Sam’s Concoctions: Green Drink (video) (Updated 12/4/2011)

In this video I use a Vitamix Blender to obliterate various high nutritional green veggies into a drink I’ve been consuming on a daily basis. From these drinks I’ve noticed increased energy, vitality, and mental clarity. Ingredients in this video: spinach, kale, other huge green leaf (collard greens haha), plain almond milk, mixed berries, and chia seeds.

This is about maximizing nutrition content which is part of the nutrition principles I talk about here.



***Update***

I recently ran into this TEDtalk of a lady who has overcome MS by changing her diet around and specially adding massive amounts of greens. Check it out as she explains some of the science behind why green are so important.

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  • Peter

    Nice job Sam. Thanks for sharing. Will give it a go this weekend. How about some updates on your diet – still doing lean gains and the 16-hour fast?

  • http://www.feelgoodlifestyle.com Phil Drolet

    Glad to see I’m not the only health freak crazy enough to put a bunch of green stuff in a smoothie.

    Just created a similar video, but I got a few ingredients in there that actually make it taste really good too (tastes like Chocolate & coconut) Check it out: http://www.thefeelgoodlifestyle.com/how-to-make-the-best-breakfast-in-the-world.html

  • Mike

    Sounds a lot like the drink Joe Rogan goes on about on his podcast.

    One of the Hulk’s loads, haha.

    • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

      Yep. :)

  • Bob Sellers

    Wow, you used a regular blender. As long as you’re going to eat the pulp too, You could make a big salad.

    If you really want to juice stuff, get a masticating juicer. Those separate the actual juice from the solid stuff. In addition, you can juice stuff that a blender will just laugh at. I’m pretty sure mine can get the juice out of a 2×4, but i haven’t tried to do that.

    The big benefit of juicing is that you can jam WAY more veggies and of way more different kinds into the thing than you can possibly stand to eat on their own. With a regular blender, you have no real way of separating the pulp from the liquid. Just toss in a sliced apple along with the veggies and you’re good.

    • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

      I would never eat that salad. haha. I can drink it though. That’s the bottom line. I don’t like the idea of juicing as much as blending. I could be wrong though.

      • Bob Sellers

        The only way to be ‘wrong’ here is to not eat your veggies. If the blender works for you, then have at it!

        One of the problems we have as men is that we’re bombarded with the “It’s the protein, yo!” message with almost no mention of a plant based diet. Plants are good! They’re jammed with vital nutrients and have (In general.) a low calorie content per unit of weight.

        I like to eat a big salad as one of my meals each day. Generally, I pre-mix 1 can of cut Green Beans, 1 can of Garbanzo beans, and 4 shredded carrots. (That’s enough for 4 salads. I divide that equally into 4 tupperware containers by weight and put 3 of them into the fridge.) Then I add Spinach, Another leafy veggie (Collard Greens or Iceberg Lettuce) a can of either Tuna or Chicken, and Salad Dressing. I like to make that the first real meal of the day, about an our after I break the intermittent fast for the day by eating 2 pieces of fruit. (Meaning after 12:00 noon. There is NO eating before noon.)

        So basically, my 4 day shopping list is going to start with:
        4 each of 2 kinds of fruit.
        1 can of Cut Green Beans.
        1 can of Garbanzo beans.
        carrots (You get … 8 carrots in a bag. Only have to buy them on every other trip.)
        Bag of Spinach.
        Bag of Collard Greens or head of Iceburg Lettuce. (Swap it up!)
        2 cans of tuna and 2 cans of chicken.

        I add to that what I’m going to eat for dinner for those 4 days. (I’ve been making it a point to keep my calories consumed within 500 of needed, which means I need to eat lunch and dinner.)

        I keep absolutely no extra food in the house. Every bit of food purchased is part of a plan, and the plan is followed for the 4 days it’s in effect.

        • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

          Bob that is awesome. Looks like an ideal lifestyle and diet to me. How are the results coming along?

          • Bob Sellers

            Doing great, Sam!

            I’ve been making a point to eat ‘extra’ food that I don’t even ‘need’ to keep the calories within 500 of actual burn. At this point I don’t think I could lapse back into the old eating habits even if I wanted to.

            It almost seems unreal that I’ve been obese my entire adult life, but within a year have totally destroyed the condition. The mind is INDEED programmable. It blows my mind that I was constantly hungry and constantly snacking at the same time.

            I quit drinking coffee about 3 months ago, I was dragging my butt for a month or so, but now I don’t even miss it. I don’t miss the elevated heart rate, either!

            Let’s see… weight at the beginning of the year: 325. Now: 245. So that’s 80 pounds so far, with the eventual goal still set at 180.

            My focus now is on nutrition, trying to switch to a more plant based diet while continuing the basic intermittent fasting mechanics.

            • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

              Amazing man. You’re an inspiration to many around you I’m sure (not to mention me and those reading this). More plants is something I’ve been personally focusing on as well. It’s more for performance and mental clarity than anything. I notice enormous differences from increased greens.

  • http://rmctech.net Ryan Critchett

    Dude this is awesome! I’ve been doing something similar lately. Half of banana, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, a pear, broccoli, spinach leaves, leafy lettuce, and a bit of this organic veggie juice to help it liquidate. Totally feel the difference. The most notable, as you mentioned, is cognitive. It’s awesome!!

  • http://figsandgold.com Michael

    I just did a similar juice fast that I loved. Going to do it every Monday with my fiance. Read about it here: http://figsandgold.com/2011/11/peeling-the-skin-of-the-onion-to-get-at-your-core-self/

    • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

      Nice. Good looking site too. :)

  • Thomas

    Hi Sam,

    Found the page,
    Could you tell, what were you looking for when creating this mix (bassically what vitamines does it provide),
    also I’m wondering about the presence of plain almond milk (I dont like almond), is it necessary (nutritional value) or can we replace it with normal milk ?

    Thanks

    • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

      Just using common sense man. I don’t have a ‘vitamin profile’ mapped out, and I don’t believe anyone really knows what micro-nutrients the body really needs, let alone what ones get used (supplements vs. different foods). The whole daily value stuff is basically arbitrary and might be totally wrong. Just trying to get as much green as possible based on principle. There’s also more to food than just micro and macro nutrients. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytochemical

      At the end of the day though, I notice dramatic differences in how I feel and how I perform from drinking these. I’m VERY in-tune with my body and my athletic performance from working out for years and putting my body into battle via Jiu Jitsu on a nightly basis. There are energy reserves. That’s the best way to put it. It makes sense why some of the best MMA fighters are going vegetarian (Jon Fitch, Jake Shields are the few off the top of my head). Performance is better when you eat a lot of plants.

      • Thomas

        Thanks man.
        I believe your big green leaf are “collard greens” btw,
        You add the almond milk to make the cocktail more creamy ? how about adding almond and water ? (since it seems some almond milk are made from not so many almond.)

        Great job with the blog

        • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

          Yep you’re right. They are collard greens. I call them dinosaur leaves now. :)

          You can add or subtract anything you want.

  • http://colourmehappy.typepad.com Allie Finch

    You have a Vitamix? Lucky. The last leaf looks sort of like collard, but I can’t see it very well. I love adding greens to my recovery drinks along with chia & maca. oh, & it makes me really happy to see you encouraging more plant-based eating here. With more big, strong guys like you doing this, maybe you can correct some of the misnomers associated with it.

  • http://textingly.com Rachel

    Hi Sam!

    I’ve been a lurker on your site for a while and wanted to say hey! Love your blog and how you put fitness and personal development together. Actually, I think they go hand in hand. Some of my biggest lessons were from my own pursuits for beating PR’s.

    Anywho, I have my own concoction of healthy goodness. When I was in my cutting stage for my first powerlifting meet (actually this sat), for lunch I would have mounds of veggies and meat… BUT b4 eating that, I would down quality protein powder and tons of chia seeds. Nothing like fiber, protein and antioxidants to help drop wt while keeping energy up! Truthfully, never felt so energetic cutting. =)

    PS… you look like a beastly version of Tony Robbins with that avatar. LOL!

    Have a great week.

    rchl

    • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

      That sounds like an energy boost for sure. Optimizing your calories when cutting is definitely the name of the game.

      Tony Robbins is my hero! So I’ll take that as a compliment. :)

  • aAlex

    What do you think about adding whey protein to a simillar shake? Anyway I’m so willing to try something like that after hearing about the energy boost!

    • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

      Give it a try! I wonder about the taste, but I still haven’t tried it. I’ve been meaning to.

  • http://www.sircrazylot.com BeverlyT

    Hey there. First off I want to thank you for taking the time to build this site. It helped me look over my goals/plans/self and build a kind of road map for improving my life! I am a fan and will visit your website often!

    funny thing was that i originally came here through studio press because i bought the life wordpress theme and saw your site in their examples gallery. When i came on over to look at the layout, i then started reading what you had and it was mind changing. :)

    I am a cartoonist and thus am always at a desk or pc. Needless to say, over the last few years I have packed on the weight. But i have been taking steps to improvement and it’s showing (slowly but surely)!

    Now about this drink…

    It’s awesome! I couldn’t find a number of things that you suggested but i was able to improvise. I tried spinach, green swiss chard, one apple, kiwi, strawberries and almond milk.

    it turned into a deep green intimidating mess that tasted awesome! My coworkers thought it looked a little daunting but I enjoyed it.

    Thanks for the post. I will be drinking one to two of these a day :)

    • http://thesameffect.com/ Sam Lloyd

      Thanks for the props Beverly. Your cartoons are awesome! Seriously.

      Replace the processed carbs with stuff that comes directly from the ground, start to exercise even if it’s begins as simply a 30 minutes walk everyday, and you should drop the weight fairly quickly! Have fun with it. :)

  • Stefani

    Hi there–
    since you mentioned you don’t try too hard to make your drink taste good, I wonder if you have considered using a “raw soup” approach rather than “smoothie with fruit”? Basically you would leave out the berries and put in…oh, anything! Like parsley, basil, garlic & tomatoes, or ginger, garlic, cilantro, coconut milk…lemon or lime juice…avocado, sunflower seeds, cashews, any other nut or nut butter for a creamy “soup”…sprouts…cucumbers, celery, broccoli…spices like curry, turmeric, cayenne…You can get in a lot more super-yummy super-foods if you think “savory”! And if you’re not worried about it being 100% raw, you can even use some chicken broth or tomato juice/V8 as a base.

    Just discovered your website yesterday and am really enjoying it! Cheers!!!