Rich in essential nutrients, earth-friendly, super-convenient - and the

color of precious jewels!

As on of nature's most basic foods, greens have become an ally of

busy people seeking the benefits of a plant-based diet, without the

work. The greens family is made up of a rainbow of beneficial plants,

ranging from color-saturated fruits and vegetables to spirulina to

lesser-known microalgae. No matter how consumed, these foods provide

countless benefits, with research continually revealing more

attributes.

As part of your total wellness plan, think green, and you'll discover a

treasure cache of nutrition.

Harvesting greens touches the earth only gently. Of all the plant

sources necessary to sustain human life, gathering greens visits the

least impact on our fragile planet. Sea greens are trimmed off the

mother plant, allowing natural reproduction to occur. Greens don't

require fertilizers or pesticides, and they present a highly

accessible, inexpensive supply of not-livestock protein, helping to

prevent cyclical soil depletion and provide protein sources to at-risk

propulation groups suffering from hunger and insufficient nourishment.

Greens can be found in abundance through-out the world, on land

and in fresh and salt water environments. These simple vegetables,

cereal grasses, algae and micro-plants are actually the powerhouses of

basic human nutrition. The potent phytochemical and antioxidant

properties of greens help protect the body against free radicals in the

fight against cancer, but they may also play an important role in

stress reduction, mental acuity, colon health, dieting and weight

management.

Baby boomers should note that as a food group, greens are recongized

for increasing vitality while helping to mitigate the aging process...

Bursting with vitamins and minerals, such as iron, calcium, folic

acid, vitamins C and K, beta carotene, as well as essential amino

acids, fiber, enzymes and chlorophyll, greens offer a practical

solution for obtaining the RDA of vitamins and minerals while living a

hectic lifestyle. Greens are consumable in raw or cooked form,

multi-blends, liquids, capsules, and smoothie-type drink mixes. This

is not to say that liquid or tablet-based greens deliver an even

exchange for traditional produce, but the convenience of having these

super-foods, virtually on the run, is most appealing to a growing

number of consumers who are doing the math and want supplementation

without the preparation.

Greens super-foods act as toxic "waste" collectors in the cells,

helping to neutralize the effects of undesirable environmental

chemicals, as they have since the hunter-gatherer age. The human body

was "designed" to efficiently utilize these plant nutrients. Our

bodies function best in an alkaline state, but sadly, our modern diet

has ignored the value of plant-nutrients and replaced them with the

"acid" foods - fats and oils, animal proteins, dairy, nuts and grains,

and refined carboyhydrates. The result? An unacceptably high

incidence of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, arthritis and cancer.

An optimum diet plan would be a 75% alkaline diet and 25% acid.

Achieve this stasis with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits and

plant-based proteins, and avoid high-fat, low-fiber and refined foods.

Greens research has disclosed that individual micronutrients can

address specific health conditions or deficiencies. For example, sea

vegetables furnish valuable trace minerals, including chromium,

selenium, boron,, titanium, lithium, cesium, ubium and

iodine--nutrients diminishing in availablility due to conventional

cultivation. Spirulina, a blue-green algae, is rich in carotenoids

(beta carotene), offers twice as much B-12 as liver, and contains 65%

protein content. (Beef weighs in a 22%.) Futhermore, studies show that

chlorophyll-rich green foods exhibit natural anti-inflammatory action

and encourage mobility while freshening your breath!

Greens will give your body the balance it needs to maintain wellness,

energy and promote joyful "senior" years. For your health, raise a

toast to nature's most fabulous jewels: GREENS

References include the following:

*The Power of Superfoods, Scarborough, Ontario, Cananda

*Green Light for Green Foods, Whole Foods, September 1999

*Cereal Grass:What's in it for you!