Tag: green drink plan

Essential Detox: 21 Days to Better Health

Chef V
Veronica working from home

Happy hello! Whether it’s hot or cold, every day calls for care for your health. Weather changes and cleansing go together with my Chef V cleanses & detoxes.

My cleanses include delicious Carrot Ginger and Sweet Potato Curry soups, soothing and filling.  Doing an essential detox cleanse right now may protect you from nasty viruses. Plus, doing a detox is like giving your organs a much-needed tune-up. 

 When you’re sharing oxygen in a confined space, that’s when your body is more susceptible to catching colds and flu viruses. At work with lots of people in close proximity, the state of your immune system is a major factor in determining if you’re going to have to call in sick for work.

You might feel totally healthy now. But if you eat unhealthy fast food now that you are back at work  along with alcohol, ice cream and other inflammatory foods, your immune system might be weakened right now without you knowing it.

And if you don’t detox your system now, your immune system’s energy will be spent trying to get rid of the toxic load in your organs, instead of devoting all of its resources to fighting viruses.

Hey, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones and can feast on foods with refined carbohydrates. Perhaps you’re a genetic freak who never gets sick despite a diet rich in foods with white flour, sugar, and saturated fats.

But if you’re not a member of the dietary one-percent I have some advice for you on boosting your immune system right now with an essential detox….

green line

“During my detox I lost 19 lbs! My BMI went from 24.0 to 16.9!
I am super excited for when I do my next detox because I will be
doing the expert challenge! LOVE LOVE LOVE Chef V.” – Mackenzie

Below, my Black Bean Soup, a recipe from my cookbook. A cleanse-friendly recipe created to accompany my cleanses and detoxes.

black bean soup

Ditch Sugar Addiction & Reset Your Metabolism In Just 21 Days

In addition to eating unhealthy food, you might be more vulnerable to getting sick because of stress.

Recently, I wrote about staying healthy for the back to school season. But even if you don’t have kids, many of us feel stressed out. And when stress strikes, lots of people cope by snacking on sugary treats and other unhealthy food.

If you can relate to having felt stressed out or eat lots of unhealthy food, I suggest trying my 21 Day Detox.

My 21 Day Detox is 100% organic. Although you’ll very likely lose weight after doing a 21 Day Detox, my program is far more than just a weight loss solution. More than that, my 21 Day Detox will teach you how to adopt healthier eating habits. Not just for the 21 days but for weeks, months and even years after the detox is over.

21 day detox

How Does The 21 Day Essential Detox Work?

During the 21 Day Detox, you’ll have days when you follow my Cleanse protocol, which provides you with four servings of 16 oz Green Drinks, 2 Protein Shakes and a Detox Soup. Then, on other days, you’ll also have Green Drinks and Protein Shakes, plus my Healthy Routine, which allows you to choose your own lunch, snack and dinner from my Meal Planner. The Meal Planner contains delicious recipes, an approved foods list, a portion-size guide, and more helpful tips that will make completing a 21 Day Essential Detox a breeze.

Plus, when you order the 21 Day Detox, I email you a downloadable copy of my recipe book, Making Cleansing Easier.

A lot of people have no idea what to eat. But I take all the guess work out of meal planning. My recipes are filled with lots of low-starch veggies, healing herbs and spices and healthy, whole grains that don’t promote inflammation. I also include some fruit as part of my Healthy Eating routine (but not too much), as well as legumes, lean protein and moderate amounts of healthy oils such as olive oil.

Squashing VIruses With … Squash, Soup And Other Awesome Autumn Veggies

Introducing winter squash, sweet potato, carrot, beets and other hearty antioxidant-rich veggies this time of year is a good strategy for boosting your immune system and aiding your body in the detox process.

And when you do my 21 Day Detox, you’ll get one of two delicious Detox soups for dinner: Carrot Ginger Zing and Sweet Potato Curry. The carrot ginger soup also contains yam, onion, garlic, turmeric, and sea salt with a base of filtered water.

As for the sweet potato curry, it’s loaded with leeks, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and a gentle curry spice, flavored to taste with sea salt in a filtered water base.

Although the Detox Soups are relatively low in calories, they are very nutrient dense, so you won’t still be hungry and be tempted by empty carbs after having it for dinner.

Here’s what one Chef V customer, Mel H. of San Diego, has to say about the soup on Yelp:

The detox soup is DELICIOUS- I want to try the recipe on my own one of these days. After 3 days of cleansing I feel 100% better. I will absolutely do this cleanse again. Thanks Chef V. !

Mel didn’t jump into the 21 Day Detox. She dipped her toe in the shallow end by doing my shortest detox program, the 3 Day Cleanse. If the sound of a 21 Day Detox intimidates you, doing a 3 Day Cleanse (or 5 day or 7 day) is a good alternative.

Whether you choose the shorter cleanse or the 21 Day Detox, I’ll tell you exactly what foods to eat in the days leading up to the program and for the days that follow it after you successfully finish it.

So give your organs a tune-up now and get them in tip-top shape for the cold/flu season that’s right around the corner.

To your health,

Chef V

Veronica and Coco

Boost your Immune System: Eating Healthy

Jean Yates

Veronica working from home

Flu season might be severe this year, according to the medical community. So how to avoid getting it?

There’s no cure right now for the flu and the best way to fight it off is to increase your resistance. And that means eating healthy to boost your immunity.

I’ve built my little Green Drink and Cleanse/Detox empire over the last decade in part by telling people what to eat. A big reason why I created my Making Cleansing Easier Cookbook along with all the other Healthy Eating Resources you get when you’re on a Green Drink Plan is because when I first started Chef V, I was asked the question so many times, “Hey Veronica, what should I eat?”

More than anything, you need to keep eating healthy. When you’re stuck at home and bored, you start eating more.

Don’t buy what you don’t normally eat. Don’t stock up on cookies and chips and snacks but stick to healthy choices. If you don’t eat junk food normally you shouldn’t be eating it now.

Time to clean your body

While some people are going the snack route, a surprising number of people are saying – some of my friends have the flu – “this is the time to do a 21 day detox – its getting colder, I don’t want to eat a bunch of crap, so why don’t I have Chef V deliver a 21 Day Challenge to me for 3 weeks and make a huge change in my health.”

I think that’s sort of genius, and we’ve not advertised it, but so many people have been ordering a Detox or Cleanse from us.

Right now is a great time to cleanse – people are cleansing their houses, cleaning their surroundings, and it all fits together – cleansing to nourish your body and boost immunity. Plus you get everything you need for a 3 week Detox delivered to your door.

#1: Give Intermittent Fasting A Try

One of the reasons my hubby, Brandon, and I have kept the weight off is that we are doubling down on intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting not only works for weight loss, it makes your mind sharper and may even support your immune system and prevent infection as this study suggests. 

I’m not saying that if you do intermittent fasting, you won’t get the flu. But it’s interesting that some immunologists are exploring its protective effects. How intermittent fasting supports the immune system is the same way it can help you prevent weight gain while working from home. 

You see, when you don’t eat anything for 16 hours—the best way to do intermittent fasting is to limit your calorie-intake window to 8 hours a day, i.e. 12 noon to 8 p.m.; Brandon and I shoot for a 17-hour fast most of the time—your body starts repairing itself. Digestion takes a ton of energy. By giving your digestive system a rest, your body can focus on fixing itself. This process is known as autophagy. 

Technically, autophagy does not directly contribute to weight loss. But by making your metabolism more efficient, fasting can lead to weight loss. And the great thing about intermittent fasting is that if you feel like snacking while working from home, you don’t have to feel guilty about it. As long as you’re eating during your 8-hour window, snack away. 

For info on how to do intermittent fasting and its benefits, read this. 

green drink

#2: Lose Weight Working At Home By Eating More!

If you work a normal 8 or 9 to 5 day, your first main meal will be at around noon. Actually, before your first meal of the day, I recommend drinking some water with trace minerals to keep your energy up first thing in the morning. You can also have green tea or unsweetened black coffee if you must have your caffeine fix. Then, between 11:30 to noon, break your fast with Organic Green Drink. 

By having 8 to 16 oz of Green Drink, you’ll gently awaken your digestive system and flood your cells with high-nutrient-density leafy greens. 

After having your Green Drink, wait about 15-30 minutes, then go to town. Have at it. Eat all you want until your belly is full but not too stuffed. By eating a large meal, you’ll eliminate the temptation for frequent snacking. Like I said, snacking during your 8-hour eating window isn’t a nutrition faux-pas. But in general, it’s good to give your insulin-secreting pancreas a rest in between meals as well as your other digestive organs. 

If you eat your first main meal at noon, I recommend having your second large meal early in the evening like at 5 or 6. Your last meal can then be a light but satisfying one like yogurt with nuts and berries. 

Many people make the mistake of not eating enough at their main meals. This is what leads to over snacking in between meals and late-night snacking, which is terrible for your metabolism. Eating too often prevents your gut bacteria from being able to be swept down from the small intestine into the large intestine (colon). See my article on SIBO for more on this subject.

blueberries

#3: Are You Hungry Or Just Bored? 

True hunger is when you’ve gone 16 hours or longer without food. If your stomach is sending signals to your brain while you’re working that you’re hungry, don’t listen to the message right away. 

Your brain—and belly—could be the victim of a false signal. This is especially true if it’s only been two or three hours since you last ate. If your last meal was large enough and contained the correct ratio of macronutrients (a little bit of healthy fats like avocado, and sufficient protein and low-starch carbs like quinoa and veggies), then you shouldn’t need to eat more food. 

You can satisfy your sweet tooth after a meal by having a large handful of berries and a tiny piece of dark chocolate. This is why I emphasized eating a big meal above. 

But if you’re accustomed to snacking every couple hours, it’s probably not true hunger you’re experiencing. What’s likely happening is that the yeast in your gut loves feasting on the sugars in your small intestine, from the crackers and other carb-heavy snacks. And after the yeast digests your yummy snack, it will tell your brain to feed it some more. After all, your brain and gut operate in a continuous feedback loop (no pun intended). 

If you feed your gut low-sugar, low-starch foods, the yeast in your gut won’t proliferate; it will be kept in check by your friendly bacteria. And that means your belly—when properly nourished—won’t send your brain a signal to snack yet again. 

#4: Sleep, Exercise, and Stress

One of the most powerful weapons in your immune-boosting arsenal has to be one of the easiest – sleep! Not getting enough sleep can ruin your immune system. (If you have difficulty sleeping, a blended juice cleanse might be just what you need!)

Exercise, even in small amounts, is also great for keeping your immune system ready to go. Not only will exercise support a stronger immune system, but it can help you keep your weight low – and as we mentioned, high weight is an immune system risk.

One of the most important things is, of course, to simply not stress out too much about it. It might seem counterintuitive, but worrying too much about your immune system can… weaken your immune system. The mind and body are connected, so stress on one will affect the other. It sounds crazy, but stress is never good for your health in any way.

Veronica and Coco

3 Tips For Eating Right If You’re Working From Home

Chef V
Veronica working from home

If you had an office job pre-pandemic, you probably only ate when everybody else took their lunch break and maybe a quick afternoon snack. But now that you’re working from home, temptation is just around the corner all day long. If you’ve put on the post-pandemic 15, no worries. Chef V’s got some tips for you to slim your waistline in no time. Here are 3 tips for eating right while working from home...

I know a thing or two about being tempted by food at the workplace. After all, I was a private chef for many years. That’s where my name, Chef V—aka Veronica—comes from. (I’m a marketing genius.) 

Anybody who has ever had a food job be it server, line cook, head chef or cashier knows all too well that gnawing feeling in your belly when you have to pull a long shift and you don’t have time to even pop a crumb in your mouth.

But then, after that long shift is mercifully over, you overcompensate by stuffing your belly until it feels like it’s going to pop like a balloon. 

These days, however, probably just like you, I’ve been working from home more often. And when you’re just steps away from the kitchen with no boss breathing down your neck and no time constraints save for the occasional Zoom meeting, the kitchen beckons like an inviting pool of mud to a pig. 

When you’re absentmindedly snacking all day and then continue snacking at night while getting your Netflix on, it’s so easy to gain weight. So here’s my tips for preventing overeating and gaining weight while working from home. 

#1: Give Intermittent Fasting A Try

One of the reasons my hubby, Brandon, and I have kept the weight off while working from home is we doubled down on intermittent fasting during the pandemic. Intermittent fasting not only works for weight loss, it makes your mind sharper and may even support your immune system and prevent infection as this study suggests. 

I’m not saying that if you do intermittent fasting, you won’t get COVID. But it’s interesting that some immunologists are exploring its protective effects. How intermittent fasting supports the immune system is the same way it can help you prevent weight gain while working from home. 

You see, when you don’t eat anything for 16 hours—the best way to do intermittent fasting is to limit your calorie-intake window to 8 hours a day, i.e. 12 noon to 8 p.m.; Brandon and I shoot for a 17-hour fast most of the time—your body starts repairing itself. Digestion takes a ton of energy. By giving your digestive system a rest, your body can focus on fixing itself. This process is known as autophagy. 

Technically, autophagy does not directly contribute to weight loss. But by making your metabolism more efficient, fasting can lead to weight loss. And the great thing about intermittent fasting is that if you feel like snacking while working from home, you don’t have to feel guilty about it. As long as you’re eating during your 8-hour window, snack away. 

For info on how to do intermittent fasting and its benefits, read this. 

green drink

#2: Lose Weight Working At Home By Eating More!

If you work a normal 8 or 9 to 5 day, your first main meal will be at around noon. Actually, before your first meal of the day, I recommend drinking some water with trace minerals to keep your energy up first thing in the morning. You can also have green tea or unsweetened black coffee if you must have your caffeine fix. Then, between 11:30 to noon, break your fast with Organic Green Drink. 

By having 8 to 16 oz of Green Drink, you’ll gently awaken your digestive system and flood your cells with high-nutrient-density leafy greens. 

After having your Green Drink, wait about 15-30 minutes, then go to town. Have at it. Eat all you want until your belly is full but not too stuffed. By eating a large meal, you’ll eliminate the temptation for frequent snacking. Like I said, snacking during your 8-hour eating window isn’t a nutrition faux-pas. But in general, it’s good to give your insulin-secreting pancreas a rest in between meals as well as your other digestive organs. 

If you eat your first main meal at noon, I recommend having your second large meal early in the evening like at 5 or 6. Your last meal can then be a light but satisfying one like yogurt with nuts and berries. 

Many people make the mistake of not eating enough at their main meals. This is what leads to over snacking in between meals and late-night snacking, which is terrible for your metabolism. Eating too often prevents your gut bacteria from being able to be swept down from the small intestine into the large intestine (colon). See my article on SIBO for more on this subject.

blueberries

#3: Are You Hungry Or Just Bored? 

True hunger is when you’ve gone 16 hours or longer without food. If your stomach is sending signals to your brain while you’re working that you’re hungry, don’t listen to the message right away. 

Your brain—and belly—could be the victim of a false signal. This is especially true if it’s only been two or three hours since you last ate. If your last meal was large enough and contained the correct ratio of macronutrients (a little bit of healthy fats like avocado, and sufficient protein and low-starch carbs like quinoa and veggies), then you shouldn’t need to eat more food. 

You can satisfy your sweet tooth after a meal by having a large handful of berries and a tiny piece of dark chocolate. This is why I emphasized eating a big meal above. 

But if you’re accustomed to snacking every couple hours while working from home, it’s probably not true hunger you’re experiencing. What’s likely happening is that the yeast in your gut loves feasting on the sugars in your small intestine, from the crackers and other carb-heavy snacks. And after the yeast digests your yummy snack, it will tell your brain to feed it some more. After all, your brain and gut operate in a continuous feedback loop (no pun intended). 

If you feed your gut low-sugar, low-starch foods, the yeast in your gut won’t proliferate; it will be kept in check by your friendly bacteria. And that means your belly—when properly nourished—won’t send your brain a signal to snack yet again. 

Conclusion

If you want to avoid overeating while working from home, do intermittent fasting, eat one to two large meals during working hours and learn to differentiate true hunger from boredom and habit. If you do feel hungry, drink a tall glass of water with a squeeze of lemon juice and go for a quick walk. I bet you’ll go back to your work feeling refreshed and not hungry. 

Veronica black cat tropical, green drink

Beyond Sustainable: How Regenerative Agriculture Will Heal The Planet

Jean Yates

Veronica working from home

If you’re really worried about climate change, first of all take a deep breath and know that everything is going to be ok. But in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions, we need food-growing solutions that are beyond sustainable.

I’m sharing what I’ve learned about regenerative ag with you because I’m concerned about making sure that my Green Drink company supports healthy agriculture. And I want you to know about it as well.

Chef V’s Commitment to Healing the Planet

Next time you eat a salad or enjoy a Green Drink, I really want you to reflect for a moment on where your food came from and how it was grown. And the best way to do that is to think about your gut. 

You see, if you have a healthy gut, that means your large intestine is populated with lots of friendly bacteria from a wide variety of strains. 

It’s the same thing with soil. In order to provide you with abundant nutrients, the veggies you eat have to be grown in healthy soil. Unfortunately, the majority of the soil where our broccoli, sweet potatoes and other veggies is grown is mineral-deficient. The same goes for dairy and meat. Personally, I hardly ever have regular dairy or meat, but if I did, I would only consume it where cows are grazing on grasses grown with beyond-sustainable farming techniques such as regenerative agriculture, which I’m about to explain in just a little bit. 

But most of the dairy and meat comes from cows that are trapped in industrial feedlots. Or, if the cows are given access to fresh air, they graze on mineral-deficient grass. Grass contains beneficial nutrients such as Omega-3 essential fatty acids. So when you’re consuming conventional dairy or meat, you’re hardly getting any of those beneficial nutrients and you’re taking a gamble on your health with inflammatory issues.

It’s no wonder that more and more people are having digestive issues and health problems. If we’re eating food, even if it’s something healthy like kale, that has been grown in poor soil, we’re eating mostly dead food. 

And it’s not just our health that suffers when we eat food grown in poor soil. The health of our planet suffers as well. But if every farm on this planet switched to regenerative farming techniques, we could feed our gut with food that’s rich in vitamins and minerals and all those other amazing phytochemicals that aren’t listed on food labels. This would not only make us healthier, it would make our planet healthier. 

Veronica farmers market

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

How does having healthier soil improve the ecological health of the planet? Well, regenerative ag may actually help reverse climate change by acting as a carbon sink. This means that this beyond-sustainable farming technique can remove excess carbon that otherwise would get released into the atmosphere. If we’re able to remove CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere, the theory goes, the planet will not warm to the accelerated levels it has been.

So what is regenerative ag? According to California State University at Chico, it’s using farming methods and ranch management techniques that restore degraded soils. “By rebuilding soil organic matter and soil biodiversity we significantly increase the amount of carbon that can be drawn down from the atmosphere while greatly improving soil fertility and the water cycle,” CSU-Chico explains. 

This is not meant as an insult, but many people are so out of touch with how food is made. Before I started Chef V, I was one of them. I had no clue about modern food cultivation practices like tillage. 

Tillage basically uses equipment to dig deep down into the soil—up to 10 inches—

before crops are planted. This allows for farmers to effortlessly plant more seeds. Tillage is sometimes necessary to plant new crops in a new season, but the practice is too pervasive and kills fertile soil. 

In fact, Regeneration International predicts that within 150 years, there will be no fertile soil left unless farmers adopt regenerative ag practices. 

farmer with regenerative ag soil

How Does Regenerative Farming Work?

The 7 certified organically-grown veggies in Organic Green Drink are farmed the old-fashioned way without large-scale industrial farming methods that strip nutrients away from the soil. 

Thankfully, modern farming equipment makes it easy for people who grow food to use no-till regenerative agriculture methods. This is essentially how food was grown starting about 12,000 years ago. Besides no-till, regenerative ag methods include crop rotation, composting, and fertilizing with animal manure instead of toxic pesticides. 

What is Monoculture Farming?

Take a look at the produce in a conventional supermarket. There’s a good chance that most of the veggies on display were cultivated using monoculture farming techniques. As the name implies, a monoculture farm only grows one crop like soybeans. Is this a bad thing? Mostly, yes. 

And the reason why comes back to your gut bacteria via the bacteria in the soil. You see, when only one type of plant is grown in a field, the ecological diversity of the soil becomes unbalanced. When you add tillage farming to monoculture farming, you get a recipe for dead soil. 

How Popular is Regenerative Farming?

Even though it’s really the original way people grew food, it’s only now making a comeback. The number of farms that are using beyond sustainable growing techniques like regenerative ag are still a drop in the bucket in comparison to conventional and factory farm operations. 

But the good news is that corporate food is beginning to wake up. The giant food conglomerate, General Mills, for instance, announced that by 2030, it will use regenerative agriculture on 1 million acres of farmland. 

blueberries

Healing The Planet With Regenerative Ag

Now I don’t want to bore you with more technical details about regenerative ag. I just wanted to introduce the concept to you, so that when you purchase food you can make the most informed decisions to best support your health. 

The lesson here is that conventional farming practices need to go back to their roots. And from what I’ve read, the good news for farmers is that regenerative ag is more economically viable. The bottom line is that if we want to decelerate global warming, not even sustainable farming will cut it. We need beyond-sustainable farming, where carbon is sequestered in the soil and won’t escape into the atmosphere. 

What’s needed on a massive scale is the restoration of Earth’s soil to capture all those greenhouse gasses that are heating up the planet. And the way we get there is by growing food through regenerative agriculture. 

Veronica green drink

Do you Take Vitamin K? Maybe You Should.

Jean Yates

Vitamin K

You know that Vitamin K is important for heart and circulatory system health, but now a connection with viral disease and mortality makes getting your Vitamin K more important than ever. 

In recent reporting on viral research, The Guardian reports: “Researchers studying patients who were admitted to the Canisius Wilhelmina hospital in the Dutch city of Nijmegen have extolled the benefits of vitamin K after discovering a link between deficiency and the worst pandemic outcomes.”

Dr Rob Janssen, a scientist working on the project says: ““My advice would be to take those vitamin K supplements. Even if it does not help against severe viral disease, it is good for your blood vessels, bones and probably also for the lungs.”

The research, undertaken in partnership with the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, one of Europe’s largest heart and vascular research institutes, studied 134 patients hospitalized for viral disease between 12 March and 11 April, alongside a control group of 184 age-matched patients who did not have the disease.

Jona Walk, a second researcher on the study, which was submitted for peer review on Friday, said: “We want to take very sick patients and randomise so that they get a placebo or vitamin K, which is very safe to use in the general population. We want to give vitamin K in a significantly high enough dose that we really will activate [the protein] that is so important for protecting the lungs, and check if it is safe.”

Consumer Reports on Vitamin K

Consumer Reports recently discussed three investigations of people with low amounts of Vitamin K and their increased risk of dying from any cause. Other research has shown that too little vitamin K is associated with various age-related concerns, such as cognitive function and mobility.

Vitamin K is needed for normal blood clotting and is related to healthy lungs – it has been shown to protect lungs by protecting the elasticity of connective tissue, and it makes sure minerals (e.g., calcium) stay in bones rather than the blood vessels, which inhibits atherosclerosis. Both blood clots and difficulty breathing are serious complications of viral disease.

Green Drink has 562% of your daily recommended dose of Vitamin K

If you’re having 16 oz. of my Organic Green Drink every day, you’re getting 562% of your daily value of phylloquinone.

Phylloquinone is the plant form of vitamin K.

And next time you get a cut and you’re bleeding, you can thank my Green Drink for helping stopping the bleeding.

That’s because this critical nutrient produces a protein that helps clot your blood.

(If you take blood-thinning medication, though, don’t overdo the Green Drinks and other foods rich in it.)

Vitamin K in foods

Best Sources

It turns out that two of the top five top sources of vitamin K are in my Organic Green Drink: collard greens and kale.

Now, I never intended to create a detox drink that was specifically high in vitamin K.

That’s because, to be honest, even though I’m a certified nutritional therapist, I, too, tend to treat vitamin K like a neglected friend.

I don’t think about vitamin K often like I do like the B vitamins or C and E (for skin health) or even A.

But next time I get a nick from a bad paper cut, I’m going to be grateful for the fact that my Green Drink not only tastes great, but will help my boo boo heal fast.

Women around my age should consume about 90 micrograms (mcg) a day, of vitamin K. As for men: 120 mcg.

Each 8 oz serving of Green Drink contains 210 mcg (over 250% of your daily value).

That means even if you don’t have any other green leafy veggies the rest of the day, you don’t have to worry about your vitamin K intake.

Which is good news if you’re one of our always on the go customers that don’t get any other greens from food aside from Green Drink. (If that’s you, think of Green Drink as your health insurance.)

In addition to kale and collard greens, lettuce, another of the 7 certified organic veggies in Green Drink is rich in vitamin K.


green drink

Who Needs It Most?

Although it’s not common for someone other than newborns to have a vitamin K deficiency, certain people do need more.

If you have any digestive issue that affects how you absorb nutrients, you might want to consume more vitamin K. Ulcerative colitis, Celiac Disease, and Cystic Fibrosis are examples of malabsorption conditions that may require an increase of vitamin K.

If you have one of these conditions, consider not only drinking Green Drink first thing in the morning, but also eating lots of green leafy veggies in salads.

In addition, the Japanese fermented soy food, natto, is the highest source. However, if you have a FODMAP sensitivity, it might be best to avoid fermented foods.

(FODMAPs are short-chain carbs that don’t get absorbed easily in the gut and can lead to fermentation in the digestive system. This is a good resource that explains FODMAPS.)

Vitamin K capsule

K2: Is it the same?

On certain food labels, you might come across vitamin K2. The plant-based form of vitamin K is K1, whereas animal-based sources are K2.

I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian. But I do believe in popular food writer, Michael Pollan’s famous saying: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

WIthout doubt, you can definitely get enough vitamin K from plant sources.

There’s actually vitamins K3, 4 and 5, but you’ll need a degree in biochemistry to understand what they do.

Health Benefits

Here are some other reasons to have a Green Drink every day….

There’s a protein in your heart that depends on vitamin K. The protein is also located in your bone and cartilage. This protein is very important because it can help reduce calcification (hardening) of the arteries in the heart.

That’s why if you’re not getting enough leafy greens in your diet (either through Green Drinks or salads), you might be at greater risk for heart disease.

In addition, there’s another protein that depends on it for healthy bone formation. That’s why researchers believe there’s a link between low vitamin K intake and osteoporosis.

And when you get older, you’ll especially want to make sure you’re getting enough leafy greens. That’s because the higher blood levels of it you have, the lower your chances of memory loss. Moreover, your blood pressure will be at a more normal level.

Have Some Fat With It

K is fat-soluble. That means you need to eat some fat with it so your body absorbs it.

My Green Drink has zero grams of fat, or at most, a trace amount. So what I do is shortly after I have some Green Drink, I’ll have a tiny amount of avocado, coconut oil or almond butter (or other healthy fat) so that next time I get a boo-boo, my blood will clot fast.

Veronica in NYC

© 2021 Chef V, LLC.