If you are struggling, like I did, to go plant-exclusive (or vegan), eating more nutrient dense foods may help.

I have written many times about what effect green smoothies had on my health. Even though I was quite healthy to begin with, I was still getting colds and flues in the fall and winter, which often dragged on for weeks. Super annoying!

Those things completely disappeared from my life once I started drinking lots of blended greens, fruits, and veggies.

But was it entirely thanks to green smoothies?

Well, there was another big thing that happened in my life around that time that may have contributed to this success.

And I believe green smoothies helped me to do that thing, making it easier—so it was working in both directions.

Namely—I decided to go vegan.

Not vegetarian. Not plant-based. Vegan.

And this happened crazy fast. One day I was eating animals, and the next day I was not.

BOOM!

None of those, one day per week, or one meal per day shenanigans.

It felt easy. And effortless.

Which was amazing. And strange.

Because I have tried to go vegetarian MANY TIMES before, but failed.

Even though I KNEW that animals suffered on my behalf, and I DEEPLY BELIEVED I didn’t want them to die for me, I always gave in to temptation.

Plus, I LOVED meat and felt genuinely hungry without it.

And NO WONDER.

Animals were in my every meal, three or four times per day, for forty-plus years. And even when I didn’t want to have them, people were questioning my choices, telling me that I needed their protein to be healthy. They were amused by my budding compassion, which they considered silly and naive, because ‘animals must die for humans to thrive,’ ‘animals eat other animals,’ and’ it’s been done since the beginning of history,’ right?

But this time it was different.

It still took time for me to figure out the details.

Such as, what do I eat, so I don’t feel hungry. Or how do I deal with social situations and my family (some of the members of my family accused me of all kinds of weird things, including being fascist, or joining a dangerous sect). 

But the strange thing was—I didn’t miss meat or dairy, as I did before. And I didn’t have cravings.

So, what made the difference?

This time I had strong motivation.

And I had green smoothies.

The thing about green foods is that they are LOADED with MICRO-NUTRIENTS that most of today’s processed foods or even conventionally grown plant foods lack.

So, even if we eat a lot of them (and lots of calories!), our body can still be undernourished, and hungry for more.

But whole plant foods, and especially leafy greens, are NUTRIENT DENSE, instead of CALORIE DENSE. 

In fact, as a group, PER CALORIE they are the MOST NUTRIENT DENSE FOODS you can find.

So, green smoothies kept me satisfied, and whenever cravings struck, or didn’t know what to eat, I had a smoothie. Plus some other plant food, like beans or whole grains.

And you can have all those things in a massive salad, for sure!

But for me, smoothies made transitioning to animal-free eating so much easier.

So, whether you are trying to go plant-exclusive or vegan, and have found it to be challenging, definitely try eating more green smoothies, green soups or green blended salads to your diet to jump start your new habit.

Today, even I don’t drink smoothies as often as I used to, I keep reminding myself what they did for me, and why it’s good to have them.

Especially, as another season of colds, flues gets here, let’s dust off our blenders (and juicers).