Natural Healthy New Start for 2014...

A lot of people are wondering whether they should juice, or blend. My answer is both! Here’s why:

Juicing

When you juice, the pulp is separated from whole fruit or vegetable. So it gives you all of the nutrients of the fruits and vegetables, but without the fiber. This makes it easier for the nutrients to get into your blood stream and throughout your body. It nourishes, strengthens, cleanses and purifies the blood and lymph system. A famous nutritionist, Dr. Schulze, even says its like a blood transfusion! Since there is no fiber, the juice is easily and quickly digested. Also, juicing is an efficient way to get a large amount of fruits in vegetables. Like my beet juice for instance. I juice 1 beet, 3 stalks of celery, 3 carrots, 1 apple, and some ginger. I would never be able to actually eat all of that at once!!! Or even want to. So instead, juicing provides an easy way for me to do so. 

The only thing with juicing is that you have to make sure you don’t blend too many fruits without enough vegetables. This can cause sugar spikes due to the high concentration of fruits (healthy, natural sugars can still be bad if its too much–dizziness, energy loss, etc). So also juice your fruits with veggies!

Blending

So I know what you’re thinking, isn’t fiber good for you? Yes! Very! And you need it. So that is why you should blend as well. You get all that good fiber in the green smoothies! Blending uses the entire fruit as opposed to just the water. This makes smoothies a good meal replacement. Many times I’ll only have smoothies for breakfast. The fiber helps to slowly digest the nutrients into your blood stream. This then prepares your body to eat heavy meals later on in the day. They are also very filling!

Also the fiber prevents those sugar rushes that can happen with juicing!

Benefits of Both

• Removes toxins 
• Provides clearer, glowing skin
• Strengthens and helps grow hair
• Gives more energy and better mood
• Helps with allergies
• Helps lose weight

Overall, I am definitely going to do both. Ideally, I want to make my smoothies in the morning as my breakfast, and juices with my lunch! (If I have time for making both each day). Remember juicers are more like a supplement, not a meal.

I hope this helps and encourages you to start juicing! You’ll see a huge difference in how you feel and look!

With Love,

Minou

Natural Healthy New Start for 2014...

This new year, I made a promise to myself to follow my intuitions and go back to my core values. That being said, it was time to go back to my good old healthy self from head to toe… I decided to start eating healthy again gravitate back to all my organic favorite recipes and ingredients…And also grow my hair back natural, NO perm NO processing…So off we go!

To begin with one of the healthy habits I always wanted to inherit was juicing…making and drinking natural, organic smoothies with all the vitamins I felt was missing in my diet…I am beginning to absolutely loveeee my green smoothie! I can’t go a day without it! It is full of vitamins and minerals including fiber, amino acids, iron, and so much more. 

Living both in New York and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in both countries most American’s and Haitian's don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, so this smoothie makes sure you get your daily dosage! This smoothie has made my skin clearer and glowy, my hair longer and healthier, and it has given me more energy! I am still a coffee drinker (bad to some, I know) but I am not nearly as dependent on it as I used to be because of this smoothie! I’ve replaced coffee with smoothies and most importantly with MEL'ANGE NATURAL HERBAL TEAS (https://www.facebook.com/melangearome01) a real game changer for me and now I only drink coffee once in awhile. Also! The green smoothie has encouraged me to change other areas of my diet and jumpstart my health journey. Your body craves what you put in–so if you eat healthy foods, you’ll desire it.

Ingredients:

• 3  Stalks Celery
• 2  Bananas
• 1 Apple
• 1 Pear
• 1 Big Handful of Spinach
• 1 Squeezed Lemon
• 1/2 Avocado
• 1 1/2 Cups Coconut Water
• 1 Tbsp Chia Seeds (optional, not available in PAP)
• 1 Tbsp  Trader Joe’s Organice Hemp Protien Powder (optional, not available in PAP)

Step 1:

Finely chop the celery as small as you can. The smaller the better the texture, especially if your blender isn’t very strong.

Step 2:

Combine chopped celery, spinach, squeezed lemon, chia seeds, and coconut water and blend low to high for 2 minutes.

Blending from low to high and blending the vegetables first is very important because it makes it very smooth.

Step 3:

Peel, core and chop the apple and pear. They are softer so they don’t have to be chopped as small.

Step 4: 

Combine the apple, pear, avocado, bananas, and if your prefer–hemp protein powder and blend from low to high for another 2 mins.

Hemp protein powder has a strong taste and takes away the fruitiness of your smoothie. Its still yummy, but it just depends on your preference. However, hemp protein powder is a super healthy, vegetarian form of protein. One serving contains 9 grams! It is the most digestible protein–even more easily digestible than whey protein! It also is a great source of iron, fiber, and essential fatty acids such as Omega 3 and Omega 6.

So there you have it! My Journey to Natural Healthy New Start begins. I hope you try it and love it as much as I do!

With Love,

Minou