Do i need to eat solid food if i drink green smoothies?

The key is a wide variety of food. Diets that are based on just one thing or another, for the most part, lack something or another.

Smoothies are great. I could see having as many as two a day. But there are lots of things that won't work in a blender. You need to eat them, too.

We need a lot of fiber each day for good digestive health. A lot of the things that blend well don't have much fiber. or you can't blend that much of them.

And some foods are better cooked. Although i guess you could cook them before blending them.

There probably is some value to chewing. I don't think I've seen any studies on it, but I imagine it has a bunch of beneficial benefits. All though I suppose if you just chewed gum....
 
I agree with Lou and would add that it is unlikely that you would take in enough calories or starches or even protein for that matter.

Digestion starts in the mouth and smoothies are rarely "chewed".

Emma JC
 
Danger! Danger! Very general question ahead, cannot answer "one size fits all question".

The first question that comes to mind is "What's in your green smoothie"? I am currently having them in the mornings (they include fruit as well as vegetables), and sometimes I have a little solid food after (or just wait for lunch), but I'm also eating fairly calorie rich foods as well in the morning (tahini, sunflower seeds) which have a fair amount of fat, and often sprouted barley as well (starch, vitamins, minerals).

I noticed you are a vegetarian, so likely still having dairy and eggs? Before trying anything like a "green smoothie" diet, I'd first concentrate on getting the animal products out of your diet, so that you have no animal flesh/animal fat munching bacteria in your colon and plenty of the fiber munching kind.

Then you can experiment. If you find your not getting enough, simply up your starch/fat content with whole grains, tubers, seeds and nuts.

As for deficiencies...I realize we are not ruminants with four stomachs, but given the right microbiome we *can* get a lot of benefits from greens. Can we live on them? I really don't know, I've never tried it. But the largest animals in the world don't seem to have a problem getting their protein and all other nutrient needs from...grass and some seeds.
 
THANKS! for the quick response.

@Nekodaiden


Most of the time my green smothiee is banana apple spinach / moringa smoothies ( because it is the easiest to do and easy really to find recipe ). The reason i ask this because sometimes i really hate to chew veggies that why i convert my solid food to green smoothie.

Yesterday i read the story of dr. sebi - the one who cure the aids,cancer and all diseasaes. And i try to look what is the guide of dr. sebi diet and most of them is veggies, fruit, herbal the only drinks is coconut water and water. No to animal products, soda, sugar, .. etc! I don't know if this will work or not but i'm now still researching about dr sebi diet.
 
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You should eat more than that. You're not getting all of the nutrition you need just from those few things.
 
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THANKS! for the quick response.

@Nekodaiden


Most of the time my green smothiee is banana apple spinach / moringa smoothies ( because it is the easiest to do and easy really to find recipe ). The reason i ask this because sometimes i really hate to chew veggies that why i convert my solid food to green smoothie.

Yesterday i read the story of dr. sebi - the one who cure the aids,cancer and all diseasaes. And i try to look what is the guide of dr. sebi diet and most of them is veggies, fruit, herbal the only drinks is coconut water and water. No to animal products, soda, sugar, .. etc! I don't know if this will work or not but i'm now still researching about dr sebi diet.

If you want to try this diet and having to chew all the listed foods is the only thing that is stopping you, I can't see the harm in just making smoothies. Amylase, which is an enzyme secreted by your body in saliva, is mainly used to digest starches (like rice, bread, oats etc). To my knowledge it is not needed at all for fruit and veggies.

I have heard of people solving big health problems on a raw food vegan diet, however, I have no personal experience with it nor know anyone personally who has done it. I can't see the harm in doing it short term, in any case. I would research any unfamiliar foods/herbs included in the regimen carefully though before deciding to try it.

Good luck to you!
 
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After three days yes you need solid food. One week max if you are a fan of fasting.

I know a vegan with digestive issues (and probably an eating disorder) whose doctor made her take a vegan protein powder because she insisted so much on smoothies and skipping meals.

That suffering you feel in the first few days isn't detox. It's your body starving and seeking a new equilibrium. You start then to tolerate starvation not because "clean now" but because you're a human being and a living organism that thrives in an adaptable state of homeostasis. Up to a point. Then you WILL get sick. My roommates sister recently had to be hospitalized due to an eating disorder. She collapsed and had a heart attack in her late 20s. She is vegan. Anorexia doesn't magically favor vegans.
 
After three days yes you need solid food. One week max if you are a fan of fasting.

I know a vegan with digestive issues (and probably an eating disorder) whose doctor made her take a vegan protein powder because she insisted so much on smoothies and skipping meals.

That suffering you feel in the first few days isn't detox. It's your body starving and seeking a new equilibrium. You start then to tolerate starvation not because "clean now" but because you're a human being and a living organism that thrives in an adaptable state of homeostasis. Up to a point. Then you WILL get sick. My roommates sister recently had to be hospitalized due to an eating disorder. She collapsed and had a heart attack in her late 20s. She is vegan. Anorexia doesn't magically favor vegans.

This is so wrong. The food the poster has specified is all solid to begin with, it's just blended with water and consumed. Since it is only fruits and vegetables, it doesn't contain starch, so no saliva (digestive enzyme Amylase) needed. There's plenty of fiber in there to feed gut flora. If it was *juiced only*, I'd say yeah...but this is not a starvation diet any more than a fruitarian making their fruits into smoothies (not just juice) is a starvation diet.
 
Danger! Danger! Very general question ahead, cannot answer "one size fits all question".

The first question that comes to mind is "What's in your green smoothie"? I am currently having them in the mornings (they include fruit as well as vegetables), and sometimes I have a little solid food after (or just wait for lunch), but I'm also eating fairly calorie rich foods as well in the morning (tahini, sunflower seeds) which have a fair amount of fat, and often sprouted barley as well (starch, vitamins, minerals).

I noticed you are a vegetarian, so likely still having dairy and eggs? Before trying anything like a "green smoothie" diet, I'd first concentrate on getting the animal products out of your diet, so that you have no animal flesh/animal fat munching bacteria in your colon and plenty of the fiber munching kind.

Then you can experiment. If you find your not getting enough, simply up your starch/fat content with whole grains, tubers, seeds and nuts.

As for deficiencies...I realize we are not ruminants with four stomachs, but given the right microbiome we *can* get a lot of benefits from greens. Can we live on them? I really don't know, I've never tried it. But the largest animals in the world don't seem to have a problem getting their protein and all other nutrient needs from...grass and some seeds.

Our brains require more energy than theirs. That's why evolution is often attributed to either fire or meat...I.e. easy access to excess calories.

I think it's fine for some individuals to do raw til 4 and there's unique cases of Asian Zen monks living off of milk and air, but most people need a certain amount of calories to function both mentally and physically. Smoothies don't offer enough variety in diet,even if you added a cup of coconut oil a day (an exaggeration I know but you know what I mean.)
 
Our brains require more energy than theirs. That's why evolution is often attributed to either fire or meat...I.e. easy access to excess calories.

So where does a horse that eats only grass get it's calories from? You can say "smaller brain", but it still needs plenty of energy to run around. All those calories are present because the grass is actually a long chain of sugars called polysaccharides that the horse breaks down into sugar for it's calorie needs. Humans do have the ability to do this, also-but it doesn't exist without the right microbiome which is modified by diet. Starving people in certain countries have had to turn to grass at times just to survive. Let's not forget that bread, pasta, rice are all seeds (or started off that way)- of grasses.

I'm not suggesting this as some sort of plug for veganism - far from it. But it can and has been done.

I think it's fine for some individuals to do raw til 4 and there's unique cases of Asian Zen monks living off of milk and air, but most people need a certain amount of calories to function both mentally and physically. Smoothies don't offer enough variety in diet,even if you added a cup of coconut oil a day (an exaggeration I know but you know what I mean.)

Oil has not been available to the masses really until the Industrial age. I know your preference includes it, but people living on or mostly on vegan diets didn't even have access to it. I'm a 6 foot 2 man, broad shouldered, and I have survived more than a few weeks without it. Sure, you can say "well this dude drinks alcohol, as he's stated". Well, yeah, but typically when I do this, I don't need to eat for a whole meal or two.

The OP has indicated they are looking to overcome a disease, not just change lifestyle. If they want to try a diet temporarily why should you or I stand in the way just because it isn't the same as ours? Would you feed a man oil and nuts who is trying to overcome heart disease just because you eat them, and contrary to experts who say to avoid them if this is the condition?
 
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THANKS! for the comment here. By the way the reason why i became a vegetarian my father died 2 years ago at the age of 50 ( cause of death : cancer and diabetes ). My father try a lot of treatment recommended by doctor ( chemotheraphy, radiation ) but he still die. That is the time i start researching how to cure / prevent cancer and diabetes. And base in my research there is a lot of cure already for diabetes and cancer like moringa, guyabano .. etc! Maybe if i know already this infromation when my father still alive maybe my father is still alive now. Now i understand already why doctor try to tell that herbal medicine is not guarantee, not sure if can cure diabetes or cancer but they want people to buy their product. Now only i realize that the cure, prevention in our dieases is only in our backyard. Now i'm happy that i'm almost 2 year vegetarian ( yeah i eat meat, pancake .. etc! occasionally only and as much as possible i make it vegan recipe like green pancake .. etc! Now i have a big garage and i'm planning to have my own organic plant garden that can be source of my food.

And also while i'm researching in internet i discovered dr. sebi and according to internet dr sebi is a herbalist and he discovered the cure for aids, diabetes, cancer ... etc! and he died at the age 82 because of Pneumonia but according to other information he died because someone killed them because he discover the remedy, cure in aids, cancer that people don't want to know.