Morning Sunshine - to your health!

Thought I'd share my new morning mix. I recently upgraded to a new Vita Mix. I had purchased one in the late 80's early 90's and used it here and there throughout the years, not as faithful as I'd intended...but it played out on me and after seeing the new upgrades I decided it was better to purchase a new one instead of repairing the old one. Wise choice. It arrived the end of last week!

For background, this "health kick" started several months ago when I injured my leg after hurricane Ike helping in the food distribution truck. Among other things that my chiropractor helped me work through he shared with me the idea of eating right according to your blood type. He recommend that I check out the works of Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo to learn which foods were beneficial to me and which ones to avoid. Of course you have to know your blood type (grin) so I checked with the local blood center to check my records as well as my husband's. I discovered that I'm Type A and he's Type O. From there began an interesting quest....

According to Dr. D'Adamo I'm suppose to be more of a fruit and grain eater, which is pretty much how I like to eat. My husband on the other hand is more of a meat eater (which also was true to his normal habit). The key is trying to find things that we have in common to help with meal preparation, and to learn what foods to avoid. We both found it interesting that some of the no-no's on our individual lists were things we didn't particularly care for in the first place so that wasn't too difficult, but there have been a few things that we said "oh darn".

I'm starting with the fruits right now, made a list for each of us grouped by the blood type recommendations of highly beneficial, neutral, and avoid. The reading of this book is very eye-opening. I've combined this information with Jay Kordick's The Juiceman's Power of Juicing to discover the health benefits of the individual fruits. Okay, there is a difference in juicing and the total juice of a Vita Mix, but that's a discussion for another time and another place (grin). I chose the Vita Mix, which is a total juicer - meaning you get pulp and all - and I'm going to share with you my recipe of this morning.

You can see the ingredients in the above photo. And below is how they looked in the container before mixing. I first poured in a small can of pineapple juice to give me liquid (could have used water but wanted more nutrients). Then I place two slices of fresh pineapple, four frozen strawberries and 4 frozen cherries (pits had been removed prior to freezing), and 4 frozen raspberries. In about 30 seconds in my Vita Mix I had a nice frozen sorbet. It was thicker than what I wanted -- I was in a hurry to drink it before going to my water aerobics class at the YMCA - so I added a little distilled water to make it more juice like.

Ta da! A great way to start the day!

Now I'm not a dietitian or a nutritionist, but according to my reading this little glass of sunshine was packed with potassium, chlorine, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, iodine, provitamin A, B complex, vitamin C, Bromelain (an enzyme that helps with digestion) and all that from just the pineapple and pineapple juice. The strawberries contributed vitamin C and natural sugars that cleanse the system, potassium and iron - good for strengthening the blood, while the sodium content provided a valuable tonic for the nerves and keeping the glands healthy. Plus strawberries have an added benefit of ellagic acid which is suppose to reduce and neutralize the damaging effects of the carcinogen PAH found in cigarette smoke and second hand smoke. But wait, there's more! The cherries contributed even more iron, magnesium, potassium, silicon (good for hair and skin) as well as provitamin A (which is also known as beta carotene). From what I understand in the reading - you can't overdose on provitamin A derived from vegetable and fruit. Plus everything is natural, no preservatives!

Wow, didn't know you'd get a science lesson just by visiting my kitchen! And for those that have asked, here's a picture of my cherry pitter. You just place the cherry stem side up in this little do-dad, use the spring action and push down the plunger and out the other end (the clear plastic area) pops that pit! Like I said, made my work seem like play it was so much fun!


I'm eager to try more mixes with my fruits and later work into juicing veggies. I can testify that I'm not hungry after having my fruit drinks and I think I have more energy! I'm hoping to lose some weight! Dr. D'Adamo says that if you eat according to your blood type that you should achieve your ideal weight. I'm counting on his words of wisdom (grin).

Here's to the beginning of a healthier lifestyle!