Green Smoothies: A Fresh Start to Your Day
I have had many conversations with people who want to make positive changes in their diets, but often they don’t know where to begin. Frequently, they come to me with the thought that they have to ditch all of their favorite foods and replace them with celery sticks and salads. I love it when I can help to transform those restrictive feelings with the idea that bringing healthy foods into our diets often makes some of the less wholesome choices fall away naturally.
If you can replace just one meal a day with a cleansing, nutrient packed meal, you will be surprised how much of a difference it can make!
My favorite way to inspire people to make quick, easy changes is with breakfast. What’s your breakfast looking like these days? If it’s full of refined sugars, processed carbs and fat, you’re probably doing more harm than good. Take a look at the word breakfast; you are literally breaking a fast after a good night’s sleep. Your body needs to slowly and gently re-enter the eating and digesting phase of your day. You want your morning meal to be packed with nutrition, easily digested and filling enough to sustain you until lunch.
A powerful way to start each day is with a green smoothie. The basics behind a green smoothie are leafy greens blended along with other vegetables and/or fruits. The easiest way to transition from more traditional breakfast fare to your new super breakfast smoothie is to begin on the sweet side: lots of luscious fruits blended up with a handful of greens. No matter which route you head in, you are giving your body a huge nutritional boost with vitamins, minerals, fiber and chlorophyll. All of this in a quick to make, easy to drink, and portable breakfast that will give you the energy you need for your day.
Even if the rest of your diet remains the same, you might be lucky enough to experience a boost in immune system function, weight loss, detoxification of the body, improved elimination, increased energy, and many more benefits. Many people find that over time, the more green smoothies they drink, the more they crave greens and healthier foods throughout the day. Your body likes being treated this good and will be asking for more! You may start with breakfast, but don’t be surprised if your lunch starts evolving as well.
Here are a couple of recipes to get you started. Have fun experimenting with your favorite fruits and leafy greens to create some other delicious combinations.
Sour Green Grape (serves 1)
Grapes make the perfect sweet, juicy base for green smoothies. With the spinach and lime, this drink is like a fresh green limeade.
2½ cups green grapes
3 cups spinach
juice of 2 limes
Blend all ingredients until very smooth.
Enjoy with great pleasure!
Clean & Green (serves 1)
This is a wonderful, cleansing green smoothie with parsley. This deep green herb is one of the best ways to freshen breath, working on an internal level with its high chlorophyll boost. This is really nice with the sweet orange juice and green apple to make it more palatable.
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 green apple, cored and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 cup parsley (well packed)
Blend all ingredients until very smooth.
Enjoy with great pleasure!
*all of the information in my articles is based on personal experience. This is not intended to be treated as or to replace medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
