Drink your greens!

I’ve always been a juicer. For many years I juiced fruits and vegetables for breakfast and noticed a huge boost in my energy and health. Juicing separates the fibre from the juice and leaves you with a potent, nutritious liquid. This allows the digestive system to rest whilst providing quick assimilation of nutrients. For people who suffer from severe nutritional deficiencies or have a highly irritable intestine juicing is an excellent way to provide nourishment.

Recently I discovered blending, and although I haven’t packed away my juicer just yet, I’m finding it really handy to be able to throw all my favourite fruits, green leafy vegetables and superfoods into one concoction and have it taste amazing. Juicing green leafy vegetables has always been a challenge but knowing their value I always tried. Firstly packing them into the juicer was difficult and then being disappointed at the little amount of juice they yielded. Not so with blending! Everything is simply thrown in and mixed up, oh so simple(and much easier to clean).

I’ve talked up the value of greens(chlorophyll) many times throughout this blog but it truly is a miraculous substance. Containing all the essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids we need, the only nutrient is does not contain is vitamin b12. However it does encourage proper intestinal flora, which in turn produce b12. It’s really important to get a variety of different greens everyday and the blended green smoothie is definitely the easiest way to do this.

I think one of the most important benefits of smoothies over juices is the fibre content. We all know the importance of getting enough fibre, but its the quality of the fibre that makes a big difference. Yes grains contain fibre, but if you’re sensitive to grains or want to avoid too many carbs then that may not work for you. Personally grains don’t sit well with me and I crave more and more once I start eating them. Fibre from fruits and vegetables provide roughage and nutrients that keep you fuller for longer.

You can add anything you like to your smoothie and I often add extra superfoods like acai berry, bee pollen, afa or rice bran solubles(naturally high in vitamin b). Sometimes I add coconut water to thin it out a little but water or fresh juice works well also.

The key is adding fruit to keep it sweet and delicious. Fruit has gotten a really bad wrap lately, people saying its too high in sugar, that its causing their blood sugar to spike or their candida to flare up. I believe in a balanced approach to foods and diet. Whole fruit is a delicious and highly nutritious natural food and should be consumed with a grateful spirit not fear. Eating it whole, or in a smoothie keeps the fibre and reduces the absorption time preventing a rapid spike in blood sugar. A few pieces of fruit a day are good for you, and if you are reacting negatively to this then you need to look at what else may be out of balance in your system.

Victoria Boutenko would have to be the Queen of the green smoothie. She has an amazing story of how she healed herself and her family with raw foods. She has a great website with a book dedicated completely to green smoothies. Check out this interview with Victoria on you tube.