Creamy Pumpkin Smoothie

I was recently inspired to create my own version of a Creamy Pumpkin Smoothie after trying the recipe on Fat Free Vegan.  I didn’t like how that recipe made a very heavy liquid pumpkin pie.  I like to eat Pumpkin Pie but somehow the texture of drinking one just didn’t work for my tastebuds.

So, here’s MY Creamy Pumpkin Smoothie. It serves 2-4 depending on how big your serving is:

• 2 Cups Publix Greenwise Original Soymilk (Has no chalky aftertaste. You can use Almond milk if you don’t like Soy)
• 1 Banana
• 1/4 Cup Organic Canned Pumpkin (Not Pumpkin Pie Mix!)
• 6 Whole Cashews
• 1 Raw Majool Date
• 1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 8 Ice Cubes

Place all in blender and blend until smooth.  I use a Vitamix so it blends pretty quickly. 

Above is a photo of the sad truth.  When you consume dairy products of any kind, you contribute to the pain and suffering of cows who’s short life is about producing milk in unnatural amounts.  Cows normally have a lifespan of 25 years and can produce milk for eight or nine years, but the stress casued by factory farm conditions leads to disease, lameness, and reproductive problems that render them worthless to the dairy farmer by the time they are four or five years old, at which time they are sent to the slaughterhouse.(Mercy for Animals)

Cows that live on Organic farms don’t have it any better.  So don’t kid yourself into thinking that because a dairy product is Organic that it is more “humane”.  The only difference is that cows are not injected with Bovine Growth Hormones and possibly fed grass instead of corn.   They are separated from their calf at birth and the calf is sent to slaughter for Veal.

The USDA Food Pyramid has been greatly influenced by food lobbyist, not nutritionists. According to the pyramid we need 3 servings of dairy daily to meet calcium needs. This is up from the previous 1 1/2 servings. This amount increases saturated fat in the diet, which has been linked in numerous studies to heart disease.

You might have noticed if you ran a 5k race this year in Orlando that free pints of Chocolate milk are now being handed out before and after the race as a “Recovery Drink”.  They are advertising with Track Shack and getting the coaches to tell thousands of marathon runners to drink milk! The Dairy Council hires Dieticians who sell this false information to schools, restaurants and athletic trainers.  Don’t be fooled, the Dairy Council is powerful and it’s pockets are deep.

Let’s take a look at some of the common misunderstandings about dairy and what we can do to improve our health without it:

Milk is a “health food”.Not really. Dairy and animal products lack the nutrients that give us protection against degenerative diseases like cancer and heart disease. Fiber, antioxidants, phytochemicals, folate, Vitamin E, and plant proteins are all protective nutrients that come from plant sources. Dairy is instead an abundant source of saturated fat and cholesterol, both of which are scientifically linked to cancer, obesity, and heart disease. If you consume any form of dairy (whole fat, low fat or non fat) on a regular basis, along with daily servings of any type of meat, you are consuming a diet high in animal protein.  High protein diets actually leach calcium from bones due to their elevated phosphorous content.

Plant milks are an excellent substitute, though milk of any kind is not necessary for human health.  You can buy or make your own Almond Milk, Soy Milk, Oat Milk, Hemp Milk, etc. 

Kids need Milk to grow.Not true. What they need is a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, some in their raw state, in order to get a wide variety of nutrients from food sources that are protective against disease.  They also need lots of exercise and 20-30 minutes of unfiltered sunlight for natural Vitamin D.   The only thing dairy has going for it is fat and calories.  Besides contributing to arthrosclerosis, dairy products consumed early in life have been linked with Type I Diabetes, ear infections, and for infants under one year, iron deficiency.

Breast milk provides the best nutrition for infants under one year, and it is optimal for them to have it to age 2.  Cow’s milk formula has no place in an infant’s diet.  It is concentrated cow’s milk protein, sugar, poor quality oils, synthetic vitamins and fat.  Read the label on on any can of formula and decide if that is something that YOU would put in your body. Sure infants can survive on it, but do their growing cells thriveon formula like they do on breastmilk?  Formula should be the absolute last option.  Even The World Health Organization (WHO) states: “The second choice is the mother’s own milk expressed and given to the infant in some way. The third choice is the milk of another human mother. The fourth and last choice is artificial baby milk.”

Milk banks like “Get Pumped” in Orlando, FL are popping up around the country for parents who want to feed their baby breastmilk but have challenges with milk production.

Dairy products are the best source of calcium.It is true that dairy products contain a lot of calcium. However, only 32% of the calcium in dairy is absorbed by the body. Compare that to the calcium in dark green vegetables and other plant foods where 50% or more is absorbable- making foods like kale, bok choy, broccoli, swiss chard, collards, tofu, and almonds the better way to get your calcium.

The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study of 77,761 women, aged 34 to 59 followed for 12 years, found that those who drank three or more glasses of milk per day had no reduction in the risk of hip or arm fractures compared to those who drank little or no milk, even after adjustment for weight, menopausal status, smoking, and alcohol use. In fact, the fracture rates were slightly, but significantly, higher for those who consumed this much milk, compared to those who drank little or no milk. (Feskanich D, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA. Milk, dietary calcium, and bone fractures in women: a 12-year prospective study. Am J Publ Health 1997;87:992-7.)

Is drinking milk Natural?

How is drinking something that is not biologically appropriate, natural?  How natural it is to consume the milk of another animal?  Cats don’t drink dogs milk and goats don’t drink sheep milk.  Why are we as humans drinking milk from a cow that is meant to grow a 90 pound calf into a 2,000 pound cow over the course of two years?

If you are struggling to get milk products out of your family’s diet, post below and I will offer suggestions!

Bill Clinton was recently interviewed by Wolf Blitzer and admitted to going on Caldwell Esselstyn’s Plant Based Diet for Heart Patients.  This diet is very strict because it requires a person to eliminate all overt fats- nuts, seeds, avocado, and oils.  It is also a vegan diet where ALL animal foods are eliminated, though Clinton admits to having fish occasionally.  

Esselstyn works at the Cleveland Clinic and his plan has reversed damage to arteries in all patients who have been 100% compliant.  Those who were not compliant had 2nd episodes and some even died!

Clinton is obviously very motivated to make these changes since having open heart surgery and a stint put in.  These two operations are painful for anyone who has to undergo them.  Clinton says he is commited to staying on the program because he “wants to be around for his grandchildren”.   I hope he sticks to it because media will provide continuing coverage on his health on this diet and it’s the type of news this country needs to hear to impact real change in the eating habits of Americans!

To get more information about Calwell Esseltyn’s plan, you can buy his book titled “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease”.

Consuming factory made snack foods on a regular basis alters taste buds to require more sugar, salt and fat to satisfy.   While this food is inexpensive, it delivers no real nutrition and hence a child or adult can consume a lot of processed food without feeling “full”.  This is often why we see kids become picky eaters and adults with ongoing weight loss challenges.

When a family stocks up on prepackaged foods, those foods get consumed before the produce in the refrigerator.

Some of the health damaging ingredients found in processed foods include:

Enriched Bleached Flour/Enriched Wheat Flour- It’s what most breads, cereals, and granola bars are made from. This unhealthy ingredient is stripped of its nutrients, chemically bleached and loaded with synthetic vitamins. Most kids are eating something made of enriched flour on a daily basis.  This stuff coats the villi in your small intestines.  The villi are like little fingers that coat the lining of the intestinal walls and absorb the nutrients from our food.  When we eat white flour, it leaves a layer of paste over the villi and makes it difficult for the villi to do it’s job.

Sugar- Simply put, refined sugar is a drug. It is highly processed with chemicals to make it white with a sand-like texture. It is highly addictive (just try to eliminate it from your diet and see what kind of withdrawal symptoms you go through!). It has no nutrition, only calories. The average American child consumes 5 pounds of sugar a week! Sugar can be found in almost every processed food from canned soups to salad dressings.

Artificial Sweeteners- Splenda is the most recent version of artificial sugar substitutes. It is not made from sugar! It is chemically bonded with chlorine and it has similar properties to DDT, two known carcinogens. The best sugar substitute is Agave Nectar from the Agave plant. It tastes very similar to sugar and is a great substitute for honey and maple syrup as well.

High Fructose Corn Syrup- This is worse than sugar! But that doesn’t mean you should opt for something made with sugar instead! HFCS was developed in the 1980’s as an inexpensive sweetener. It spikes blood sugar even more than refined sugar.

Partially Hydrogenated Oils- Just one gram of Trans Fat increases your risk for heart disease by 20% for that day. The majority of Americans are getting 5 or more grams, even when they select “Trans Fat Free” products. Read your labels! Manufacturers using the “Trans Fat Free” label often take advantage of the ability to use this labeling with less than gram of Trans Fat in their products.

Artificial Food Dyes and Flavorings- have been linked to hyperactivity, ADD, learning disabilities. These are pure chemicals found on every commercially frosted cake, popsicles, toaster pastries, gelatin, etc. It’s what most kids are eating on a weekly basis at home, at school celebrations, and birthday parties.

Prepackaged snack foods and drinks, whether they are “all natural” or not are no substitute for fresh raw, fruits and vegetables and freshly pressed juices. While processed snack foods may be inexpensive, quick,  and convenient- they contain ingredients that are damaging to our health long term.  So think LONG TERM when you go grocery shopping.  Is this food building up my health or breaking it down?

Read the ingredients section of your food label and if there is something you can’t pronounce or sounds like it’s not a food, research it online before you buy it!

I encourage clients and anyone interested in preventative health to read The China Study. It is 20 years of evidence based research that tells us the healthiest populations on the planet consume a diet centered on plant foods. These populations have almost NO incidence of degenerative disease unlike the United States where Type II Diabetes and Heart Disease have become an epidemic.

How does eating a Plant Based Diet and having healthy habits contribute to making the planet greener?

1. Eating less animal foods means less pollution in our ground water and air from factory farms
2. Eating less animal foods means wasting a lot less water and grains to raise animals from birth to slaughter
3. Eating less animal foods means we have more land to use for growing plant foods which require less resources.
4. And finally eating less animal foods and more nutrient dense plant foods makes populations healthier. They will require fewer pharmaceutical drugs that pollute our environment, especially our water ways.

A Plant Based Diet + Healthy Habits = Optimally Healthy Families and a Greener Planet!