I'm gonna pipe up here, no surprise.
My opinion is that it is equally (if not more) important to get most of your fruit n veg 'in season', nature povides foods in each season which are aligned to what people in that region need, so foods from hot regions produce alot of potassium which keeps you cool in heat, while cold regions winter produce contain large amounts of sodium for keeping warm (obviously amongst other functions), it's natures stuff like that which makes me believe in intelligent design.
This is a big problem when you just give a blanket 5 a day statement, why not 'eat lots of, in season, high quality, local produce'.
Soil quality and ripeness can also affect these things massively, most soils now are very low in mineral density, which means they don't release their non-protein nitrogen sufficiently, meaning the produce is low in nutritional density and will suffocate the body as potassium nitrite is released though digestion, picked under ripe (to stay on shelves longer) and you amplify this issue (a cheap effective counter to this element is to have a small amount of magnesium with meals as this neutralises potassium nitrite).
I don't buy into Innocent's stuff at all, when I make a smoothie it has to be drunk in 15minutes, as fresh food when crushed/blendid starts to break down it's cell walls and alot of the good enzymes die off. I'm not having it at all that you can microwave food and maintain any decent amount of nutritional density, don't have one in my house.
I have an enzyme juicer (masticating as it doesn't destroy enzymes like most juicers/blenders do), but it is a real chore to use, if I'm feel run down or in need of a clean up though I have a week of mainly carrot juice (sometimes with orange or ginger), plus a few juices with loads chucked, kale, brocolli, apples, celery, coupled with a really clean diet.
I agee that drip drip drip through the day is best, but again very difficult, when I've read up about this on a nutritional forum I frequent it has been put ''do you take all your oxygen for the day in one breath?''.
We have a green smoothie couple/few times a week, usually half a cucumber or celery, some spinach or kale leaves, half an avocado (lots more, but you get the gist). It is usually lovely and dark green ie high in plant
chlorophyll, alkaline, teaming with vital minerals. This is really easy, quick, and doesn't taste to bad, you could make a couple in one go, have one with breakfast, sip the other through the day, couple of weeks of this and minimising/eliminating the pure crap in your diet, bosh, new you.
Also I have masses of Kelp, but I don't think any of you pussies could handle the drink I make with this in it... :lol:
You are a gym freak I thought African, if right you are sweating out masses of minerals and need to know nutition better IMO, your body will slow/stop it's regeneration abilities much quicker if you keep burning through it's mineral reserves (plus vitamins, sulphur etc) and don't keep them topped back up.
It's tough to eat well nowadays, really it is.
Keeping your digestive fauna in good health means being very careful with sugars, making fruits a tricky one, eating more than one type at a time is a big no-no (I've read repeadedly) as it strains digestion, but some fruit salads are lovely ](*,)
Enough waffle for now, hmmmmmmm waffle!
