My favorite morning routine is all about a fresh, green smoothie. Blending up fresh fruits and vegetables into an energy- boosting smoothie helps to balance your pH and blood sugar AND detoxifies the blood stream to promote weight loss and clearer skin. Smoothies offer you all of the fiber, phytonutrients, and antioxidants of their wholesome ingredients. By blending your produce the cellulose contained in the plants is broken down to be more easily digested and absorbed by the body. You can also pack way more delicious and nutritious foods into a smoothie than you can onto a salad plate. Once you are able to get past the bright green color of your new breakfast, you can look forward to experiencing all of the beautifying side-effects that await.
Thanks to my roommate’s investment, I am able to use a VitaMix Blender to create my smoothies every morning. Although pricy, these are well worth it because they will truly last you long-term. However, there are other brands of great blenders out there, so it is best to simply begin using whatever you have access to!
What do you blend?
It is best to follow about a 3:1 ratio (3 veggies:1 fruit) when creating your smoothie. I always add the main components listed below, and then experiment with other vegetables and fruits to introduce some variety to my smoothies.
Main Components: 4-5 kale leaves*, 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 handful of parsley or cilantro, 1/2 cup frozen berries, 1/3 avocado, and 1 cup of coconut water
Additions: mint leaves, celery, cucumber, zucchini, apple, pear, kiwi, pineapple, mango, ginger root, or lemon juice
Nutritional Powerhouses: nut butter (protein + healthy fat), greek yogurt (protein), chia seeds (high fiber), hemp powder (protein packed), maca powder (hormonal balance), wheat grass (detoxifying), cacao chips (rich in antioxidants)
*Note: kale has a very bitter flavor, so when you are first starting to make smoothies, I suggest using more spinach leaves and slowly work your way up to including 4-5 kale leaves
Have fun with it! Don’t be afraid to experiment with combinations of your personal favorite vegetables and fruits while maintaining the 3:1 ratio. The great thing about making a smoothie is that you can be messy with cutting and prepping all the foods because it won’t matter what they look like in the end. Explore the supermarket on your next visit to find a fruit or root vegetable that you have never eaten before and incorporate it into the smoothie for an endless possibility of creations.
Here are a couple of my favorite recipes to get you started:
Parsley & Pear
- 4-5 kale leaves
- 2 handfuls of spinach
- 1 handful of parsley
- 1 pear
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/3 avocado
- 1 cup of coconut water
Apple, Lemon, Ginger
- 4-5 kale leaves
- 2 handfuls of spinach
- 1 handful of cilantro
- 1 apple
- 2 celery stalks
- 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
- 1/3 avocado
- 1/2 squeezed lemon
- 1/2 inch ginger root (about the size of a small garlic clove)
- 1 cup of coconut water