Articles and recipes – eating healthy while using Ozempic. Chef V’s “What do I Eat Today” menus are food plans for good nutrition.
One of the challenges of using Ozempic is managing the lack of appetite. With Type 2 diabetes, maintaining good nutrition is very important. If a smaller appetite has you eating less, you need to choose your foods carefully. Here are articles about Ozempic and nutrition. Plus, choose from these menu plans and know you are getting what your body needs. And my recipes are delicious!
At Chef V, we love Green Drink, in case you couldn’t tell.
But, as crazy as it might sound, some people are scared of the delicious green stuff. They mainly associated it with long-term juice cleanses.
However, you don’t have to be a detox juice cleanse master to enjoy fresh juice, regardless of what’s in it. There are plenty of ways to work some of that green drink into your everyday routine. You might even want to give a Chef V detox a try!
Order a 21 Day Detox Challenge – followup with a Green Drink subscription.
Over a 28-day period, the Chef V 21 Day Detox + Green Drink Program resulted in positive health improvements:
weight loss – an average of eight pounds.
– ‘bad’ cholesterol decreased – (LDL cholesterol) and the ratio of total cholesterol to LDL cholesterol improved. This is really promising for overall cardiovascular wellness.
– inflammation – went down 33% (based on c-reactive protein levels).
– A1C levels improved, crucial for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and avoiding diabetes.
– bloating decreased – relieving the traffic jam inside your stomach.
It’s truly rewarding to see these positive changes happening in just under a month, making a difference in people’s lives.
You can carry out your own Chef V program and experience the proven results! Order your 21 day detox today!
Thanks to a huge TikTok trend, berberine is now promoted as “nature’s Ozempic.” What the heck is berberine and does it really help you lose lots of weight by suppressing appetite the same way Ozempic does? Certified nutritional therapist and ChefV.com founder Veronica Wheat weighs in (no pun intended).
With an infant to care for (no hubby Brandon, I’m not talking about you haha) and a green veggie juice delivery business to run, I don’t have the time—or, the interest—to watch TikTok videos. But after hearing about the berberine trend for weight loss, I couldn’t resist plunging down the rabbit hole.
Here’s just how one of the berberine TikTok videos—which cumulatively have been viewed 100 million times—begins:
“I started taking berberine yesterday and I’m not kidding you, I was stuffed all day.”
Because of testimonials like this, be they fake or real, the fact is that from January to mid-July of 2023, sales of berberine-containing products exploded by nearly 90%. [SOURCE]
So what’s behind the berberine TikTok trend? Well, in case you haven’t heard about Ozempic, it’s a drug that was approved by the FDA in 2017 only for adults with type 2 diabetes.
Ozempic lowers blood sugar levels by helping the pancreas make more insulin. Besides effectively lowering blood sugar levels, Ozempic users also noticed that their appetites plummeted while on the drug, leading to quick, significant weight loss.
That explains why celebrities and thousands of “regular people” who could afford the steep cost of purchasing Ozempic off-label (in other words, not for type 2 diabetes) began hoarding Ozempic, creating a shortage of the drug for people living with diabetes.
The shortage of Ozempic (generic name: semaglutide), its high cost, and lawsuits over its side effects—in some patients, it causes gastroparesis, a severely painful disorder that causes food to move at a snail’s pace through the stomach to the small intestine—has caused people to look for a natural alternative.
Enter berberine.
Like flavonoids, carotenoids, and allicins, berberine is a chemical found in plants, or in other words, a phytochemical. Phytochemicals are natural compounds that plants use to protect themselves from being devoured by insects. Natural plant chemicals can either be toxic to humans or they can have medicinal-like effects. But does berberine really work like Ozempic for weight loss? I’ll get to that in a sec.
First, though, it’s important to know where berberine comes from. When it’s extracted naturally, it comes from the roots or bark of the following plants:
Most of the berberine supplements that TikTokers use for weight loss probably claim to be extracted naturally. However, I’m not sure that’s true. As this study in Nature points out, researchers have figured out how to make berberine from genetically-modified yeast. (Yuck!) And I bet you that using this GMO yeast will prove more cost-effective than having to import the natural sources of berberine. Anyway, that’s food for thought; if you want to try a berberine supplement, do your research and make sure it’s GMO-free. (But wait until the end of the article to make your decision about whether to purchase a berberine supplement!)
Barberry plant –above By User:MPF – Own work
Berberine has been a compound in many herbs that have been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. According to a research article in Chinese Medicine, berberine was first discovered in 1830 and since then it’s been the most studied alkaloid compound. In the early 1960s, Indian researchers demonstrated that berberine helped prevent diarrhea during cholera outbreaks.
Even today, herbs with berberine are kept in medicine cabinets in Chinese homes like Immodium or Pepto Bismol to treat diarrhea.
Having a serious case of the runs is one way to lose weight. But besides diarrhea treatment, what are the other benefits of berberine? And does research support it for weight loss?
Well, according to the Nature study above:
“Berberine has been found with pharmaceutical potential to treat obesity, regulate gut microbiota, treat atherosclerosis, or ameliorate Parkinson’s disease. There have been over 80 clinical trials worldwide to investigate berberine’s medicinal uses in these diseases.”
OK, so wow, 80 studies, that’s impressive. But notice the quote above says “investigate.” In other words, is berberine legit for weight loss or has it been shown to be a dud in research studies?
The problem with berberine is that it’s really difficult to obtain it from food naturally. It’s pretty much found in just those handful of plants above. So does research support taking a supplement with berberine? Personally, I’m always in favor of using real food instead of supplements whenever possible. However, it does seem that berberine is at least minimally effective for managing metabolic disorders by lowering:
In addition to these benefits of berberine, research also supports it for cardiovascular health. It also has been shown to improve the gut barrier, making sure no nasty pathogens get in, proving that it may work to help combat diarrhea.
–> Check out my “Gut Health Survival Guide.”
If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. In the case of berberine, taking it for weight loss could potentially backfire—if you’re taking diabetes drugs—like Ozempic or Metformin—and blood pressure medications. Berberine could potentially cause blood sugar levels to fall too low in some people or counteract the effects of blood pressure medications. So make sure you talk to your doctor before you start using berberine supplements.
So let’s get to the heart of the matter, or more accurately, the stomach of the matter. Does berberine work for weight loss? And if so, does it work in the same way as Ozempic?
Let’s answer the first question. If you Google “berberine weight loss pubmed” you can quickly see that the results are a mixed-bag. A meta-analysis (a review of several studies) said there was a “significant reduction of body weight and body mass index (BMI)”. Another study also showed good results but it was on rats. Another study showed “mild weight loss” in people with obesity while another study on its effects on obesity “yielded no significant decline in body weight.”
But if a whole nation of TikTokers swear by it, shouldn’t that anecdotal evidence count for something?
I can’t answer that question for you. You’ll have to decide for yourself. There are worse things you can do for your health than taking a berberine supplement. But I’m not convinced that it’s necessary. And more to the point, to answer the second question, berberine is not “Nature’s Ozempic.”
Remember the name semaglutide? That’s the generic name for Ozempic and the more recent drug approved for weight loss, Wegovy, which was created by the same manufacturer of Ozempic in 2021, the first time a weight loss drug was approved by the FDA since 2014. (Weight loss drugs have a bad track record of side effects.)
Semaglutide works by mimicking the role of a natural hormone, called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1). Here’s why that’s important. GLP-1 tells your body you have eaten. So semaglutide works by tricking your brain into thinking you’ve already eaten.
Berberine does not work this way whatsoever. So no, berberine is not a surrogate for Ozempic. Yes, berberine’s effects on metabolic disorders is promising as a 2022 study in Molecules describes.
And yes, these effects do include lowering blood sugar and improving insulin sensitivity, meaning your pancreas needs to pump out less insulin to manage blood sugar levels. It could be that berberine leads to weight loss because of its effects on controlling insulin and other hormones that control the size of your fat cells.
But that doesn’t mean it works the same way Ozempic does. And to compare berberine to Ozempic is at best false advertising and at worse, potentially dangerous for those who take diabetes medications (see side effects concern above).
When you eat real nutrient-dense food, the nutrients activate GLP-1. In other words, you don’t need to purchase berberine supplements in order to tell your brain that you are full. As I cautioned in this article I wrote about Ozempic, lots of people who take the drug for weight loss are doing so at the risk of serious malnutrition.
→ Here’s how to eat healthy if you take semaglutide/Wegovy for weight loss; you should only take Ozempic if you have type 2 diabetes.
If you want to lose weight in a safe, effective way that’s backed by research, get on an ORGANIC GREEN DRINK PLAN and maximize your weight loss success with my 21 DAY DETOX.
The 38 people who participated in a clinical trial testing the effects of CHEF V products followed the 21 DAY DETOX and then continued with the GREEN DRINK PLAN for 7 days. Their average weight loss during the 28-day study was roughly 8 pounds. That amount is impressive, considering none of the participants had significant weight to lose.
Whether they would have lost more weight had they also taken a berberine supplement is up for debate. But one thing that’s not for debate is that berberine is nature’s Ozempic. It’s not.
To your health,
Veronica “V” Kress
ChefV.com Founder
Ozempic has been called a wonder drug for people with type 2 diabetes. But there’s a dark side to it: The drug eradicates appetite. The downside? Being starved of vital nutrients. Certified nutritional therapist and CHEFV.com founder, Veronica Wheat offers solutions for staying healthy while taking Ozempic.
When it comes to Ozempic, let me get something off my chest.
I’m not going to be talking about celebrities and TikTok influencers who are unethically using the drug and potentially creating a shortage of it for people with type 2 diabetes just to quickly drop 10 pounds.
Instead, I will focus on the biggest risk of taking Ozempic for those with type 2 diabetes.
Before I get to that, in case you don’t know about Ozempic, some quick facts…
For managing blood sugar levels, Ozempic is super convenient for people with type 2 diabetes. Instead of injecting insulin every day like other diabetes meds, Ozempic is a once-weekly injection. It works by increasing the hormone, insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels when blood sugar gets too high.
In addition, Ozempic reduces glucagon, the hormone that raises blood sugar levels—a double dose of blood glucose regulation.
So far so good, right? Another way Ozempic works is by dramatically curbing appetite by cutting off the brain’s hunger signals. Not only that, but Ozempic also delays stomach emptying, which makes you feel full for several hours. This also might sound like a godsend of a drug if you have type 2 diabetes and are overweight.
OZEMPIC NUTRITION RESOURCES
CHEF V’s COOKING SCHOOL (Free videos)
What Do I Eat Today? (Free recipes)
Making Cleansing Easier (Free e-cookbook)
Many Ozempic users report that after taking a few bites of food, they are totally full, or even repulsed by the idea of food. This is a great recipe for losing weight but a disaster for overall health. That’s because the tendency is that when Ozempic users eat, they usually grab a few bites of whatever’s easily in reach. And most often it’s something unhealthy.
If you use Ozempic, you will definitely lose weight. But even with the little appetite you may have, you have to consume nutritious food. Otherwise, you’ll deprive yourself of vital nutrients. In other words, you will suffer from malnutrition. You’ll have no energy and your immune system can weaken.
So how can Ozempic users manage blood sugar and stay healthy?
Having Organic GREEN DRINK first thing in the morning is the easiest thing Ozempic users with type 2 diabetes can do to prevent malnutrition.
With 7 certified organic leafy green veggies, GREEN DRINK contains the antioxidants and phytonutrients your trillions of cells need to keep you healthy on a low-calorie diet.
And with only 26 calories per serving, GREEN DRINK won’t make your tummy painfully full or bloated if you’re taking Ozempic.
But drinking juice? Isn’t that bad if you have type 2 diabetes?
It’s true that most commercial juices cause an immediate surge of insulin and are loaded with sugar. Even green-colored juices trick shoppers into thinking it must be a healthy juice because green is the color of some of the healthiest veggies on the planet.
But don’t let store-bought juices fool you. They’re loaded with fructose (fruit sugar) and barely contain any vegetables. They should be totally avoided if you have high blood sugar. If you have type 2 diabetes, you shouldn’t have more than 25 grams of sugar per day. Did you know that most green juices sold in stores have up to 50 grams of sugar?
But there are three reasons why GREEN DRINK is perfectly safe for type 2 diabetes.
Watch CHEF V's Infamous Green Drink and Diabetes
So if you’re taking Ozempic for diabetes, make sure you’re fueling your body with supreme nutrition, even if you have a very low appetite.
Learn more about GREEN DRINK.
Nutrition Hint from an Ozempic user:
“Keep a healthy food at your desk, in your tote, anywhere that is super easy to grab. Then set a reminder on your phone and when it goes off, eat a little. I use Green Drink, cut up fruit or nuts.”
below, Chef V working one of our kitchens
“GREEN DRINK has been invaluable for me to get the right mix of nutrients every day even when you’re not motivated to eat. Having a Green Drink in the morning kicks starts a healthy beginning to my day.” —Type 2 diabetic Ozempic user and CHEF V customer, Jean Y.
But what about the rest of the day? Sure, Green Drink is a great way to flood your cells with vital nutrition in the morning. But when you don’t feel like eating much, what else can you do to stay healthy?
I recommend taking one day a week to cook mini healthy meals. Even if you nibble just a few bites here and there, that’s ok. But it’s so important that you’re not just subsisting on high-carb foods while taking Ozempic.
If you have any questions about using CHEF V with diabetes, we are always here for you.
Here’s to having healthy blood sugar levels and optimizing your nutrition!
Love,
Veronica Wheat
Founder, ChefV.com
An independent clinical trial shows that Chef V’s 21 Detox followed by 7 days of continuing with a Green Drink plan significantly lowered HbA1C levels, one of the most important markers of health and longevity.
According to Citruslabs, after the 28 day study was completed, “…there was a significant reduction in HbA1C. HbA1C is a marker of glucose levels in the blood, and lower levels are preferred to higher levels. The significant reduction in HbA1C demonstrates a healthy glucose response by the body after using Chef V products.”
Maybe you’ve heard of “A1C” and know it has something to do with blood sugar levels. That’s a good start. But your A1C levels don’t only reveal whether you have diabetes or prediabetes. Your A1C level also has a profound effect on skin health and the aging process. And considering that your A1C level is one of the most important health biomarkers, let’s dive deeper.
It's important to understand that lowering your A1C levels is a gradual (slow) process. Unlike a blood glucose test, A1C measures your average blood sugar over a period of 2 to 3 months. This means, it can take up to 3 months to notice significant changes in your A1C.
Been a while since you’ve had lab work done? If so, I highly recommend that you get a Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP) that includes A1C. Getting a CMP and A1C provides a snapshot of your liver and kidney health, electrolyte balance, metabolism, and blood.
Just as you take your car to a mechanic for optimal engine performance, you should get these diagnostic tests to ensure your body’s “engine” is running smoothly.
The hemoglobin A1C or HbA1c test (A1C for short) is a simple blood test that measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months. That’s the simple explanation.
More specifically, the A1C test measures the amount of glycated hemoglobin in the blood.
So let’s break down what “glycated hemoglobin” is in two parts. First, hemoglobin is an oxygen-carrying protein in your red blood cells. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body.
What does this have to do with blood sugar?
That brings us to “glycation.” When you eat anything with sugar or carbohydrates that break down into sugar, some of that sugar sticks to hemoglobin. This is called glycation. The A1C test measures the levels of these sticky, sugary molecules as a percentage. The higher the percentage of red blood cells with sticky hemoglobin, the higher your blood sugar levels.
Because red blood cells live for about three months, an A1C test provides a sneak peek of how much sugar is hanging out in the bloodstream over that three-month period of time.
The A1C test is used to diagnose diabetes, assess how well people with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels and diagnose prediabetes.
According to the Diabetes Research Institute, 37.3 million Americans or 11.3% of the population have diabetes, and nearly 100 million Americans have prediabetes, including nearly 50% of people 65 and older.
Obviously, diabetes is a major health concern. Research from the Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry explains that glycation—the underlying mechanism behind type 2 diabetes—leads to “a variety of irreversible dehydration and rearrangement reactions that lead to the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).”
When you eat blackened, barbecued meat or breathe in polluted air, this causes AGEs. AGEs lead to premature aging, including “a loss of protein function and impaired elasticity of tissues such as blood vessels, skin, and tendons … and diabetic complications.”
So can’t you just take some supplements to overcome glycation and AGEs?
Not so fast, suggests the research.
“Because there are no enzymes to remove glycated products from the human body, the glycation process matches well with the theory that the accumulation of metabolic waste promotes aging.”
Additional Resources on Diabetes
Chef V Clinically Proven To Lower A1C Blood Sugar Levels
Is It Safe For People With Type 1 Diabetes To Do A Cleanse?
Chef V’s Perfect “Prescription” For Eating Healthy While Taking Ozempic
For some people, including those with diabetes, having high blood sugar levels is an abstract health problem. In other words, the link between having high blood sugar levels and serious health problems isn’t considered before it’s too late.
For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), common diabetes health complications include heart disease, chronic kidney disease, nerve damage, and other problems with feet, oral health, vision, hearing, and mental health.
Although it seems shallow in comparison, let’s face it, people do care about how they look. And another thing that relatively few people give much thought to is how A1C levels affect the skin. Sugar not only sticks to red blood cells, it also sticks to collagen and elastin, the two primary types of structural protein in the skin.
When there’s too much sugar on collagen and elastin, those advanced glycation end products I mentioned damage collagen and elastin, leading to wrinkles and inflamed, dry, and itchy skin.
The bad news is that it’s difficult to reverse AGEs-related skin damage. But there’s a simple, research-proven method to manage A1C levels and prevent further harm to the body…
Fast forward to early 2023 when Brandon and I decided to put the 7 certified organic green leafy veggies to the test. We invested in a clinical trial conducted by Citrus Labs, a Santa Monica-based independent research organization. Citrus Labs analyzed the effects of a Chef V 21 DAY DETOX followed by a 7-day continuation of a Green Drink Plan.
(Read more about the research study here.)
It’s important to mention that none of the study participants had diabetes or high blood sugar levels. Before day 1 of the 28-day study, the average A1C level of the 38 participants was 5.4. On day 28, the participants’ A1C levels were 5.31—a reduction of 1.7%.
That might not seem like a big reduction. But it is. Just like the difference between a 5.0 and 6.0 earthquake is monumental in terms of power and potential destruction, a reduction of 1.7% in A1C levels is impressive, especially for a population that didn’t have a high blood sugar level to begin with. But don’t just take my word for it.
“The significant reduction in HbA1C demonstrates a healthy glucose response by the body after using Chef V products.”
—Citrus Labs analysis
One of the simplest ways to lower blood sugar levels is by consuming more green leafy veggies. Several studies prove this. For instance, a study of 417 type-2 diabetic patients 65 years or older in Japan showed that eating 1 cup or more a day of green leafy veggies led to significant decreases in HbA1c, triglycerides (fat in the blood), and waist circumference.
As a certified nutritional therapist, I’ve always believed in the therapeutic potential of green leafy veggies. That’s why I created a recipe for an organic low-sugar blended juice with 7 different types of leafy greens.
At the time I created the recipe, I was a personal chef. But the response was so overwhelming that about a decade ago, my husband, Brandon, convinced me to start a business delivering this Green Drink. Within a short time, Chef V was delivering Green Drinks nationwide.
A value of 6.5% or higher indicates diabetes, while a value below 5.7% is considered normal. If you have diabetes, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends an A1C level of less than 7% to reduce the risk of complications.
I’m not suggesting that having a serving of Green Drink is all you need to do to manage A1C levels. After all, lowering your A1C levels requires regular exercise and following a healthy overall diet, which I teach how to do with the 21 DAY DETOX.
But if you’re not a huge fan of veggies or don’t have time to make huge salads, having a daily serving of Organic Green Drink—only 3 grams of natural sugar per 8 ounces—is one of the easiest ways to get your daily dose of A1C-lowering ingredients into your diet.
With millions of people using Ozempic for diabetes and weight loss, is doing a Chef V 21 DAY DETOX and continuing with a Green Drink plan safe? And is it generally safe for people with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that accounts for roughly just 5% of all diabetes diagnoses?
As Citrus Labs concluded, Chef V Detox and Green Drink work because you don’t have to skip meals, which can be dangerous if you have diabetes. “Chef V supplies the nutrition needed for optimal health outcomes,” the lab report concluded.
However, if you have diabetes, you should consult with a registered dietician or other medical professional before beginning any new dietary intervention.
Read more about how Chef V’s Detox & Green Drink has been clinically proven to improve health outcomes such as:
Some of my most loyal customers are taking charge of their health despite having chronic metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes. Organic Green Drinks are awesome for cleansing the system and starting the day off right. But some people need an extra assist. Enter the drug, semaglutide. If you’ve never heard of it, trust me, it’s going to blow up. By next year, I predict it’s going to be one of the hottest weight loss remedies for those who constantly struggle with weight management.
In June of last year, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had approved the anti-diabetic medication, Ozempic for weight management under the name Wegovy. Also known as semaglutide, the drug has a lot of potential customers in the U.S., where two-thirds of all adults are either obese or overweight. While Ozempic is meant to to be used longer term for control of diabetic's blood glucose levels (A1C), Wegovy is being used as a short term weight loss tool.
Because it’s easy to use and it seems to have mild side effects, hopefully semaglutide will be the magic pill that makes a huge dent in the obesity-diabetes epidemic. And you’ll never believe where the active ingredient of the drug comes from.
But first, let me tell you why semaglutide hits home for me. You see, my immensely talented graphic designer, Jean, was involved in the clinical trial for its effects on diabetes. Jean has used the drug for 7 years and swears by it. So when Jean told me about this wonder drug, I was determined to look into it and so far the results are promising. And for me to sing the praises of a pharmaceutical remedy is saying something because normally, I’m Miss Mother Nature.
Semaglutide: Sourced From A Monster
I admit that when Jean told me where the idea of semaglutide was first hatched, I didn’t believe her. So I verified her claim and now I owe her an apology. But you would be skeptical if you heard that the way the drug can change sugar metabolism is because of the venom of the Gila monster.
Gila monsters aren’t actually that scary looking. They’re really just small lizards that weigh 5 pounds at most. But in the reptile’s venom—not deadly to us but it wouldn’t tickle if you got bit—are hormones that regulate blood sugar.
OK, so semaglutide isn’t actually synthesized from Gila monster venom but rather from a synthetic analogue of a hormone in Gila monster venom called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1).
Glucagon is like the unpopular step-sister of insulin. Almost everybody knows that insulin is the hormone that controls blood sugar. But it’s not the only one that does so. Glucagon actually raises blood sugar when blood sugar levels are too low.
According to Vox.com, doctors noticed that people who took semaglutide were not only better able to manage their blood sugar levels, they also lost weight. Obesity researchers got very excited over the results.
Semaglutide Drugs For Weight Loss
Semaglutide is the hormone molecule that goes by a few different brand names. Besides Ozempic (low-dose), there’s Wegovy, which is a once-a-week injectable, higher-dose weight-loss medication. And if you’re deathly afraid of needles, there’s an oral version called Rybelsus (did Big Pharma marketers run out of clever names?).
Harvard Health doesn’t come right out and say it but for best weight loss results, if you read between the lines, it seems that Wegovy works best for weight management.
Again, I want to stress that if your doctor puts you on a semaglutide drug, you’re not injecting Gila monster venom. What you’re injecting is a synthetic hormone that naturally is found in the digestive tract. Real GLP-1 that’s in your gut signals the pancreas to release more insulin, delays the emptying of the stomach which helps you feel full for longer, and signals the brain that hunger has been satisfied.
(To trick my brain into feeling satisfied, I don’t eat a regular breakfast. Instead, I drink water first thing in the morning, wait about 20 minutes then have 8-16 oz of Green Drink. To complete my “breakfast” I’ll have a plant-based protein shake an hour or two later. Hunger solved.)
Does Semaglutide Work?
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine from March of this year shows really promising results. Those that were randomly assigned the drug had an average weight reduction of nearly 15% after about 16 months. That’s impressive weight loss. A 300-pound individual would have lost about 45 pounds with those results. Not too shabby!
In even more recent trials, more than 50 percent of trial participants have lost 15 percent of their bodyweight and up to 40 percent of participants have slimmed down by 20 percent, according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Why Semaglutide Will Be A Weight Loss Success Story
Weight-loss and obesity medications are notoriously fraught with dangerous side effects. Considering the relatively mild side effects and efficacy of semaglutide, it’s easy to see why nutrition therapists (like yours truly), registered dieticians and doctors are excited about semaglutide.
Unfortunately, many health insurers and Medicare typically don’t pay for obesity medications. But to date, there’s never been a weight-loss drug that has shown such impressive results with so few side effects. Here’s hoping that those who have been struggling for years to get their weight down will finally have that magic pill they’ve been praying for.
Obesity isn’t simply a lifestyle disease. Several factors come into play such as gut dysbiosis* and genetics. People living with obesity should not be punished for their condition. In my humble opinion, semaglutide should be available—and affordable—for all. If you’re interested in semaglutide, talk to your doctor.
*dysbiosis: disruption of the composition and diversity of the microbiome
Coconut Sugar? What do you get when you cross my 7-year-old, four-legged furry kid with sweetener?
You get my very own sweet sugar baby – my dog Coconut!
Sorry for being corny—again.
But in all seriousness, one of the most common questions I get asked as a certified nutritional therapist and creator of The Chef V Organic Cleanse is this: Is coconut sugar healthier than regular sugar?
Let’s dive in and find out what the research says…
What Is It?
Actually, before we follow the science on coconut sugar, let’s cover some basic facts on the natural alternative sweetener.
It does not come from the meaty white flesh of the nuts. It’s also not produced from the husky shell. And it’s not made from the liquid within the nut (coconut water).
So what is it made from? It’s made by dehydrating the sap contained in the flower bud of the stem of coconut palm trees. You could say that the sap is the circulating life force or the blood of the tree. And just like the blood circulating through your veins contains minerals and trace minerals that are vital for energy, coconut sap is rich in minerals. But we’ll get to that in a bit…
Coconut blossom sugar, is all-natural. Although it comes from the coconut palm tree, do not confuse it with palm sugar. Regular palm sugar is sourced from a different type of tree than coconut sugar.
True coconut sugar resembles granulated raw brown sugar. And if you’re an animal lover or vegan, there’s one big plus about using it instead of regular table sugar.
According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), table sugar is sometimes whitened with bone char. What’s bone char, you ask? It’s charred cattle bones. Think about that next time you sweeten your coffee at your favorite diner. And according to PETA, brown sugar can also be processed with bone char. Brown sugar, which is not healthier than table sugar (it’s just as refined) is colored with molasses, so don’t get fooled by regular brown sugar.
But coconut sweetener is a healthier brown sugar that is not refined and therefore does not get processed with bone char.
Benefits
I found an interesting study published in Food Science & Nutrition, co-authored by researchers from Malaysia, a country thought to be the first to commercialize it for the U.S. market.
The researchers concluded “Coconut sap could be served as a potential healthier sugar source compared with sugar palm and sugarcane as it carries more minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins.”
Another reason the researchers think it is a healthier alternative to refined sugar is that it has a lower glycemic index. The GI ranks the rise in blood glucose after the consumption of carbohydrates on a scale from 0–100. A food with low GI raises blood glucose less than that of the food with high GI.
Coconut sugar’s GI ranks about 35, which is only 10 points higher than fructose from whole fruits. In comparison, refined sugar has a GI that’s almost twice as high as coconut sugar.
For this reason, the researchers suggest that coconut palm nectar (another way to say coconut sugar) can be part of the solution in curtailing the diabetes and obesity epidemic.
Vitamins & Minerals
The researchers detected vitamin C, B1, B3, B4, B2, and B10 in samples. Of those, vitamin C, B3, B4, B2, and B10 in coconut nectar were significantly higher than in table sugar. In addition, coconut sugar contained higher levels of three important electrolytes: potassium, sodium and magnesium. Many Americans are deficient in magnesium, a mineral that’s important for helping to relax muscles.
By the way, you can also get the benefits of these minerals from coconut water, which is why I use both coconut sugar and coconut water in several of my recipes.
And in comparison to regular sugar, coconut nectar is relatively high in other minerals such as zinc, calcium and iron.
For Gut Health?
Another reason to swap regular table sugar for coconut is that it contains a type of fiber called inulin. This special fiber acts like fertilizer for a type of friendly bacteria in your gut called bifidobacteria, which is a common live culture added to yogurt.
Inulin is considered a post-biotic fiber. Postbiotics are the healthy short-chain fatty acids released by probiotics. Probiotics are essential for a healthy gut and immune system, but it’s actually the postbiotics that make the magic happen!
Is It Healthier: Chef V’s Verdict
Now don’t get me wrong … even though I think it is healthier than regular table sugar, I don’t rely on it to get my daily dose of essential minerals and trace minerals. The dark leafy greens in Organic Green Drink provide me with an excellent low-sugar source of minerals without spiking my blood sugar.
If you have type 2 diabetes, don’t get fooled into thinking that it is a miracle sweetener. It may have a lower glycemic index than regular sugar but that doesn’t mean it gives you a free pass to go crazy with it.
So don’t use it as a multivitamin, antioxidant supplement or probiotic. Instead, just like all other sweeteners, use it sparingly. But when I do use the sweet stuff, I reach for COCONUT and a little coconut sugar.
How many times a day do you do it?
You’re not really hungry but you stroll into the kitchen and open the fridge or pantry…
It’s not like new food has magically materialized.
Yet you find something to snack on.
But even when you’re done eating the last crumb, you’re already thinking about the next snack.
And all day long, it doesn’t stop. Popcorn on the couch at 11:00 at night while you’re binge-watching your favorite show.
Nothing wrong with unwinding after a hard day’s work with some mindless show.
But because I know about SIBO and how it can cause terrible bloating, constipation, gas, and skin problems, I avoid snacking almost entirely—especially after dinner.
What is SIBO?
SIBO stands for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
Because of the popularity of probiotics, lots of people know about the importance of having a healthy gut microbiome.
Not sure what a gut microbiome is?
It’s everything in your gut that’s not you, like bacteria and fungus.
It’s important to have enough of these invisible friendly freeloaders in your gut. That’s because they help metabolize food and release byproducts that keep you healthy.
In other words, if you take care of these microscopic critters, they will take care of you.
Many people know it’s important to have enough friendly bacteria in the gut to keep the potentially disease-causing bacteria and yeast from overwhelming the immune system.
But what few people are aware of is exactly where the good stuff should be.
Yes, in the gut … but where exactly?
The answer is your colon.
And, no, the colon is not the same as the rectum, where poop comes out of; the colon is another term for the five-foot long large intestine.
Gut bacteria should predominantly be present in the large intestine. But when you snack a lot, it can cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine or SIBO.
What Causes SIBO?
There are other root causes besides snacking. But not giving your digestion enough of a break is one of the biggest culprits.
Chronic stress, medication, serious illness, surgery, hormonal imbalance (excess estrogen) … these are some of the other contributing SIBO factors.
But I want to focus on snacking here because almost everybody can relate to it and it’s really easy to correct.
So here’s why snacking can cause SIBO…
The bacteria in your small intestine normally gets literally swept down into the large intestine several times a day by a process called the migrating motor complex or MMC.
Not to geek out on this highly complex function of human physiology but the basics of the MMC are important to understand.
If the majority of your bacteria sits in your small intestine, you will not be able to absorb nutrients very well.
Malabsorption of nutrients can cause autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue, mood disorders and lots of other health concerns.
So you really need the bacteria to migrate from the small intestine to the large intestine. Otherwise, the friendly bacteria (probiotics) can’t digest their favorite food—prebiotic fiber—that eventually create short-chain fatty acids.
Short-chain fatty acids improve gut-brain communication. And basically every factor of health such as immunity is determined by gut-brain communication.
Why Snacking Causes SIBO
But it can take up to 4 hours in between meals for most of the bacteria to be swept into the colon.
You probably already know that frequent snacking is bad for managing blood sugar levels and keeping insulin levels low.
Now that you know about the MMC, add it to the list of why you really should never snack in between meals—unless you have a medical condition such as type 1 diabetes that necessitates eating frequent small meals.
SIBO is another good reason to give intermittent fasting a try. I like the routine of finishing my dinner by 8 p.m. and then breaking my fast 16 hours later with Organic Green Drink.
Doing a 16 hour fast will help your body not only sweep all the excess bacteria down into the large intestine, it will also help your body get back in balance. Digestion requires an enormous amount of energy and resources. When you deprive your body of food short-term, it can focus on other tasks like self-repair.
(Fasting for 12-14 hours will also yield positive results but build up your temporary daily fast to 16 hours eventually.)
How To Get Tested For SIBO and Fix It
You have to get diagnosed for it by a medical doctor. You can also find a functional health practitioner who can run some diagnostic tests and assess your gut health.
Fixing SIBO requires dietary adjustments, probiotics and prebiotic fiber, for starters. You may have to eliminate all added sugars, gluten, processed soy, white flour, and wheat flour for the time being. Eat a plant-based diet consisting of real food (nothing packaged or processed) and stop snacking. And stop walking past the fridge and pantry so much!
Maintaining blood sugar levels is important for everyone, but especially pressing for those with diabetes. Blended juice cleanses can help you get your blood sugar levels back under control, and cut sugar cravings as well – this makes them an incredibly useful tool for both preventing diabetes, and alleviating its symptoms.
Individuals with diabetes do need to be very careful with changes in their blood sugar levels, and with what they eat in general. This means that diabetic cleanses need to be approached with a little bit more care and thought. We’ll cover some of these considerations right here.
Juicing to Prevent Diabetes
In an odd twist, juice is both one of the main causes of diabetes, and one of the main ways to prevent it. How does that work, you might ask?
The risk of Type 2 Diabetes can be increased significantly by the consumption of sugar (overall diet, lifestyle and genetics also play a role). A lot of the juice products you can buy in the grocery store tend to be filled with sugar, often artificially added in order to create a sweeter flavor. Since we tend to think of juice as “healthy”, we might gulp down a lot of sugar without realizing it.
However, there are also a lot of healthier juice options out there. The green drink in our blended juice cleanses, for example, is filled with only the healthiest fruits and vegetables, and has low overall sugar content – an 8oz serving has 26 calories and 6 g of sugar.
Blended juice cleanses can be a great way to help regulate the dangerous sugar levels that might lead to the development of diabetes. They’re also a great way to help regular sugar cravings. This doesn’t only promote weight loss, but it helps you better stick to a healthy diet that can be used to manage diabetes risk factors. While reading the labels on blended juice cleanses, check for the amount of sugar – some have up to 100 g of sugar!
Juicing and Diabetes Concerns
So, a blended juice cleanse can be a great way to help prevent the high blood glucose levels that can be a risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes. But should people with Type 2 Diabetes be taking part in blended juice cleanses? Can it do anything for diabetes after it has developed?
If you are considering the possibility of a safe detox for diabetics, there are a few things to consider. Blood sugar levels for those with diabetes are much more difficult to control. This means that if you go all out on a hardcore diabetic cleanse to lose weight, you could possibly drop your blood sugar down to levels that are potentially unsafe.
If you have diabetes and aren’t sure about participating in a juice cleanse just yet, it doesn’t mean that you have to abandon the good stuff in a blended juice cleanse entirely – far from it. It does mean that you should try to set more limited and realistic blended juice cleanse goals for healthy living.
Cutting out sugary drinks is still important, as are managing sugar cravings. This is why incorporating green drinks into your regular diet can be a great way to help you achieve weight loss goals, and blood sugar level goals, even if you do have diabetes. By losing weight and cutting sugar cravings, you can help better manage your diabetes overall. With Chef V, you can get a green drink plan developed just for you, delivering the exact amount of the healthiest green drinks out there for your own health needs.
So while undergoing long cleanses may not be the best idea for those with diabetes, blended juice cleanse products can still play an important role in maintaining good health.
Recently Chef V had a clinical research study of its detox and green drink products completed. It shows that a 21 day Chef V detox plus a week of Chef V organic green drink lower A1C blood sugar levels.
Additional Resources on Diabetes
Chef V Clinically Proven To Lower A1C Blood Sugar Levels
Is It Safe For People With Type 1 Diabetes To Do A Cleanse?
Chef V’s Perfect “Prescription” For Eating Healthy While Taking Ozempic
Veronica “V” Kress, founder of ChefV.com, is paying it forward by reducing the yearly cost of a Green Drink plan and 2 Cleanses by $4000, to a select group of VIP customers. To be eligible for consideration, VIP customers must be fully committed to looking and feeling their best in 2023.
How are those healthy New Year resolutions going so far? Hopefully you’re not one of the 25% of people who quit within the first week of setting their resolutions.
The fact is that most people abandon their resolution before the end of January. And get this: less than 10% are successful in seeing their resolution through and achieving success.
Are you the rare person that not only wants to unleash your full potential in 2023, but will actually make it happen? Are you someone who wants to live life at the possible highest vibration this year?
Do you want 2023 to be your healthiest year yet? Are you excited about the possibility of looking and feeling your best ever?
Then I have an invitation for you.
But first I have to warn you about something…
Be A CHEF V VIP. Buy A New Wardrobe With Your Savings!
If you accept my invitation you’re going to get significantly leaner.
You’ll finally achieve the body you’ve been dreaming about for years.
And that means there’s a good chance you might have to buy new clothes.
But with all the money you’ll save, you’ll be able to buy a whole new wardrobe.
Plus you’ll still have lots more money saved to go on a dream vacation.
If this sounds too good to be true, there is a catch…
You need to be 100% fully committed to my plan.
You see, recently, I told you that Chef V’s Green Drink Plan is the best $7 you’ll spend this year for your overall health and well-being.
The same price as a coffee shop vanilla latte will help you lose weight, feel great and everything that comes along with that…
Like better sleep, more youthful looking skin and a stronger immune system…
The Chef V Green Drink Plan is a great place to start for looking and feeling your best in 2023.
If you want to take it to the next level and save thousands of dollars, I invite you into my inner circle: the CHEF V VIP group.
Here’s what you get when you join:
Be A VIP For Less Than The Cost Of A Burrito
My accountant is not very happy with me. You see, he thinks I’m not charging enough for my Green Drink Plan. And on top of that, I’m offering 2 free 3-DAY CLEANSES!
I’m sure you’re all too aware of how much prices of everything have gone up. Why would I then offer a huge savings plus several freebies on top of that?
Well, at the end of the day, CHEF V is a business, so I do have to turn a profit. But beyond being a business, CHEF V is a community. And I want to give back and help people achieve their health goals.
This is why I created the VIP PLAN. By becoming a VIP, you are purchasing not only the freshest, most gut-friendly, lowest-sugar Green Drink, you’re also getting something you can’t put money on…
ACCOUNTABILITY.
By becoming a VIP, you are not only purchasing daily Green Drinks and 2 CLEANSES, you’re also investing in your future health and success.
By prepaying for a VIP yearly plan, you are guaranteeing that you will stay motivated and committed to meeting your goals.
In becoming a CHEF V VIP, you eliminate the chance of failure!
You will be the rare person that sticks to their New Year health resolutions!
So what will all this cost?
I believe in being fully transparent. No waiting until the checkout cart pops up to see what the total cost is…
Your upfront investment in your health and happiness for 2023 is $2199.
That comes out to $183 a month.
That’s only $6.10 per day.
Way less than the breakfast burrito I ate the other day. It was $15!
Of course, I ate it at 1 p.m. because I do intermittent fasting and I break my fast with Green Drink every morning. Having Green Drink every day for your “break-fast” is the easiest way to lose weight and feel super-charged.
And with the VIP Plan, you’re guaranteed of securing the lowest possible price on Green Drink and sticking with it. No temptations to jump off the bandwagon and go back to your old ways of eating sausage, bacon, toast and bagels for breakfast.
I can’t emphasize enough how Green Drink starts off your day in the healthiest way possible.
—-> Read Chef V’s Health Benefits Of Green Drink For Breakfast
The point is, that gourmet burrito I had was delicious. But $15 on something that really isn’t supporting my health to the same degree as Green Drink? Delicious but ridiculous.
Whereas $6 a day for Green Drink plus free 2 CLEANSES during the year to support your body’s detoxification organs?
That’s far too much of a bargain, according to my accountant.
Is Your Brain Health Worth $2K?
The average person will think of a thousand excuses not to invest $2199 in their health.
But you’re not average. You realize that flooding your cells every morning with the world’s most potent, health-supporting phytonutrients is priceless.
And doing so affects your health in every possible way.
For example, your brain health.
But don’t just take my word for it. A study in the journal, Neurology, shows that just 1 serving a day of green leafy vegetables may help to slow age-associated cognitive decline.
Plus there’s research that shows how daily green leafy veggies supports sleep quality, collagen production, blood sugar levels and so much more…
The VIP Green Drink plan is like buying the best premium fuel for your body at Costco prices.
30 Day Challenge X 12 = Amazing Health Transformation
Every so often, we’ll do a 30 Day Green Drink Challenge on social media. Chef V customers who complete the challenge typically experience some amazing results. 10-20 pounds lost. More energy. Cravings for junk gone. Clearer skin.
Unfortunately, some people lose their momentum and go back to their old ways.
This is why becoming a VIP is the smartest thing you’ll do this year.
Imagine the success of a 30-day challenge times 12!!!
On a VIP plan, the motivation will never fade!
Make 2023 the year you finally see a health resolution through to the end of the year.
To your health and success!
Love, Chef V
This “What Do I Eat Today” menu starts with warm lemon water, then Green Drink. For breakfast, Easy Cereal with Chef V's Almond Milk. For lunch, my Creamy Sweet Potato Soup, and for dinner, Vegan Moussaka, demonstrated in this month's Chef V Cooking School video. Dessert is a creamy Chia Seed Pudding with fruit.
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I'm hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Easy Cereal with Chef V's raw Almond Milk
Chef V’s Tip: My Raw Almond Milk is easy to make and so versatile; I use it throughout my book. Or, an ice-cold glass of it is refreshing on a hot summer day.
This “What do I Eat today” lunch is Sweet Potato Leek Soup. Sweet potatoes are the uber tuber – packed with fiber and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and blood sugar regulating nutrients. The best ways to prepare them for maximum health benefits are boiling, steaming and stir frying.
Dinner – Vegan Moussaka
For dinner, you are having my Vegan Moussaka, made with healthier ingredients that will taste great and make you feel good. My vegan version of moussaka uses a dairy-free Béchamel sauce and mushrooms instead of meat.
This recipe is featured in my Cooking series on YouTube and you can watch me prepare the recipe here.
Dessert – Chia Seed Pudding
For dessert or snack we offer a recipe for Chia Seed Pudding. Chia seed pudding is great for breakfast, dessert, or anytime, and kids love this recipe.
Chia seeds are tiny superfood heroes. They come in either white or dark brown/black and have a huge nutritional profile.
This “What Do I Eat Today” menu focuses on the importance of liquids, especially at breakfast.
Liquids are alkalizing to the gut, help cleanse the colon, and have so many other benefits.
Start your day with lemon juice and water, followed by Green Drink. Enjoy my Herbal Tea recipe with ginger and cinnamon, and take a probiotic- I like Bio-K+.
Chose from two smoothies – my Tropitaya Smoothie, this month with fresh Ginger and Turmeric, or my Tropical Green Smoothie with Ginger.
For lunch we have Creamy Carrot Soup, and Raw Cucumber & Avocado Gazpacho is a cooling afternoon snack. For dinner, Creamy Broccoli Soup finishes the day.
First Thing in the Morning
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I'm hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Tropitaya or Tropical Green Smoothie
This “What do I Eat Today” menu includes a Tropitaya or Tropical Green Smoothie. The Tropitaya Smoothie is one of the most popular smoothies (and one of my favorites) at our stores in New Jersey and San Diego. In this month's menu, I add fresh turmeric and ginger.
An alternative to my Tropitaya Smoothie in this menu, my Tropical Green Smoothie adds fruit and vegetables to Chef V's Tropical Green Drink. Optionally you can add 1 tbsp pea protein, 1 tsp fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp fresh turmeric to the smoothie.
Lunch – Creamy Carrot Soup
Creamy and delicious without dairy, this Carrot Soup recipe uses cashews to add richness and flavor. Fast and easy to make, the recipe is perfect for two, tasty and healthy. Add fresh turmeric and ginger for additional benefits.
Afternoon Snack – Chef V's Raw Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho
Cool and creamy, my Gazpacho is a great light snack. You can easily double or triple my recipe and have delicious leftovers. The beauty of my veggie-rich recipe is that its high water and fiber content slows how fast you eat and fills you up quicker.
Dinner – Creamy Broccoli Soup
My Creamy Broccoli Soup is for dinner. Made with coconut milk and coconut oil, the fiber in this soup supports gut health and has anti-inflammation and antioxidant properties. For additional gut health assistance, try my recipe variation adding fresh turmeric and ginger.
First Thing in the Morning
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I'm hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Acai Bowl
This recipe is made in a Vitamix and can be served in a bowl or in an “on the go” cup.
The acai berry is a grape-like fruit native to the rain forests of the amazon. It has a tropical, sweet taste and a very short shelf life, so we don't often find them fresh in the store. Acai berries contain antioxidants, fiber, and heart-healthy fats.
Lunch – Carrot Ginger Salad
Green is good! Starting with fresh locally sourced organic greens, add carrot, celery, radish, red onion, cucumber, and grilled chicken (optional). Top your salad with my Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing.
Make this as a mason jar salad and take it “on the go”.
Afternoon Snack – Chef V's Goji Berry Trail Mix
Trail mix is a healthy alternative to sugary commercial candy, loaded with artificial ingredients. My recipe includes super healthy goji berries, nuts and seeds.
Try different ingredients to create some fun mixes. I generally use one or two raw nuts, one seed, and one dried fruit. Some ideas for nuts: almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, pecans, or macadamia nuts. For dried fruit, always choose unsweetened and unsulfured fruits. My favorites include pineapple, apple, mango, and blueberries. And, of course, goji berries.
Dinner – Bibimbap Bowl
10 minute meal! It’s the holiday season and I’ve been cooking all day getting ready for tomorrow. I need a fast but healthy meal. This one is a crowd favorite!
Dessert – Vegan Eggnog
Spread holiday cheer with my vegan take on a traditional favorite, eggnog. This thick, wonderfully flavored beverage can be made in many ways than one. Why not try my adult version with coconut nectar and almond milk. Not too thick, this chilled iconic drink will warm the hearts of your family and friends. Homemade, delicious and beautifully presented, how can it not?!
First Thing in the Morning
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I'm hungry to have my Chef V organic Green Drink.
Read related article
For Breakfast – Skinny Shamrock Smoothie
Here is my favorite version of a Shamrock Smoothie. It’s light, healthy, creamy and it tastes so good! It’s also a low sugar smoothie.
Here’s my Mango Avocado Burrito Bowl, a spin on Chipotle Mexican Grill’s awesome burrito bowls. Use my recipe as a starting point and add grilled chicken or fish to make your own. You can also turn this into an easy wrap with gluten-free tortillas. – Veronica
Lemon Juice & Water Daily Detox
Plant Based Protein Vs Plant-Based Meat
Omega 3s: Can You Get Enough of this Critical Nutrient From Plants?
Dinner – White Sweet Potato Purée
Everyone loves mashed potatoes. But regular mashed potatoes are very starchy. That means the starch quickly converts into sugar. That’s more bad news for your gut. But this healthy recipe for mashed potatoes uses the nutritiously-superior white sweet potato. Instead of regular milk, I use almond or coconut milk.
I swear to you that my white sweet potato pureé will have the same starchy mouth-feel as regular mashed potatoes. But this version contains way more minerals and is lower in calories. – Veronica
Dinner – Pistachio Crusted Salmon
This salmon dish is delicious and super easy to make. It’s also filled with lots of healthy fats and omegas. It takes less than 5 minutes to prep and less than 20 minutes to cook. It also makes great leftovers. Or you can serve 4 with this recipe.
First Thing in the Morning
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I’m hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Avocado Toast
A special breakfast or a brunch treat, my recipe adds flavor to the avocado with a hint of vinegar’s tang and red pepper flakes.
Here’s my Mango Avocado Burrito Bowl, a spin on Chipotle Mexican Grill’s awesome burrito bowls. Use my recipe as a starting point and add any of your favorite ingredients like grilled chicken or fish to make your own. You can also turn this into an easy wrap with gluten-free tortillas. – Veronica
Snack – Choose from Three Hummus’s and Fresh Veggies
Get the recipe – Easy Hummus
Get the recipe – Green Goddess Hummus
Get the recipe – Red Beet Hummus
Dinner – Quinoa Enchilada
My famous Quinoa Enchilada – or “the whole enchilada” as my husband says. That’s so cheesy – no pun intended. This recipe is approved for the purpose of cleansing as long as you substitute vegan cheese and omit the corn. Watch my YouTube video or read the recipe on the blog.
This Chef V recipe satisfies a craving for carbs with high fiber brown rice, healthy seasonings, and very flavorful veggies. Make it easy on yourself and prep enough for several meals, so when you aren’t motivated but have to eat, you reach for this healthy entrée and not for chips.
Chef V tip: For more protein, add 1 pound chopped grilled chicken. This is a great side or a meal in itself.
• 1 pound mixed veggies (use your favs!), lightly salted
• ½ cup diced yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided use
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 tablespoons raw coconut aminos, divided (I like Coconut Secret®)
• ½ cup pineapple, diced
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Spray a grill or grill pan with coconut oil cooking spray. Cook veggies for 3-5 minutes per side, until done. Remove from grill, cut into 1-inch pieces, and set aside.
Sauté onions in 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until translucent. Add garlic, remaining oil, and cooked rice. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then stir in 1 tablespoon of coconut aminos. Continue to cook for 1 more minute. Slowly stir in the remaining coconut aminos, diced pineapple, and grilled veggies. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and red pepper flakes, if desired. Remove from heat, plate, and serve hot.
This “What Do I Eat Today” menu starts with warm lemon water, then Green Drink. For breakfast, Warm Cinnamon Quinoa, a hearty treat. For lunch, my Mediterranean Stew, and for dinner, Chicken Pot Pie, a gluten-free recipe with a vegan option, demonstrated in this Chef V Cooking School video.
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I’m hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Warm Cinnamon Quinoa
For breakfast, Warm Cinnamon Quinoa fills the belly and tastes so good. I use quinoa, my own recipe for raw almond milk, raw coconut nectar, and ground cinnamon. You can top it with berries and/or nuts.
For Lunch – Mediterranean Butternut Squash + Carrot Stew with Quinoa
For lunch you have my Mediterranean stew, made with mellow spices for a flavorful and healthy mid-day meal.
This stew can be prepared a day ahead. It’s great to take to work or enjoy for dinner the next day, or for a warm and healthy meal for the kids to come home to and easily reheat.
Dinner – Chef V’s Chicken Pot Pie
For dinner, you are having my Chicken Pot Pie, made with healthier ingredients that will taste great and make you feel good. There is a vegan option as well!
This recipe is featured in my Cooking series on YouTube and you can watch me prepare the recipe here.
This “What Do I Eat Today” menu starts with warm lemon water, then Green Drink. For breakfast, a Gnger Apple Berry Smoothie you are going to love. For lunch, my Spicy Vegetable Soup, and for dinner, Turkey Risotto, demonstrated in a Chef V Cooking School video.
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I’m hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Ginger Apple Berry Smoothie
A morning ginger apple berry smoothie not only tastes great but is loaded with antioxidants to fight free radicals and reduce inflammation.
My “What do I Eat today” lunch is Spicy Veggie Soup. This is a spicy vegetable soup with jalapeno, quinoa, zucchini, black beans, and lots of spices. Vegan and gluten free. Add or reduce spices if you like your soup milder or super hot.
Dinner – Turkey Risotto
A super simple recipe, it has only 7 ingredients and is so easy to make. It has so much flavor, is so filling and balanced, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! “You don’t even know do’, it’s the BEST Risotto!”
While most risottos have a lot of cream and butter, we’re not going to use those. Using arborio rice, this risotto has a nice creamy texture that we’ll make using vegan broth.
This recipe is featured in my Cooking series on YouTube and you can watch me
prepare the recipe here.
Having a Green Drink every day increases your chances for weight loss success—and keeps the extra pounds off in the long run. I share some tips on losing weight and keeping it off for the long run. Check out these inspiring success stories, too! – Veronica
Recently, I’ve shared with you reasons why my Green Drink can make your skin glow and look radiant.
And let’s not forget your hair and nails, too. If you have brittle nails or dull, frizzy hair, Green Drink is a potent nail and hair strengthener and tamer.
But can Green Drink help you lose weight? And if it can, can it keep the weight off for good?
Sure, plenty of our customers have had weight loss success with Green Drink. I’ve shared some of our amazing customer success stories with you, too. You can also check out our 450+ 5-star reviews on Yelp.
But in all this time, I can’t believe I haven’t explained to you why Green Drink works for weight loss.
In case you’re not sure what my Green Drink is, it’s seven certified organic green leafy veggies: black kale, green kale, collard greens, green leaf lettuce, curly parsley, green chard, and dandelion greens. It’s sweetened with only a tiny bit of organic green apple and organic apple juice with filtered water to aid in absorption.
Read K.I.’s heartwarming story of weight loss success!
Green Drinks For Weight Loss: Make It A Daily Habit
Even though I’m at a body weight I’m comfortable with, I want to keep it that way. That’s one reason I start each day off by drinking 16 oz. of Green Drink about 30 minutes after waking up and having some water.
I’m so confident that if you adopt this routine and combine it with intermittent fasting, you’ll see the extra pounds start melting within days, not weeks.
But is there any proof that the veggies in Green Drink can help you lose weight?
There is. I’ll summarize some of the research for you in a little bit. By doing so, I’m not merely trying to prove my enjoyment of geeking out on nutrition studies (after all, I am a certified nutritional therapist).
As Easy As….
On the contrary, my intention is by offering proof, you’ll feel motivated to start making Green Drink a part of your life. Seriously, I want Green Drink to be an easy, automatic routine for you like brushing your teeth, flossing (you are flossing every day, aren’t you?) and washing your hands.
You don’t even have to do one of my 3, 5 or 7 Day Cleanses and certainly not my 21 Day Detox Challenge to experience weight loss with my Green Drink.
The cleanses and detox provide you with four (4) Green Drinks a day. But I’m telling you all it takes is one 16-oz serving per day.
Obviously, if you eat three fast food meals a day, the Green Drink won’t have much as much impact on your health nor will it help you lose much weight.
However, having a Green Drink in the morning sets the tone for rest of the day. If you eat a donut, bagel, muffin or most commercial bread, you’re setting yourself up for weight loss failure.
That’s because after the yeast in your gut eats all the sugar from the donut, they’ll quickly send a signal to your brain demanding more junk carbs.
So, if you have a cold-blended veggie cocktail like Green Drink, you’re not giving the bad bacteria in your gut a chance to party.
Proof Green Drink Works for Weight Loss
“You want the truth, you can’t handle the truth!”
Sorry, Brandon, my hubby and Chef V CEO was just reading over my shoulder and suggested I put that one in. He loves “A Few Good Men.”
So here’s the truth and the proof about Green Drinks for weight loss….
Let’s start off with this study on kale. Besides numerous beneficial effects on health, it lowers your blood sugar levels after a meal. What does that mean for weight loss?
When blood sugar levels are high, your cells can no longer allow sugar from the bloodstream to enter. And as a consequence, the excess sugar gets stored as fat by the liver.
Unless you plan on doing several rounds of sprints or go for a long-distance run, that extra fat’s going to go where you least want it.
For this reason, kale is considered a superfood for people with type 2 diabetes.
Green Drinks for Good Gut Bacteria
Remember I was saying that when you eat a donut or other junk carb in the morning (or anytime of day), it feeds yeast in your gut? More specifically, it causes yeast to proliferate (multiply in number). And what this means is that you’ll end up with too much bad bacteria in your gut.
But this study proves a vegetable juice-based diet improves gut health. In the study, the participants consumed only a vegetable/fruit juice blend for three days. On the fourth day, the researchers observed a significant decrease in weight and body mass index.
And this weight loss was maintained until day 17. The only reason it wasn’t sustained for longer is that from day 4 onwards, the participants resumed their normal diet.
In addition, by day 4, the researchers noticed less harmful strains of gut/stool bacteria and more beneficial bacteria. Having enough friendly critters in your gut, as creepy as it may sound, is necessary for sustained weight loss.
Here’s one more study I’ll leave you with for now. It says that diets containing green leafy vegetables improve liver fatty acid profiles. The study is the first one to prove how green leafy veggies improve the liver health in animal predisposed to developing hypertension.
Your liver has to be in optimal condition in order to properly detoxify and break down dietary fat. If you have a “sluggish” liver, you’ll have trouble losing weight.
One of the green veggies in the study is collard greens, which is in my Green Drink. The study concludes that green leafy veggies not only improves liver health but also lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.
Bonus points for Green Drinks! And all it takes as drinking one bottle a day. That’s one of the easiest, most affordable weight loss strategies you’ll ever find.
Check out Dawn’s weight loss success!
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I'm hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Berry Parfait
My raw berry parfait is made with nuts. Here's a tip: many raw food recipes call for soaking nuts. Why? Soaking nuts (from 2 hours to overnight) improves the flavor and nutritional value of the nuts by releasing dust, residue and tannin into the water, leaving the nuts with a softer, buttery texture and increasing their digestibility. Never use the soak water – always discard it.
For Lunch – Chef V's Raw Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho
Cool and creamy, soups are a great way to start a meal, but are also awesome as a main course. You can easily double or triple my recipe and have delicious leftovers. The beauty of my veggie-rich recipe is that its high water and fiber content slows how fast you eat and fills you up quicker.
Dinner – Grilled Artichoke with Two Sauces
Grilled artichokes, precooked and finished at the picnic. They’ll love these on the barbecue. Serve with my two vegan sauces: Raw Horseradish Mayonnaise, and Vegan Herb Aioli.
Also for Dinner – Green Soup with Lemon Basil Pesto
This menu plan is from one of my retreat events. My retreats are three day wellness experiences in gorgeous locations with lots of activities and of course, great food.
At my retreats, we start with lemon water then Green Drink. For breakfast, in this menu plan I serve Smoothie Bowls with an abundance of fresh organic fruit to top the bowls.
For lunch, I serve a Green Salad with Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing. And we have a snack – my Easy Hummus with carrot slices, cucumber, celery, snap peas, and Simple Mills almond flour crackers.
For dinner, We have grilled Miso Glazed Salmon with Wasabi Sweet Potato Puree and Asparagus. And the best for last – my Chai Spiced Cakes with Ginger Icing.
I have lemon water in the morning and then I wait until I'm hungry to have my Green Drink.
For Breakfast – Smoothie Bowl
My breakfast smoothie is delicious, good for you, and easy to make. What's not to like?
For Lunch – Chef V's Green Salad with Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing
Green is good! Starting with fresh locally sourced organic greens, add carrot, celery, radish, red onion, and grilled chicken (optional). Top your salad with my Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing.
Dinner – Miso Glazed Salmon with Wasabi Sweet Potato Puree and Asparagus
This ginger glazed salmon is super easy. For the salmon I just broiled it for 5 minutes with this marinade. Let the marinade sit for 30 minutes on the fish before cooking.
Dessert – Chai Spiced Cakes with Ginger ICing
This recipe may seem long and daunting but it’s really easy and worth it! Most the ingredients are spices that you hopefully already have.
This makes a lot of cupcakes so I keep them in a bag I frosted in the fridge. Pop one out and place in microwave and then top with frosting when done. These are great to have in the house for a delightful yet healthy treat when you have a sweet tooth.
