Kean’s Supreme Greens
If you make just one addition to your diet this year, then let it be Kean’s Supreme Greens. This mild-tasting blend contains an expert selection of the highest quality ingredients from land, lake and sea, and nothing else. The result is an exciting array of health protective nutrients with weighty research behind them. Judging from the feedback, people taking Kean’s Supreme Greens on a regular basis are enjoying the experience and noticing the results.
The ingredients list is impressively simple: Organic Wheatgrass, Organic Barleygrass, Organic Spirulina, Organic Chlorella, Alfalfa, Sea Kelp, Organic Barleygrass Juice Powder, Crystal Manna and Himalayan Rock Salt. There are no fillers or endless lists of cheaper quality ingredients to water down the cost, and each ingredient is ethically sourced, and hand selected by a man who has been passionate about juices and superfoods for years before it was on trend.
One thing most of these ingredients have in common is their vivid green colouring. The rainbow of pigments – including chlorophyll, c-phycocyanin, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and astaxanthin - that make them shine so bright, are the subjects of a wealth of research. The resulting vibrant green powder is easy to stir into smoothies, juices, dressings and other recipes, and unlike other green powder blends, won’t make everything taste of pond water. All the ingredients were chosen not only for quality and nutritional value, but also for flavour. If you’ve been put off by the taste of other green powders, then prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Kean’s Supreme Greens are also available in convenient capsules, which are great for use when travelling. Once you start to look through the science, it’s easy to see how certain green powders have become so popular in recent years. They are packed full of nutrition, and contain specific substances that affect how we function at the most fundamental levels.
Ingredients from the land
Organic barleygrass powder and organic wheatgrass powder are made by drying the soft, young grass grown from organic barley grains and wheat berries, as the younger grass provides a higher abundance of nutrients. Organic barleygrass and wheatgrass are both rich in amino acids (proteins) and fibre, as well as most of the vitamins you need in your diet, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes. Kean prioritises ethics and quality when choosing suppliers, and in this case New Zealand offered more confidence than much cheaper options from China, so both these ingredients are sourced from New Zealand.
The organic barleygrass juice powder used in Keans Supreme Greens is an elite product called Green Magma, which is carefully freeze dried (using a technique from Dr Hagiwawa of Japan) to maximise its nutritional value and properties. Research has shown that freezing barleygrass juice is the best way to preserve its antioxidants and folates. Its price means that it doesn’t usually get a look-in with this kind of formula – but with the aim of Kean’s Supreme Greens is to provide high quality rather than just jump on the supergreens bandwagon.
The alfalfa is grown in Hungary and supplied by a small, family, ethically run company. The word alfalfa derives from an Arabic phrase meaning “the father of all foods”, and it is so nutrition-rich that it has become a popular staple in both human and animal nutrition. A member of the pea family, alfalfa also a good source of saponins, which have been studied for a host of beneficial effects.
Ingredients from lakes and the sea
Crystal Manna is a premium blue green algae – a nutrient rich bacteria - collected from Lake Klamath, in Oregon USA. Blue green algae from Lake Klamath is widely regarded as the very best algae in the world, sourced from only one lake, and so an expensive ingredient that again is unusual in a green formula. The blue green algae is collected and dehydrated, producing a crystallised concentration of nutrients much higher than even the best spirulina. It is about 66% protein and contains all the essential vitamins, minerals (over 64 vitamins and minerals) and amino acids.
Organic spirulina, another blue green algae, is almost as impressive, and has therefore been harvested in Africa for thousands of years and by the Aztecs in Mexico. In the 1980s, NASA proposed spirulina as the perfect plant food to cultivate on deep space missions because of its broad range of vitamins, minerals, amino acids (proteins), essential fatty acids (omega 3 and 6, especially GLA) and other nutrients, including a unique polysaccharide called spirulan. Like Crystal Manna, it contains the green pigment chlorophyllin and the blue pigment is C-phycocyanin, both the subject of exciting health research.
Organic chlorella is a single cell green algae and also grows in fresh water. In addition to chlorophyllin, it contains a unique substance called CGF – chlorella growth factor – together with a long list of vitamins and minerals and omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids.
Sea kelp is rich in fucoidan alongside zinc, iodine, magnesium, iron, potassium, copper and calcium and many of the vitamins you need in your diet. The kelp in Kean’s Supreme Greens comes from Canada or Norway, where the waters are more likely to be much cleaner than the Japanese Pacific, again from the same small, family run, ethical company that provides the alfalfa.
Although we think of Himalayan rock salt as coming from the mountains, originally it came from the Tethys Ocean, which formed about 200-250 million years ago, before the Indian continental shelf began pushing upwards. So the Himalayas were originally under an ancient ocean that has left its trace in the form of trace element-rich salt and oceanic fossils. It is therefore considered to be one of the purest salts and provides a broad spectrum of minerals, including those we can use as electrolytes to help keep us hydrated.
Magical minerals
The chlorophyll in green grasses and blue-green algae contains magnesium, and it is also one of the minerals in sea salt and rock salt – so every ingredient in Kean’s Supreme Greens provides at least some magnesium.
According to an EU review of its benefits, magnesium contributes to a reduction in tiredness and fatigue, the normal functioning of muscles and the nervous system, and the maintenance of normal bones and teeth. It adds that magnesium contributes to electrolyte balance, normal energy-yielding metabolism, normal cell division and normal psychological function.
Zinc has a great long list of benefits supported by the EU. This includes contributing to normal acid-base (acid-alkaline) metabolism, normal fertility and reproduction, normal testosterone levels in the blood. It contributes to normal cognitive function and immune system function. It contributes to the maintenance of normal bones, skin, hair, nails and vision. Zinc also contributes to normal DNA synthesis, the process of cell division and the protection of cells from oxidative stress. Finally, zinc contributes to normal metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fatty acids.
Potassium contributes to normal muscle function, the normal functioning of the nervous system and the maintenance of normal blood pressure.
Iron contributes to the normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin, normal oxygen transport, normal energy-yielding metabolism and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. It also has a role in the process of cell division and contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
Most people know that calcium is needed for the maintenance of normal bones and teeth. In addition, calcium contributes to the normal function of digestive enzymes, normal neurotransmission and muscle function, and normal blood clotting. Calcium also has a role in the process of cell division and differentiation, and contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
Iodine contributes to the normal production of thyroid hormones and normal thyroid function, as well as cognitive function and the normal functioning of the nervous system. It also contributes to the maintenance of normal skin and to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
There are many more minerals provided by the ingredients of Kean’s Supreme Greens, all with recognised health benefits.
Vital vitamins
The EU also provides us with an overview of how important vitamins are to our daily health and wellbeing.
Beta-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A, which contributes to normal immune system, skin and mucous membranes, vision, iron metabolism, and cell differentiation.
Vitamin B1, or thiamine, contributes to the normal function of the heart, the nervous system, psychological function, and normal energy-yielding metabolism.
Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, contributes to normal iron metabolism, red blood cell maintenance and energy-yielding metabolism, and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. It also contributes to normal skin and mucous membranes, vision and nervous system, and the protection of cells from oxidative stress.
Vitamin B3, or niacin, contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. It also contributes to the normal functioning of the nervous system and maintenance of normal skin and mucous membranes as well as normal psychological function.
Vitamin B5, or pantothenic acid, contributes to the normal synthesis and metabolism of steroid hormones, vitamin D and some neurotransmitters. It also contributes to normal mental performance, normal energy-yielding metabolism and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
Vitamin B6 contributes to the regulation of normal hormonal activity, psychological function, immune system and nervous system function. It also contributes to normal cysteine synthesis and homocysteine metabolism, as well as normal protein and glycogen metabolism. In addition, B6 contributes to normal red blood cell formation, energy-yielding metabolism and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
Biotin, sometimes known as vitamin B7, contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism and energy-yielding metabolism, plus the maintenance of normal hair, skin and mucous membranes. It also contributes to the normal functioning of the nervous system and psychological function.
Choline, another B vitamin, contributes to normal liver function, lipid metabolism and homocysteine metabolism.
Finally, vitamin E contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.
Detoxification processes
Your body has an amazing system to help you detoxify as much as you can. To do its job well, it relies on a healthy immune system – including the ability to regulate inflammation – and a whole team of detoxification enzymes. Substances such as chlorophyll, magnesium and other nutrients can help each step of the way. We make detoxification enzymes from amino acids, B vitamins, other vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese that are found in blue green algae, wheat and barley grass, Himalayan salt and kelp. Magnesium, for example, is essential alongside B vitamins and sulphur compounds for making glutathione, a detox enzyme that can be found in your blood, liver (as a phase 2 detoxification enzyme) and organs, as well as cytochrome P450, a phase 1 liver detoxification enzyme. Various B vitamins and other substances are needed to make additional phase 2 liver enzymes. In addition, zinc, copper and manganese make different versions of an important enzyme called superoxide dismutase (SOD). There is a common but unfounded opinion that your body doesn’t need any help with detoxing, as it already has all of these processes and more that do the job perfectly well. This point of view completely disregards the fact that you need to have all the right nutrients at hand to make the enzymes you need.
Alkalising
Kean’s Supreme Greens is also known as the Alkaliser. When nutritional therapists talk about alkalising, what we really mean is providing the body with what it needs to maintain a healthy pH balance. It’s so life important to maintain the correct balance of alkalinity in your blood and cells, that your body has a variety of methods to keep you in range. A balanced diet, supplemented with Kean’s Supreme Greens, can help provide some of the alkalising ions, amino acids, zinc and other nutrients needed for this. What constitutes an alkalising diet will vary from person to person and from season to season. Eating plenty of vegetables – especially greens - alongside smaller quantities of good quality proteins is usually helpful. Completely avoiding proteins such as pulses, eggs, meat, fish etc. altogether due to their “acid-forming” effect may not be advisable, as one of your body’s alkalising process involves a protein buffer, and you need a high turnover of amino acids to keep you healthy. Spirulina is such a good source of protein that it has been successfully used as a food for malnourished children. It contains all the essential amino acids and many more, and they are all highly digestible due to spirulina’s low cellulose structure. In addition, foods and water with a high mineral content are usually considered to be alkalising.
How to take Kean’s Supreme Greens
The proof of the pudding is always in the eating, however, so the best way to find out what this impressive blend of superfoods can do for you is to give it a try yourself.
The flavour of Kean’s Supreme Greens is so mild, that it’s fairly pleasant to just stir a teaspoon into a small glass of water or almond milk each day. It’s also great to blend into smoothies and juices, and you can even add a generous pinch to salad dressings, or sprinkle as a garnish on porridge, soups and stir-fries. My favourite recipe is a simple avocado smoothie blend, with half an avocado, a glass of almond (or other plant-based) milk, a teaspoon of Kean’s Supreme Greens, the zest of half a lemon and an optional dribble of local raw honey.
Written by Kirsten Chick DNN, mFNTP, mFHT, mBSIO www.connectwithnutrition.co.uk, January 2016
Kean's Supreme Greens, The Alkaliser
