, bok choy, collard greens, dandelion greens, romaine lettuce, cilantro and mustard greens (what are these?) - to your smoothie will greatly improve its nutritional value. You should work your way up to 3 cups of chopped greens per day, and at least 7 varieties of greens per week.

I learnt from this author what bok choy is – Chinese cabbage. I’d seen it mentioned several times but had no idea what it was. They don’t sell dandelion greens in the shops in this country (Denmark) - I wonder if they do so in other countries? I know how healthy they are, but not, I think, if they’ve grown at the side of a road where cars are whizzing past.

Greens are believed to prevent cancer and heart disease.

At the moment I can’t actually get hold of any of the greens mentioned grown organically, and I prefer to use organic vegetables, as the author also recommends. Perhaps I will be able to get hold of some later.
I would like to know whether we can use other types of lettuce than romaine because other types are available here organically grown. I suppose I can just try them.

I think I will try the recipe entitled “Berry broccoli green smoothie”, which contains 1 banana, frozen and peeled, ½ cup blueberries, frozen, 1 cup broccoli spears, frozen and ½ cup water or crushed ice. Elizabeth states: “ This one has the ability to slow the progression of degenerative diseases. It is low in calories and filled with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants.”

Elizabeth provides us with lots of valuable information about detoxifying. However, I had understood that if one wanted to detoxify one should use a juicer and not a blender, since detoxifying requires getting rid of all the fibre as we do when using a juicer. Have I misunderstood something? Perhaps this matter could be explained in a later edition of the book!

There are two chapters on weight loss, including one with weight loss smoothie recipes. We are advised to use one of the author’s smoothie recipes as a meal replacement, should we want to lose weight.

Together with the chapter on detoxifying recipes and weight loss recipes, there’s one on de-stressing recipes, one on energizing recipes, mood enhancing recipes, immune boosting recipes, recipes for hair and skin health and one on customizing our green smoothies.

Elizabeth gives us the benefit of her extensive knowledge of health-giving fruits, vegetables and other healthy foodstuffs. I’m glad she mentions coconut water, one of my favourite healthy liquids.

However, I must object to her recommendation of Splenda, a dangerous sugar substitute, No. 2 on the list of dangerous artificial sweeteners after Aspartame. Stevia, which she also mentions, is much more preferable, though I have read that there may be some problems with it too, though it is a natural substance.

Nonetheless, I would highly recommend this book, which is written in a fresh, simple and easy-to-read style.… (mehr)