Green Smoothie-How They Are So Good For You

Green Smoothie-How They Are So Good For You

1. NUTRIENT-RICH. The ingredients in smoothies are all raw and thus more nutritious. The extremely high temperatures often used during cooking destroy many of the nutrients in our food. Green smoothies are loaded with beneficial vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory substances, phytonutrients, fiber, water, and more! They are also stuffed with chlorophyll, which is similar in structure to the hemoglobin in human blood. So drinking green smoothies is much like receiving a cleansing blood transfusion.

2. WEIGHT LOSS. If you are trying to lose weight, you will be pleasantly surprised to learn that green smoothies are an excellent way to do so. They have a high water content and are filled with green leafy veggies, which you can eat in abundance and still not gain weight. They also have a high fiber content that will help you stay full and reduce cravings.

3. DETOXIFICATION. Our body naturally tries to eliminate toxins, but overexposure to any of them will slow down the body’s detoxification systems. The reality is that you can assist the body in detoxifying and eliminating toxins that cause weight gain and harm your health. You can and should detoxify and cleanse the body if you want to live better and live longer. After your body utilizes nutrients from the food you eat, it must dispose of the unused food particles and waste produced by the digestive process. Without proper and complete elimination, undigested food can back up and leave toxins and waste in your body. But thanks to green smoothies, you can get the fiber you need to cleanse your body, tone your digestive system, and eliminate toxins.

4. VIBRANT, RADIANT HEALTH. A healthy body is vibrant, full of energy and life! I believe that natural, healthy eating is the secret to inner and outer beauty. When you eat natural, raw foods, you simply look and feel better and younger. Once you eat in a manner that keeps your cells clean and healthy, you will begin to look radiant, despite your age. Human beings are designed to eat a diet primarily made up of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. With these types of natural, healthy foods, our bodies flourish and receive all of the necessary nutrients to keep our bodies toxin-free and looking our most beautiful. When you start drinking green smoothies, one of the first places
where you’ll see changes is in the quality of your skin. Healthy eating and living will remove years from your face, eliminate wrinkles, fade age spots, and give you a “second youth.” Your skin will become supple, and acne will clear up. Your eyes will become brighter and begin to sparkle. The dark circles and puffiness will diminish as will the yellowness in the whites of your eyes. On the inside of your body, your cells will become rejuvenated as well, causing your organs to function more efficiently.

5. EASY TO DIGEST. Green smoothies are much easier to digest and metabolize than solid food. Just because you “eat” the right amount of fruits and vegetables every day does not mean you are automatically getting all the nutrients necessary for your health and well-being. There are many people who cannot effectively digest solid whole food, so the nutrients from the food are not completely absorbed by the body. Green drinks, which are in a blended, liquid form, are far easier to metabolize. In fact, these delicious smoothies are so bio-available that their nutrients start to get absorbed by the body even while the smoothie is still in your mouth!

6. IMPROVED DIGESTION. Today’s standard American diet (SAD) has created numerous digestive issues such as heartburn, acid reflux, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), just to name a few. The root of most digestive issues is low production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. If enough stomach acid isn’t produced during digestion, much of the food we eat goes through the digestive tract largely undigested, creating gas, bloating, and other digestive disturbances. Once undigested food builds up as plaque on the intestinal lining, it sets the stage for disease. Processed foods, excessive gluten and proteins, fried foods, and other unhealthy fats are the main reasons behind these digestive issues. Since green smoothies are thoroughly blended, the majority of the work your digestive system would normally need to do is already done. Your body can then more easily extract the nutrients needed for optimum health.

7. HYDRATION: Staying hydrated gives you energy and helps ensure that your brain, muscles, digestive system, and immune system all work properly. Being dehydrated can be very dangerous. Drinking soda or coffee, eating processed foods, and smoking cigarettes all dehydrate the body. The best way to tell whether you are sufficiently hydrated is to check the color of your urine. If it is very pale, yellow, or clear, then you are properly hydrated. You do not want it to be a strong yellow color. It’s easy to forget to drink water throughout the day because of our busy, hectic lives. Many don’t like the taste of water, but it is essential to a healthy, functioning body. To improve the taste of water, just add in fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Green smoothies allow you to rehydrate your body thanks to their high water content.

8. SIMPLY DELICIOUS. The sweet taste of the fruit in the smoothie offsets the taste of the greens, making for a tasty and filling meal or snack. Many people who turn their noses up at green smoothies when they first see them become hooked after they taste them! Even children love the taste.

9. EASY TO MAKE. Preparation time is five minutes or less, and cleanup is quick and easy, too. If you place all of your ingredients in a plastic bag in the evening, all you’ll need to do in the morning is toss them in the blender the next morning. After you finish blending, you simply rinse the blender and it’s ready for the dishwasher. The storage, blending, and cleanup really take only five minutes a day.

10. UNLIMITED NUMBER OF RECIPES. There are over a hundred green smoothie recipes in this

book and many more online with which you can experiment. That means your taste buds never have to get bored. There are so many possible fruit, greens, and liquid combinations that you can literally have a different recipe for each day of the year. I keep my favorite recipes on index cards so I can use them over and over again. I could go on and on about the numerous health benefits of green smoothies, but you’ll learn more of them as we go through this book. When you try them, you’ll soon discover the wonderful health benefits yourself.

Which Greens and Why?

Here’s a list of the most popular greens to use in green smoothies. Keep in mind that they are in alphabetical order, not necessarily in order of the most nutritious.

Arugula: Arugula is a great source of folic acid as well as vitamins A, C, and K, and provides a boost for bone and brain health. It has a zippy, peppery flavor.

Beet Greens: Beet greens are the leafy tops to the beet vegetable. They are rich in vitamin K. They are known to help improve vision, help prevent Alzheimer’s, and boost the immune system.

Bok Choy: Bok choy is a Chinese cabbage that is mild tasting and crunchy. It is full of vitamins A, C, and calcium, as well as antioxidants.

Chard (aka Swiss Chard): Chard is a green leafy vegetable that displays red stalks, leaf veins, and stems. It has a beet-like taste and a mild texture. It is known to help prevent cancers and is good for cleansing the digestive system.

Collard Greens: Collards are green leafy vegetables that are nutritionally similar to kale but chewier and with a much stronger taste. They are a superior agent for binding to bile acids throughout the digestive tract, which makes them very good at lowering cholesterol.

Dandelion Greens: Dandelion greens look like weeds in your lawn, but they are yet another great source of vitamins A and K. They help the digestion process and can help constipation issues because they are a natural laxative.

Kale: Kale is lightweight with ruffled leaf edges. It is loaded with vitamins A, C, K, and more. It is known for lowering the risks associated with developing prostate, ovary, breast, colon, and bladder cancers.

Lettuce: Lettuce has been a popular staple in salads since the time of the Ancient Egyptians. It contains essential amino acids and vitamins. Be sure to eat lettuces with dark green leaves to get the highest nutritional value. Romaine lettuce, in particular, has high levels of vitamin C, K, and A and is a good source of folic acid.

Mustard Greens: Spicy mustard greens are effective in lowering cholesterol and provide a healthy dose of riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, and iron. They are a storehouse of phytonutrients that have many disease-preventing properties.

Parsley: Parsley is rich in antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and fiber and is known to help reduce aging and regulate blood sugar levels. Spinach: Perhaps the most beloved green leafy vegetable of them all, spinach is mild tasting and not as bitter as other greens. Its dark green leaves really pack a punch with high levels of omega3s, calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, E, and K. When most people start drinking green smoothies, they start with spinach!

Turnip Greens: Turnip greens, although slightly bitter, are very flavorful. Turnip greens are effective at providing many numerous health benefits, but they stand out amongst other green.