You are what you eat. OK, you’re not actually a carrot or a cherry, but these foods that can give you an extra boost to help you look and feel your best.

Flax Seed Oil
Softens skin and makes hair shiny. Protects skin from sun damage. Try with apple cider vinegar as a salad dressing or mix in juice or a fruit smoothie. Two to three tablespoons a day should do the trick.

Carrots
Low-calorie, high-fibre and rich in beta-carotene, the perfect food for a slim figure and clear ski and healthy eyes. A cup of fresh carrot juice a day will cleanse the blood and make you glow.

Cherries
Highly refreshing and purifying, they flush out toxins and excess fluids that make you feel and look puffy. Their vitamin C content will help your skin retain its elasticity.

Leafy Greens
Lettuce, spinach, collards, dandelion, kale, beet greens – all provide fiber, water and a bounty of vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. Leafy greens are anti-inflammatory and blood-building.

Wheat Germ
Rich in B vitamins that soothe stress (a real beauty buster), boost energy and maintain the health of skin, eyes and hair. Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons on cereal or swirl into yogurt.

So with these five healthy foods in mind, read on ...

Normally, I’m not big on breakfast. Usually I’m already out the door before I’m awake enough to be hungry beyond a cup of tea. But I know how important it is to start my day with some real nourishment because if I don’t, I usually find myself craving some high-fat, unhealthy sweet (like a chocolate croissant) by about 10 am.

So how do I grab a healthy meal-on-the-go in the morning? The answer to the lack-of-hunger vs. need-for-nourishment dilemma seems to be breakfast smoothies and shakes. By definition, smoothies are fruit based while shakes are dairy, soy or rice milk based.

The basic proportions to my breakfast drinks are:
1 cup juice or yogurt
l banana
1/3 cup fresh or frozen fruit (if desired)
½ cup ice.
If you use a frozen banaca, you eliminate the need for ice.

Then I take my basic recipe and add the powdered supplement that best meets my nutitional needs. Nutritech’s All One Green Phyto Base is a favourite; it has lots of calcium and B12 in a vegan formula with plenty of greens.


Fresh Fruit Smoothies
1 cup orange juice or apple juice or pineapple-coconut juice
1 banana
5 strawberries or ½ cup papaya slices
½ cup ice
1 scoop protein powders
Supplements of choice (how about a few spirulina tablets?)
Blend until smooth

Watermelon Strawberry Smoothie
1 cup cubed, seeded watermeon
1 pint fresh strawberries
1 ½ teaspoons honey
dash of cinnamon
1-4 servings