*Enjoy this guest post from Wahls Health Practitioner, Alene Brennan from lesspharmmoretable.com
I started the Wahls Protocol® the first summer I was diagnosed with MS. The number of vegetables I now needed to consume in a day was intimidating to say the least. I took what little energy I had and threw every healthy food I could find into a blender. My smoothies looked like mud and tasted gross.
Here’s the kicker, I am a natural food chef. But the mindset of exploring delicious flavors and smooth, creamy textures, was far from my mind. I was fighting for my health.
I would “power through” gross smoothies because I had one thing on my mind – results. I wanted relief from the fatigue and countless other symptoms.
But as you can imagine – or maybe can relate firsthand – this approach doesn’t last.
If we’re going to use food as medicine for a disease that we’ll be managing for the rest of our lives, the food has to taste good. We have to enjoy it and, dare I say, look forward to it too.
As a fellow Wahls Warriors™, I want to remind you that we can have both our health and food that tastes good too.
It is possible.
I just blended the incredible wisdom that Dr. Wahls gained about the specific foods that can support our mitochondrial health with the training that I had as a chef to start enjoying delicious smoothies again.
Ease the Pressure on the Smoothie
First, I had to see a smoothie as just one opportunity to get my cups of veggies in throughout the day. I couldn’t put all the pressure on this one smoothie. There are countless other ways to get veggies in throughout my day that I could explore. This is just one smoothie, it’s not meant to carry the weight of all six to nine cups for us.
Identify Your Favorite Flavors
Next, I asked myself which flavors I enjoy most. What a brilliant idea, right? Personally, I love raspberries. I love the tart flavor and the bright pink color, so that became the first smoothie that I started to create. Maybe you prefer strawberries or blueberries. Identifying your favorite flavors gives you a great starting point to making smoothies that you enjoy drinking. It also opens the door for you to have more variety in your smoothie routine.
Discover Hidden Ingredients
Then I discovered the vegetables that I can tuck into a smoothie that I don’t taste but will give me a boost of nutrients. One of my greatest discoveries was learning that adding frozen cauliflower to your smoothies doesn’t change the taste but adds a lot of detoxifying benefits and a creamy texture. Frozen cauliflower is also relatively in expensive and because it’s frozen, you don’t have to worry about it going bad in a few days.
The more I learned and the more I tested out new recipes, the better my smoothies tasted, and the better I felt. Yes, I got a boost in energy, but I also felt better emotionally too.
I no longer had this mindset that I couldn’t enjoy food anymore because “I have MS.”
That’s simply not true. We can enjoy our food and our health too! The sooner you discover and experience this, the more enjoyable your road to healing will be.
If you’re looking to switch up your smoothies, and need a little guidance, I invite you to take my 5 Day Smoothie Challenge. You’ll learn new recipes as well as tips to save time and energy in the kitchen and how to save money at the grocery store.
It can give you the jumpstart you need to feeling better.
