So what’s the big deal with a green smoothie anyway. You might ask!
A green moothie a day can change your health – your weight, your energy and your skin! All for the better of course.
Drinking a green smoothie is very popular in our house, even the 10-year-old gets involved in the creations. It’s a great on-the-go healthy food. I take it with when I know I’m not going to be able to get a healthy meal and my husband takes one to work, so I can be sure he’s eating something healthy while at work.
When I’m drink a smoothie I know I’m ticking a lot of health and nutrition boxes because they are so loaded with goodness (and they taste great too)!
Yes, if you haven’t tried them then give them a go. I was sceptical until I did. You can even make them taste like desserts without compromising on the health benefits. Chocolate flavoured green smoothie? Yes!
So you may be wondering why these green sometimes can do you any good and how on earth they can actually transform your health.
I’ve put together my nutritional and naturopathic know-how and personal experience in this blog post on why one green smoothie a day can change your life
#1. Up-level Your Energy
The dreaded afternoon slump and flagging energy levels can be boosted by supplying your body with vitamins and minerals that you may be deficient in. When we give our body what it needs to function optimally then it can release the energy we need. No car can run without the correct fuel.
If your diet isn’t that good i.e. loaded wih sugar and processed foods then this could be a huge contributing factor to your feeling fatigued, sluggish and blah.
By replacing these with natural goodness you’re much more likely to have long-lasting energy! Not a short-term spike followed by an exhausting crash like you might experience from a sugary food.
Green smoothies will provide your body with essential nutrients as well as hydration to help you look and feel better than you have in years!
Most green smoothies are made with large amounts of green leafy vegetables, providing trace minerals, you’ll feel a noticeable boost to your energy level almost right away.
#2. Weight loss
Smoothies offer you hydration, you will feel full plus you can start to eliminate any vitamin deficiencies.
A smoothie, is different to juicing as you retain all of that valuable plant fibre which is such an essential part of healthy digestion, rather than throwing it all away. Smoothies are whole foods and fibre is cleansing, and they can keep you full.
If you want to lose weight you can replace a meal (or two) with a green smoothie. They can be filling, delicious meal replacements that are a nourishing food helping you lose weight- fast. More details on exactly how to do this if you download your Lean + Green 7 Day Smoothie Recipes.
Replacing one meal each day with a smoothie is an easy way to lower daily calorie intake. It also increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables while boosting your water and fibre intake – all great things for weight loss.
Drinking Green Smoothies is the easiest way I know to detox, and if you continue to drink them you will continue to feel good every day.
Your green smoothie can keep you fill helping you resist the urge to snack or binge on unhealthy foods – and as a result you get the added bonus of unexpected weight loss!
High in nutrients and filling fibre and low in calories (although I don’t believe in ever count calories when you eat whole, nutrient-dense foods), green smoothies are definitely your best weight loss friend.
#3. Fresh, Youthful, Glowing Skin
Dark leafy greens, a key ingredient in a healthy smoothie – i.e. spinach, kale, parsley – are naturally high in antioxidants. They are packed with plant chemicals such as kaempferol, carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin and quercetin. Antioxidants keep us healthy and protect our cells from damage caused by free radicals. A green smoothie, will feed your skin so you look vibrant, healthy, with a completely natural glow.
#4. Anti-inflammatory & Immune Boosting
Processed foods are high in saturated fats and sugars, and linked to inflammation, cancer, obesity, and a whole range of chronic diseases, veggies like leafy greens are brimming with goodness.
Veggies are rich in anti-inflammatory compounds that protect the body against inflammation and help keep the body healthy.
Plus, your immune system will thank you because it will have more of the nutrients you body needs to resist pesky contagious bugs.
#5. Less hungry
If you’re hungry an hour after your porridge or get that mid-afternoon sugar craving, then a green smoothie can solve that problem for you.
The recipes I create are FULL of protein, good oils and fats, fibre from the spinach and fruit – a winning combination when it comes to hunger as it curbs any blood sugar
#6. A Natural Multi Vitamin & Mineral
Smoothies have a powerful blend of minerals like the iron, calcium and magnesium found in green leafy veg. The vitamin C also found in the smoothie will help you utilise and
absorb iron – so you get more nutritional bang for your buck than any pill.
You get a lot more of the nutrients from the blending as the outer cell walls of the greens and fruits are broken down, making the valuable nutrients more readily available and easier for your body to absorb.
All the vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other goodies are easily assimilated and utilised by your body.
So you’ll get maximum benefit and faster absorption! Add a healthy oil or fat to your green smoothie and you’ll boost micronutrient absorption even further.
#7. Super nutritious
Veggies are extremely nutrient dense. When you drink a green smoothie, you consume the nutrients from the veggies intact. We eat most of our vegetables cooked but many vitamins are easily destroyed or lost by cooking. A green smoothie made of raw vegetables has lost none of it’s nutritional value.
#8. Eat more veggies
Green smoothies are an easy way of increasing your intake of veggies – allowing you to get a greater dose of vegetable nutrition than you’d usually manage to eat in a day.
With only one green smoothie you can hit 5 recommended daily servings and you can load them with the type of veggies that you don’t eat enough of – dark leafy greens, such as kale and spinach.
#9. Speedy + Portable
A smoothie can literally save you hours in meal or snack prep. You literally chuck everything in your blender, blend and drink. All in under 5 minutes flat with little fuss. Pour it into a container and take with you on-the-go.
#10. 100% natural
No powders with additives they’re made with all natural, whole food.
You don’t need protein or green powders – all you need is some spinach, oil, fruit and some liquid. If you do need extra protein then you can add a natural source like – pea or hemp protein powder.
Family friendly too!
Kids can enjoy my green smoothie challenges especially if you get them involved with the making of them. I started my son off by making them taste like a dessert, we adde raw chocolate + banana + spinach and once my son realised how good they tasted he started creating his own.
