FROM VAMPIRE'S BLOOD TO BEE VENOM

FROM VAMPIRE’S BLOOD TO BEE VENOM

Carolyn, my friend and partner in Enlightened Moves wrote me a funny email suggesting that “we have to dispel the rumors that you drink Vampire’s Blood to still look so young and that I have had butt implants to defy gravity when in reality it’s all Enlightened Moves and Enlightened Moves Lifestyle.”

It sounds so cool to say “I’m drinking vampire’s blood” but sadly I am not.  But may I begin with a little bit of history.  My maternal Grandmother was the daughter of a Head Gardener who in his lifetime worked at one or two Royal Palaces and Stately homes.  He grew exotic fruit (or at least it was in those days) and vegetables for the Aristocracy and he would bring home to his family the fruits of his labors (forgive the pun).  My Grandmother was brought up exclusively on organic produce from the land.  This Gardener’s daughter as a teenager would open the gates to let in the carriages and my soon to be Grandfather, a minor Aristocrat, spotted Grandma and her beautiful skin.  He was much older than her but he fell in love with my Grandmother and her healthy looks which probably encouraged the thought that she would bear an heir and a spare.  The rest is history and I could, of course, pad this out and sell a new TV series along the lines of Downton Abbey, but I will stop here.

It is true, what you put into your body affects your health, your longevity, your looks and how you age.  And it is never too late to start to change your nutrition if you feel you are perhaps not doing yourself any favors.  I come from several generations of fruit and vegetable eaters but I am not a food fascist.  Anyone who knows me knows I am rather fond of large gins and tonics and sticky toffee pudding with custard, in fact anything that has “sticky, gooey and pudding” in its name.  But good nutrition does not have to be a torture or a prison sentence and easy changes are possible.  As an experiment, Carolyn, the Nutritionist half of the Enlightened Moves Duet, suggested I drink a green smoothie for breakfast or, in fact, all morning if I was hungry.  This is a simple concoction to make and it is famed for detoxification and to promote a youthful skin and glow. See Recipe and a picture of the green smoothie on its way to the freezer!

Yes, I said, I will add this to my morning routine which also includes a cup of hot water with lemon, first thing – which helps flush out the liver, stimulates your digestive track, and helps the body become more alkaline.   And as I am English, I have to have two cups of Empress Grey Tea.  I began to drink the green smoothie every day and because it has fruit in it, it tastes sweet and fun.  I make a large batch and freeze it until I need it.  I noticed a difference immediately.  I was less puffy and the skin around my eyes seemed to improve, I thought.  After two weeks I happened to be taking an elderly client to Bingo as part of my Care Giving Work.  While standing in the queue to collect sheets of numbers for him to play, I found myself chatting with a number of people.  We were all trying to guess each others’ ages.  They all thought I was 32 or 34.  Yippee!!  I am 54.  I was so thrilled, I told everyone I know. 

Now I sometimes alternate the green smoothie with a hot calming, green soup - the ingredients I am told are good for joints, bones, osteoporosis, rickets, mental health nervous system and anxiety.  I like hot soup for breakfast.  I make a lot of healthy soups for my elderly Mother, and this is so delicious and very seasonal - it uses a lot of fresh mint that we have growing in abundance in the garden. These are two easy, cheap, drinkable meals to promote youthful, beautiful skin and health and I can testify that they work.  We've included the recipe for the soup and a picture below as well!

It is never too late to use nutrition as an anti-aging component for the skin and body.  I do not spend a lot of money on fashionable face creams.  I would rather eat to make my skin look good, but perhaps another time I will write about my topically applied skin care - mine does include Bee Venom! – ö-Sel (picture of me above after am exhausting 15 hour care-giving shift...not bad 'eh?)

Recipes:

Glowing Green Smoothie from Kimberly Snyder “The Beauty Detox”

Ingredients

2 cups water, ½ head organic spinach, 1 head organic romaine, juice of ½ organic lemon, 3 sticks of organic celery, 1 organic banana, 1 organic pear, 1 organic apple

Pour water into blender, add spinach and romaine…blend until smooth.  Add celery, apple, and pear blend again until smooth.  Add banana and lemon juice give one final blend…to create that smooth, creamy shake texture.  Voila!

** Carolyn’s notes: make sure to keep the skins of the apples and pears on…that’s where a lot of the vitamins and minerals are!  This recipe makes about 2 1/2 – 3 pints a serving size is at least one pint.  But drink more if you like.  It will keep for 3 days with the enzymes intact in the fridge or for 2 months in the freezer.  Just pull some out to thaw in the fridge the night before you want to drink it.  Feel free to experiment just don’t add any ‘high sugar’ fruits like orange or grapes, don’t add and grains, dairy, or protein as this is a smoothie that is meant to be digested quickly for optimum absorption of vitamins and for ‘quick exit’ ;-) (more on that later)! - Carolyn

ö-Sel’s Hot Green Soup

olive oil for cooking and drizzling

1 white onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove finely chopped

2 cups fresh or frozen peas

1 large zuchinni, chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 cups vegetable stock or bouillon

1 cup baby spinach

small bunch fresh mint leaves

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

Saute onion until breaking down, add sweet potato and cook until soft.  Add other vegetables and broth…cook for 30-45 minutes.  Blend in batches or with a hand held blender…add more fresh mint, s & p and a drizzle of olive oil for serving.