“Green Smoothies” can still have some fruit color & flavor, depending on what your fruit to veggie ratio is like. This one has lots of berries, with just a handful of spinach for a nutritional boost. Have fun experimenting with what works for you!
Are Smoothies Healthy?
Smoothies are everywhere these days. Kind of like the frozen yogurt craze circa 1990, almost everywhere you go you see some sort of juice & smoothie shop. And while these shops may or may not be quite as pervasive in another 20 years, the smoothie itself will be alive and kicking!
Why? The number of health-conscious people is on the rise, and more and more of these individuals are discovering just how powerful these tasty treats can be for healing, weight loss, increasing energy, and building lean muscle.
Smoothies are no longer just a tall foam cup of convenient fruit flavor. That is, not if you make them yourself with the right ingredients. For a couple of simple reasons they should actually be an integral part of a good dietary program:
1. Smoothies allow us to eat highly nutritious foods that we might otherwise avoid.
Spinach. Romaine lettuce. Kale. Avocado. Chia seeds. Wheat grass. The list goes on…foods we know are extremely good for us, but don’t always suit everyone’s taste buds. That is, until you blend them with some frozen berries in a high speed blender. Then all of a sudden it’s like they come to life!
Instead of dumping half a bottle of ranch dressing on your veggies, you can simply create a whole new flavor with other natural foods which are also good for you and appeal to your sense of taste. With a high speed blender and the right recipe, you may even find yourself consuming nearly an entire head of romaine lettuce in a semi-sweet drink, or a full serving of highly nutritious broccoli, without really tasting…well, plane Jane broccoli!
2. Smoothies enhance digestion.
People usually don’t chew their food well enough. Every single bite should be chewed for so long that the food becomes creamy before we swallow it. If not, we miss out on some of the nutrients available and our bodies struggle in the subsequent stages of digestion to accomplish what should have already been done by the teeth. So the blender’s teeth do that work for us. Little, if any, chewing is necessary.
(But the smoothie still needs to mix with the saliva in your mouth before swallowing for full benefit…so don’t quickly gulp it down. Take the time to enjoy the flavor while it is in your mouth, and chew any tiny fruit/vegetable/seed bits that didn’t fully blend).
So if you haven’t already fallen in love with smoothies, why not give it a try. It can be as simple as this…
- Pull out the blender & pour in about a cup and a half clean, cold drinking water. If you have the time & a juicer, use fresh squeezed juice (not pasteurized) instead. Orange, apple, or carrot are common favorites. But cold drinking water works fine if you’re in a hurry.
- Add 1 large frozen banana (peel before freezing, & break up into ice cube size pieces for easier blending).
- Add 1 to 1.5 cups s of your favorite fresh or frozen berries.
- Top off with a few washed romaine lettuce leaves or a small handful of spinach. You won’t really taste it.
- Blend this mix until smooth and reasonably creamy.
Additional Smoothie Tips…
If it’s too thick, add a little more cold water. Too thin, add more banana, berries, or half an avocado. And that’s it! You’ve made a delicious treat that is giving your body heaps of energy, vitamins, fiber, potassium, and even some minerals and amino acids!
We recommend using all fresh, organic, raw fruits, vegetables, & oils in your smoothie whenever possible.
And make it a point to eat them ON THEIR OWN….not with a bagel, toast, coffee, cereal, beer… you get the idea. It’s a meal in its own right. Adding cooked or pasteurized ingredients will negatively affect digestion. If you really need that bagel or whatever, wait an hour or so after you’ve finished your smoothie so it has time to work its magic.
If ordering from a juice shop, watch out for the dairy/yogurt/sorbet/etc as these give it a nice texture & flavor, but aren’t ideal for your digestion. Again, you’re always aiming for RAW plant-based ingredients (including fruit, seeds, nuts, raw oils, etc). At a shop, ask if you can substitute those pastuerized fillers with some other fresh fruits or vegetables…extra banana is usually the easiest alternative.
Keep checking this site for new smoothie recipes. We have a delicious chocolate smoothie that is high in antioxidants, and you might just fall in love with it. (I’m eating one right now!!)
Have a recipe that works really well for you? Tell us about it…maybe it’s something we can share with our other readers!
So have fun with exploring different combinations and enjoy your smoothies. Not just the taste, but the enhanced digestion and added benefits of increasing your raw fruit and vegetable intake.