I was interviewed by a newspaper reporter about the PEERtrainer Point Of No Return program last week, and part of the conversation brought focus to something that we have been meaning to start a discussion about.
The reporter was digging into our "diet fusion" approach, and during this part of the conversation I started going into what we had learned from Stu Mittleman and how we were applying it to the coaching program. Our observation is that when someone is able to run across the country or be able to run 100 miles in a day, we want to know how that person is able to do this. A few questions come to mind:
1) What are they putting in their body to fuel this kind of performance?
2) What are putting in their mind in terms of how they explain the world to themselves?
3) Most importantly, what are they doing differently that someone who simply wants more energy to get through the day can learn from?
We have written extensively about Stu's book "Slow Burn", and many of you have picked up a copy. In the book he talks about his philosophy of running, which very simply is the opposite of the dominant fitness philosophy/culture in this country of no pain no gain. This philosophy has resonated with many in the PEERtrainer community.
He is a big advocate of eating a diet high in green vegetables, vegetable soups, fish that is high in omega-3 like fresh salmon. He recommends dramatically reducing meat, bread and dairy. (Which is something we hear with increasing regularity.)
His key point is that as you make these adjustments of increasing greens, and reducing meat, bread, dairy and sugar you will start to increase your energy levels. He is also a big advocate of powdered greens. I'm not sure if this is in his book or not but when he ran across the country, he ran out of energy early on, and was able to keep going by adding intense amounts of powdered greens to his diet.
So we have been open to this idea, and casually looking around at the different products out there.
Anyway, long story short is that we were in Whole Foods recently and picked up a couple packets of a powdered greens mix that was on the shelf. The person at the store explained that the powder is "raw" which means there are enzymes intact. We are not huge into the whole raw foods thing, but there are people who are very adamant about the power of raw foods. (btw I will be interviewing former model Carol Alt next month, and I know she is big into raw foods. She is 50 and gorgeous so I will keep a very open mind!)
Who knows the exact truth to the power of raw foods but there is probably some element of benefit to that. The person at Whole Foods also mentioned that a serving of powdered greens contains a huge amount of greens. This is very important because we know from Dr Joel Fuhrman about the massive health benefits of greens.
But the problem is that it takes time and money to get greens in your diet. The packet that we got off the shelf was $1.49. And the company claims that each packet contains 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables. The company that took up most of the shelf space in this category is called "Amazing Grass."
This is important because there are many companies making these products. Our observation is that for some reason Amazing Grass made it into Whole Foods and is obviously in a market leadership position. There are all sorts of potential health benefits, but we will start with the observation that when we consumed the packet mixed with water, we got a certain sense of well being. Sort of the opposite of drinking a cup of coffee.
Anyway, you can find these products at any Whole Foods I think, and probably at any health store, and also right on Amazon. We have also signed up for their affiliate program, which allows us to make some money and usually allows you guys to get a discount for buying directly from them. That is how those deals work ideally.
We know there is some interest in this product category already on PEERtrainer, people had been asking about the brand because we had logged the drink. If you do check out this product let us know. And if there are others you see let us know.
This could be a very good way of easily increasing the greens and micronutrients in your diet. And maybe getting some more energy. Here are some links to different products from Amazing Grass and we will also contact the company to see what sorts of coupons we can get for you.
This link takes you to their main website, and you can see all the products they sell. They sell meal bars and I have also seen these at Whole Foods.
This is a link to the version we tried. (Amazon has a better price than the company's own website right now) We tried another non flavored one and we really did not like it. This berry version is a little sweet and tastes good. The non flavored one was a little hard to get down.
Powdered drinks really has something in them that we can get much benefit from.
Posted by: Green Drinks | October 07, 2010 at 06:10 AM
My wife and I already had some powdered greens at home, but did not like the taste when we tried mixing it with various types of smoothies (or water like the directions said). The other day it occurred to me to try mixing them in V8 juice. With the already strong vegetable flavor of V8, you can hardly tell the greens have been added.
Posted by: Ken Smith | January 05, 2010 at 03:05 PM
One more thought- Greens are kind of like pizza... even when its bad, it is still pretty good. What I mean is, they pretty much are all good for you but some better than others. I look for large serving sizes (like more than 10 grams) and high ORAC scores which is usually proportional to the serving size.
Posted by: Michael Haley | January 01, 2010 at 07:23 AM
Amazing Grass is excellent. There are hundreds of competitors on the market now which just tells you that finally people are catching on and realize that they need their greens!
Posted by: Michael Haley | January 01, 2010 at 07:19 AM
Pss..sorry for the mass postings..Just wanted to add that at first I used the Hood Simply Smart Milk (I like that because it is fat free, but tastes like 2% and HORMONE free.) However trying to make it even healthier, I've switched to mixing it with Almond Breeze Milk. (non dairy)
Posted by: Michelle | December 27, 2009 at 07:19 PM
PS - I got mine at the Vitamin Shoppe...I have also seen it at my local Whole Foods
Posted by: Michelle | December 27, 2009 at 07:17 PM
I've been using Amazing Grasses for a few months, and I really love it. I love that it is simple to make and of course, all of the amazing things they pack into it. Sometimes I just use it as a nutrition boost...but I also like the fact that I can add any protein powder I like to make it a meal. Also by just perusing the website, you get a good feel for the company's philosophy - organic - of course a big bonus. I love it! (I use the chocolate one.)
Posted by: Michelle | December 27, 2009 at 07:16 PM
I didnt find it on amazon but did find it on vitacost, (you may want to look into them, I think they have an affiliate program too) anyway I am not a berry liker so i ordered the plain plus I ordered the chocolate one for the kids, i have such a hard time getting them to eat greens. anyway Im crossing my fingers on these and I hope they work! I used to use "ALIVE" and its good but expensive, also I used to use a "total nutrition formula" that an herbalist friend linked me up with and that one was great also. so just looking for as many ways to get the micro nutrients in as I can.
Posted by: marina | December 23, 2009 at 11:35 AM
And another thing about "Juice Plus..." I remember seeing an abstract with a substantial amount of research to support the health benefits derived from these products.
Posted by: ldeborah | December 22, 2009 at 02:49 AM
What about the "Juice Plus" products? If I am not mistaken, Andrew Weil likes these products... What have other folks to say about "Juice Plus?"
Posted by: ldeborah | December 22, 2009 at 02:47 AM
Trader Joe has a few.think it's called Super Green Drink, and it's a powder. I make smoothies for me and the kids, who don't eat much green stuff,it says 1 gram of sugar but tastes as if it has more... it would be great to have all the leading brands analyzed and compared side by side for ingredients, sugar content,amount of actual "raw" powder etc.
Posted by: hj | December 21, 2009 at 10:20 PM
a nutritionist once recommended Purity Products Triple Greens Powder.
Posted by: Michele | December 21, 2009 at 04:19 PM