Joan’s Boomer Blog

My husband and I are embracing the raw food diet - not all the way, mind you. We still like our barbecue and

Raw food recipe for powerball snack

steamed veggies. However, we’ve started drinking Green Smoothies - the ultimate raw food - and I’m making more raw food snacks and large salads.

The raw food diet is just that. You don’t eat anything cooked as it destroys valuable digestive enzymes and nutrients. I have a raw food cookbook and the only cooking you do involves a dehydrator set to no higher than 115 degrees. If you’re in your baby boomer years, your body isn’t assimilating nutrients like it once did so you need all the digestive enzymes you can get. You’ll feel healthier and many of your health issues will disappear.

Green Smoothies are easy to incorporate into your diet. You simply make a tasty smoothie in the morning and drink 1-2 quarts of it during each day. Add any fresh, raw veggies you have and some fruit.

I’ve also discovered raw food recipes for snacks. These are super easy snack recipes because you mix up ingredients but don’t have to cook them. Here is one raw food snack recipe I created yesterday. Compare them to any expensive energy bar and I think you’ll like these much better.

These raw food power balls are full of energy creating superfoods so they are great to eat between meals or after a workout:

Raw Food Power Ball Snack Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup sliced raw almonds (you can substitute any other raw nuts if you prefer)
1/8 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4cup coconut shredded
1 cup mixed dried fruit (I found a great antioxidant mix at Costco with dried cherries, cranberries and blueberries)
1/2 cup raw honey
1 cup raw peanut butter (you can also use other raw nut butters)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Using a food processor or Vitamix, blend the first 4 dry ingredients to a meal stage. Don’t make a fine powder out of it, just chop for about 20 seconds.

Put dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and add dried fruit, cinnamon, peanut or other raw nut butter, and honey. Mix thoroughly.

Once your raw food ingredients are mixed, form into balls of about 1 1/2 inches and put into a glass container with a tight fitting lid. I put tin foil between my rows so they don’t stick together.

Refrigerate for 24 hours and enjoy.

These raw food powerballs will keep in the frig for 2 weeks - if they last that long! I send them to work with my husband for his lunch and snack on them after my yoga class.

This recipe makes about 30 raw food power balls.

The great thing about this recipe is you can change up ingredients to suit yourself. They are a quick and easy snack that requires no baby sitting a hot oven for several hours.

If you’re interested in healthy aging, you should be eating more raw food recipes. Eating raw foods can help ward off eye diseases like cataracts and macular degeneration, cancer, heart disease, arthritis and more.

If you’d like to know more about Green Smoothies, click here for more info. Get free shipping on your Vitamix if you don’t own one already. I’ve found so many uses for my Vitamix I can’t imagine what I did without it.

More information on the raw food diet at Best of Raw Food.com

How can green smoothies help prevent glaucoma and eye disease like macular degeneration?

As we age, we become susceptible to eye problems like glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts and other eye diseases. However, it is possible to help prevent or reduce the effects of eye disease and vision problems by consuming an eye health foods in our daily diet.

For instance, the National Eye Institute has found that taking zinc and high doses of antioxidants, such as those found in fruits and veggies, can reduce your chances of getting macular degeneration by as much as 25%. Antioxidants such as Lutein and zeaxanthin are vital to continuing eye health and you can get these from eye health foods.

Rather than taking supplements, which may be synthetic and not real food at all, the best way to get enough antioxidants in your diet is to eat at least 9 servings of veggies for eye nutrition. To make sure you get the most out of these veggies, eating them raw, blended into a green smoothie, provides eye health nutrition that your body can easily absorb and make use of. In a green smoothie recipe, it isn’t hard to get these eye health foods daily.

My husband and I started drinking green smoothies about a month ago. I had to take a break for 2 weeks when I visited family, but have been back on the green smoothie diet for nearly a week. My husband has glaucoma in his family and suffers from high eye pressure and I was told on my last eye exam that I had the beginnings of cataracts, plus I’ve had various floaties and flashes in my eyes, which happens as we age and the fluid in our eyes becomes hardened.

When we started drinking green smoothies, I was especially interested in recipes with eye health foods and eye health nutrition so perhaps we can keep these eye conditions from worsening.

The key to staying healthy with green smoothies is to vary your intake of fruits and veggies. The nutrients you are looking for are zinc, beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein and zeaxanthin and omega 3 fatty acids. If you are seeking veggies which are eye health foods, here are a list of veggies to include in your smoothies which contain valuable nutrients for preventing cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration:

• Beta carotene foods: cherries, carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, cantaloupe, apricots
• Vitamin C foods: bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, oranges, strawberries, kiwis and brocoli
• Vitamin E foods: wheat germ, almonds, avocados, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, peanut butter
• Zinc foods: chick peas, oysters, ostrich (a very lean meat), turkey, pumpkin seeds
• Lutein-Zeaxanthin foods: spinach, Swiss chard, corn, watercress and persimmons contain both.
• Omega-3 fats: wild salmon, sardines, Atlantic mackerel and omega-3-fortified eggs. If you’re making a green smoothie, you can add 1 tsp of flax seed oil or add flax meal to your smoothie.

If you want to prevent cataracts, studies have shown that foods rich in riboflavin also help:

• Riboflavin foods: skim milk and low-fat, eggs, mushrooms and almonds
• Niacin foods: chicken and turkey breast, wild salmon, kidney beans and natural peanut butter

To make a green smoothie with eye health foods, here’s one sample recipe:

1 cup water
One whole carrot, peeled if not organic
1/2 cup strawberries
1 dozen almonds
1 tsp flax seed oil
1/2 cup chick peas, canned
1 cup spinach
1/4 cup kefir or yogurt - (Learn to make Kefir at home and save money!)

Blend all of these ingredients on high in your Vitamix. for 30 seconds.

If you prefer your smoothie a little sweeter, add a few drops of stevia or organic agave nector or throw in more berries.

To make up your own green smoothie recipes to benefit your eyes, just choose a different eye health food group and vary your smoothie each day. The precise measurements aren’t that important. You can adjust your smoothie recipe to your personal taste.

Can green smoothies cure eye problems such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration? If you suffer from these conditions, it’s important to follow the advice of your doctor. However, proper eye health nutrition and eye health foods, especially if you begin consuming them early, can go a long way to help preventing or controlling these health issues.

Read more about green smoothies and get some free recipes from Vitamix.

Click on the banner below and receive free shipping on your Vitamix - a $25 value.

Vitamix for Green Smoothies

More tips to prevent eye diseases:

Always wear sunglasses and a visor or hat to protect your eyes from sunlight.

If you smoke, quit.

If you’re overweight, lose some of that weight. (Green smoothies can help!)

National Eye Institute Information on Eye Diseases, their prevention and treatments.