Dismantling my "healthy drink"

[bgoldenjr]

I plan on starting my first Whole30 on Monday. I'm presently working on a meal plan and corresponding grocery list.

For years I have been consuming daily what I call my "healthy drink" (for lack of a better term). After reading and re-reading many pages throughout this website, I have come to the conclusion that this won't work, as-is. Since I drink this every day, I need to know how or if I can modify my "healthy drink" so I can still do maybe a sub-set of it.

I may be a little too sugar-heavy with the quantity of fruit in the blend.

Am I on the right track? Thanks!

Here are my ingredients:

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Probably safe to keep:

1/4 cup goji berries (organic)

1 tbsp cacao nibs (organic)

1 tbsp chia seeds (organic)

1 tbsp shredded coconut (organic, unsweetened, gluten free, vegan)

1 tbsp cinnamon (organic)

1 tsp domatcha green tea powder

Probably need to discard, unless quantities are too small to matter:

1 tbsp local hive honey

1 cup cranberry juice (part grape and apple juice)

1/2 cup water kefir (made with varieties of sugars)

1/2 cup oats (old fashioned)

1/2 cup Craisins (when cranberry supply exhausted; sugar added)

1/2 cup raisins

1 tbsp "allOne multivitamin and mineral powder"

- no yeast, no dairy, no gluten, no sweeteners, no excipients

- however, contains rice protein concentrate & rice bran, probably to hold everything together ???

- in base of papain, Betaine HCi, and kelp

Not sure about these:

1/2 cup aloe vera juice

1 tbsp olive oil (pure extra virgin)

1 tbsp coconut oil (organic, pure extra virgin)

1 cup blueberries (frozen)

1 cup strawberries (frozen from fresh purchased, organic when available)

1/2 cup cranberries (frozen from fresh purchased last Nov/Dec))

1 cup grapes (frozen from fresh purchased, organic when available)

1 banana

1 cup pineapple (fresh, not canned)

[Jtandi]

good luck on your whole30!!! you are right to question your drinks. I'm sure others will comment, and you could search for "smoothie" on here to get a bit more info, but smoothies or blended fruit drinks are highly discouraged during your whole30.

you have A LOT of fruit in there. and, yes, you are right about the ingredients in the "no" list (although raisins are fine).

if you were going to sit down and eat a meal following the template (1-2 palms of protein, 2 thumbs of fat, 2 cups of veggies) would you add this drink and have it along with your meal? probably not. so there is probably no place for it.

it is suggested that 0-3 servings of fruit be eaten a day - not because they are bad but because vegetables are more nutrient dense. they also feed our desire to have sugar and fulfill a "sweets need" many of us have.

just out of curiosity - why do you want to continue this drink? if it is for health reasons rest assured you will be getting much more nutrients by simply following the prescribed template. and it's just for 30 days!

[Kirsteen]

Hi Bgoldenjr, Jtandi is correct. Smoothies really shouldn't be playing a part in a W30. The meal template guide http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf clearly shows what each meal should look llike. 1-2 palmsizes of protein, 1-2 thumbfuls healthy fats and fill the plate with veggies.

Meals should be good nutritional foods eaten not drunk as our bodies process liquids differently. It's also much, much easier to *overeat* if we're drinking it, than actually chewing and swallowing. If you look at the meal template, you'll see it recommends that fruit should only be eaten occasionally (most people take that to be once or twice a day) with a meal and providing it doesn't push veggies off the plate.

The serving size is a handfull. Now when it comes to dried fruit, I always imagine what a handful would be like if it were still fresh, a handful of raisins for instance would actually be quite a few handfuls of grapes. I bought 2 pounds of cranberries at Wholefoods and when I'd dried them, I ended up with half a small jar.

I hate to sound so negative but there are as you say, several other items on the list, not allowed during a W30 like honey, oats, Craisins, rice protein concentrate & rice bran. The things you're not sure about are all OK. The olive oil and coconut oils are great. The fruit is not forbidden it's just that those quantities won't fit the template.

Believe me, I know where you're coming from. I used to be a raw foodist and consumed *healthy drinks* like this by the quart. I even saved up to buy a Vitamix specifically for them. I would still really recommend that you give the W30 a try without the drinks. If you follow the meal template, you really will get plenty of nutrition from your food and isn't that really the way it should be.

Honestly I feel far better now on a W30 lifestyle than I ever did trying to get my nutrition from smoothies and juices however healthy the ingredients. Just try it for 30 days. A W30 can be a big change for a lot of people so, if you're going to do it, you deserve to get the best possible results. Follow the meal template and cut out the *healthy drinks* - that way you'll get a true picture of what a W30 can do for you and if you reintroduce the drink post W30, you'll be able to see exactly what effect it has, if any. Good luck

[bgoldenjr]

Thanks, Jtandi and Kirsteen, for your replies. I have kind of progressed over the past day toward your recommendations regarding the drink, as in just not doing it at all during Whole30. My reason for the drink, aside from the nutritional value, is antioxidants. Dad died of cancer back in 2000 and I want to fight that nasty disease as much as I can. We are working through the concept of not jumping to fruit when the sugar craving arises. I suspect that my "healthy drink," while not containing much "bad" sugar, is fulfilling my sugar craving.

So, I'm good with ditching my "healthy drink" and after Whole30 maybe can weave some of the items, like chia seeds, cacao nibs, or goji berries into meals. It really doesn't have to be in the form of a smoothie.

Post Whole30, about the only "bad" thing I want to research further are the honey and maybe the oats, but if Whole30 lifestyle keeps my cholesterol at great levels (as it already is), I can ditch the oats. Maybe I can just use the honey as part of recipes or something.

I'd rather do Whole30 the right way so I can truly assess the difference. Like others have done, I'm going to try to blog my experience.

Again, thanks for your input and support!

-Bill

[Jtandi]

Bill - that sounds awesome. just FYI - I did 100 days, but my total cholesterol dropped by 17 points, my triglycerides by more than 1/2 (119 down to 50) and my ratio went from 2.6 down to 1.

[Guest]

Regarding cancer: have you read this? http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/7653-w30-is-curing-my-cancer/ You might find you don't need your juice after a few succesful whole30's