Green Smoothies. Why we should all have them in our lives and how to make them.

Hi All

I love a green smoothie - they're a great and easy way to start the day, packed full of nutrients and they enable you to get a healthy kickstart to the morning.  You can mix and match the fruit that you put in, and add little extras such as seeds or nuts to make sure that you get your daily dosage of micronutrients, they also boost your immune system.  With all of those benefits why wouldn't you want them in your life - they're also highly portable too!

Green smoothies are also great to have post workout - your body needs carbohydrate and protein to replenish depleted stores, so add a little bit of protein power to your smoothie as well, and voila - a perfect post workout drink.

Remember to aim for optimal health you have to replace stores of glycogen (sugar) from naturally occurring sources (I'm not talking about a chocolate bar and a high energy drink here), which will allow your liver to process them quicker and restore your muscle balance.

Green Smoothies are a great addition to your daily regime

Here's a great recipe;

1-2 cups spinach
1 cup of water (or almond milk, coconut milk - whatever liquid you choose)
Half cup of strawberries
Half cup mango
Half cup protein powder (unflavoured or vanilla depending on your taste)

You can also add some fresh mint if it's in season.

If you're new to the Green Smoothie idea, here's another recipe for you to try;

1 cup of water (or other liquid as above)
1 banana peeled or avocado (with skin and stone removed)
Half cup of strawberries or raspberries
1-2 cups spinach

Again play around with the fruit, adding an avocado or a banana will give the smoothie that smooth texture, without either of these you will get a more 'juice with bits in' texture.  If you prefer your smoothies thick then don't add as much water, if you want them a bit more watery then add more.  Just play around with the ingredients until you find a one that suits you.

Here's some other things that you can add to your smoothie for an extra health kick;

Green Smoothies are healthy and portable

*Nuts
*Seeds
*Ginger
*Turmeric

To make my smoothies, I use a Nutribullet, I've gone through various juicers and blenders in my time, but I've found the Nutribullet to be super easy to use and most importantly - super easy to clean! (I have spent hours trying to get bits of kiwi out of a juicer - frankly I have better ways to spend my life).

So here are the basics, choose one from each apart from the fruit - choose two from that column (for the green smoothies always choose spinach or kale as one of the fruit options);

Base	Liquid	Fruit	Extra
Avocado	Water	Mango	Ginger
Banana	Coconut Milk	Apple	Turmeric
	Almond Milk	Pineapple	Nuts
	Soya Milk	Kiwi	Seeds
		Strawberries	Coconut Oil
		Raspberries	Protein Powder
		Blueberries
		Spinach
		Kale
		Cucumber

I also love to add a spoon of 'healthy greens' as can be found at the below link;

Organic Green Blend

Once you've made your smoothie, drink as soon as you can, if that's not possible they'll keep in the fridge for a couple of hours (don't be surprised if they change colour a bit).

Happy juicing, let me know how you get on with yours!

Jill x