The Gracie Diet is a dietary method popularized and tested by Carlos Gracie over 70 years ago, and it helps combat illness and provide better quality of life through simple, yet somewhat unusual, recipes.

Today GRACIEMAG.com brings you a health tip for you, whether you’re a vegetarian or not: green juice.

In his book “The Gracie Diet”, Rorion Gracie recommends a quick and tasty green juice, which all you need to do to relish is stick 1 cucumber, 5 carrots, 5 radishes, 3 stalks of celery, 1 bushel of broccoli and 1 green pepper in the centrifuge. Tried it yet?

Now our own Adriana Gracie is big on a similar recipe, one that enriches and detoxifies your body with antioxidants. The secret is in one ingredient: collard greens.

Green juice with collard greens is a boon to your digestive and immune systems, not to mention being great for your skin. “Collard greens combats ailments such as depression, ulcers, and helps detox the body, eliminating carcinogens,” asserts Adriana, who shares yet another recipe with us. Enjoy the snack!

1) Rejuvenating juice

(50 calories per glass)

½ cup papaya or persimmon
1 carrot cut into wheels
½ bushel of mint

Beat in blender and sweeten with honey

2) Green juice with collard greens

(40 calories per glass)

2 leaves of collard greens
2 Brussels srouts
1 bushel of cauliflower
4 carrots
1 small apple
1 glass of orange juice

Beat in blender and sweeten with honey

Jiu-Jitsu star Tererê was living in Torquay, a surf haven in England. Photo: Personal archive/GRACIEMAG.com.

Unfortunately, it isn’t an April Fools gag, and it wouldn’t be funny even if it was. The owner of one of the most striking smiles in all of Jiu-Jitsu, the star from Cantagalo favela Fernando Tererê had a relapse and is right back in a drug addiction-induced depression, a battle that looked to be won last year. The black belt was all set to lead a serene existence with his wife in England, but he couldn’t keep it together and returned to Rio.

“Tererê is aggressive and back on drugs in the favela in Rio. His family is desperate again and asking for help, and he doesn’t want any help,” reports friend Elan Santiago, a Jiu-Jitsu black belt from team Alliance. “The doctors have diagnosed him as being schizophrenic and having psychotic episodes. It’s gotten ugly. The Jiu-Jitsu world needs to come together again, like it did before, if we want to save him and help his parents, Lena and Tio Barriga.”

The question now is how. How would you help Tererê in such a predicament, gentle reader?

DRUGS IN THE MIDST OF OCCUPYING POLICE FORCE

“The right thing to do would be to stick him in rehab again, but it would cost 17,000 reais, which is inviable for his family and hard for us to come up with again, after all the prior successful campaigns, including with the support of GRACIEMAG.com,” vented Elan.

Tererê’s ex-partner at TT Jiu-Jitsu school Eduardo Telles found out what his friend was going through and agreed to pay to have him taken to a rehabilitation center in São Paulo.

Tererê’s plight is further intensified by the fact that he lives in one of the communities taken over by a police pacification unit. According to residents of Cantagalo, the drug dens are still going strong in the light of day and located just two streets away from the police base. “Nobody wants the drugs leaving the hill; that’s why the police turn a blind eye here,” remarked one resident.

It’s a delicate moment, friendly Jiu-Jitsu fan. What would the best way to help be?

Let us know what you think. And if you would like to collaborate, please contact Elan Santiago via email: elansantiago@yahoo.com.br.

According to a study carried out on a 40,000-person sample group by the Norway’s University of Bergen in conjunction with King’s College of London, people who use their leisure time to practice physical activities are less likely to develop symptoms of depression.

The interesting part of the research was the conclusion that just physical activity isn’t enough. The result wasn’t the same when those studied practiced exercise during the work day or within the work environment.

The conclusion the researchers came to was that social interaction and new friends are vital in consolidating exercise into your routine, more pleasurable and healthy. Now can you think of a better place for socializing than at any of the good Jiu-Jitsu academies out there? Train, make friends, and have mental well-being. Spread the word on this research; join the campaign by drawing friends and family members to Jiu-Jitsu.