You’d have to be fairly isolated in the world these days not to have heard something about the health benefits that drinking green smoothies offer.
What exactly is a green smoothie? A green smoothie is a healthy mix of green leafy veggies blended and mixed with a fruit smoothie. Basically you have a combination of fruit and water blended with tender green leaves…pretty much whatever is your flavor green with your favorite fruits added.
Leafy greens are so incredibly valuable to our daily nutritional intake but with most of us on the go so often it can be difficult at times to fit these healthy greens in.
It’s no secret that a healthy body is one that has a healthy balanced pH…an alkaline body is a healthy body. Disease loves and thrives in an acidic environment and green smoothies are very alkalising on the body. The more alkaline foods you eat the better.
Leafy greens contain good kinds of carbohydrates and are loaded with vitamins and minerals as well as chlorophyll from the sun giving your health and well-being a real boost.
The body itself is an amazing machine and if given the right fuel and nutrients knows exactly what to do to heal itself. All sorts of health issues have been reported cured by those who have incorporated green smoothies into their diet.
Benefits you’ll enjoy from drinking green smoothies:
Helps with weight loss
Boosts energy levels
Provide nutrient dense nutrition
Strengthens the immune system
Eliminates or lessons cravings for junk food
Speeds up healing time
Everyone likes their smoothie slightly different in thickness, texture and taste, so it is totally up to you
how much fruit and greens to water that you add. You can make it thin and watery or thick and soupy or even pudding like. Just be aware that the thinner smoothies require you to make a bit more in order to get a good amount of fruits and greens blended in.
If you are new to green smoothies, you may want to start with about 25% greens and slowly build more greens into your smoothies as you get used to the taste.
The best type of green leafy vegetable to us is one that is soft and flexible enough to wrap around your finger. Broccoli and cabbage…although super veggies are not good in smoothies as they are too starchy and simply do not blend well with fruit. The mild flavor of spinach makes it the perfect green to start with.
It’s important to remember to rotate your greens and not stick to using just one kind. Try spinach one day and curly kale the next etc.
Any of these greens are perfect for your green smoothie: silverbeet, chard, different types of lettuce like romaine, parsley, mint, coriander, celery leaves, beetroot tops, kale, cavolo nero ( a cross between kale and cabbage), Asian greens like bok choy are great and wild greens like dandelions, cleavers or sorrel can be used and mixed successfully. Just use your imagination.
You can even add herbs such as peppermint, dandelion leaves, plantain, comfrey flowers and leaves and aloe gel to mix things up a bit.
There’s a whole variety of fruits you can use successfully. Berries citrus fruits, pears, apples, peaches and tropical fruits like pineapples and mangoes…even goji berries all work wonderfully. Bananas make a great base for a creamy smoothie and blend easily with other fruits and when mixed with mango cover up the taste of greens really well. You can also use frozen fruit.
Remember, not all “green smoothies” turn out green after blended. Depending on what you mix in in the way of colorful fruit like berries can change the color. The color is not what you are concerned about…the goodness is.
Green smoothies should be used as a meal replacement if you drink the whole thing at one sitting or you can split your smoothie up and enjoy it a few times daily.
If you are watching your weight make sure you do not overdo it on the fruit. It is generally recommended that fruit fructose is limited to 25 grams daily or less but for those overweight or with health issues its better to limit your fruit fructose intake to 15 grams or less.
The only equipment required to make a great green smoothie is a strong high speed blender. You’ll need it to pulverize fruits and greens. Lower quality blenders just don’t have the power to blend the greens well enough leaving you with chunks in your smoothie.
Here’s a yummy after work-out smoothie that you can reward yourself with:
and you can enjoy dessert without guilt! For great healthy dessert recipes:
- 1 banana
- 1 cup almond milk (or any other plant based milk)
- 2 cups spinach leaves
- 1 cup blackberries, frozen
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- half scoop of vanilla protein powder
- few ice cubes
- 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter (or any other nut butter)
- Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend to desired consistency and smoothness. (Can be kept 2-3 days in fridge but best consumed fresh)
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