It's nearly the end of another week. How are
you feeling? Energised? Or are you feeling incredibly tired?
ADD A GREEN SMOOTHIE TO YOUR DAY!
Adding a green smoothie into your day provides your
body with an excellent source of iron (predominately from green leaves) as well
as vitamin C (predominately from fruit). Vitamin C is needed for iron
absorption, so this is a perfect combination of ingredients. However,
this is not the only benefit of green smoothies.
Some of you may remember my green smoothie article
in the last CPC magazine. I've decided to re-post this article online as
a reminded as we approach winter and an online resource. Entering into
Winter we need to support and boost our immune systems. Green smoothies
are a fantastic way to supply our bodies and more importantly our immune system
with an incredible amount of nutrients!
Green smoothies have endless benefits. Some
of these include:
• Alkalising
your body, by balancing your blood pH, therefore assisting with symptoms such
as fatigue, foggy headedness, constipation, achey joints as well as enhancing
the strength of your bones.
• A
nutrient dense snack that leaves less room in your stomach for that extra piece
of cake, bread, or biscuit.
• Protein
(Green leaves provide up to 30% protein)
• Magnesium
(A mineral commonly depleted through stress)
• Calcium
(Yes that’s right! We don’t have to get it through milk)
• Chlorophyll
(Improves body odour, bad breath and assists in detoxifying the liver)
• With
the addition of parsley it will purify the kidneys
• With
the addition of enzyme rich sprouts your smoothie will enhance your digestion
• They
taste delicious!
The modern diet and lifestyle tends to promote
acidity as we consume large amounts of high fat, high sugar foods, white foods
(white flour, white sugar, etc), meat, alcohol, softdrink, etc and smaller amounts
of living food (green leafy vegetables, coloured vegetables, fruits, sprouts,
raw nuts, etc). Stress, too little sunshine, not enough fresh air and not
enough clean water also contribute to increased acidity in our blood. So
we need to be mindful of this.
Our bodies are intelligent. When our blood
becomes too acidic it draws alkaline minerals, such as calcium, from our bones
in order to buffer the acidity. Therefore, long term acidity contributes
to Osteoporosis. One step you can take to begin alkalising your system is
to drink one green smoothie each day!
Green smoothies are also fantastic for kids!
Have fun as a family and make one together in the morning for breakfast or to
snack on throughout the day. You could also make it the night before so
you are prepared with a healthy snack for the following day. With daily
enjoyment of green smoothies your palate will begin to change and you will
begin to notice just how sweet sugar really is.
Try one today!... Green
smoothie recipe There are so many green smoothie recipes to pick and choose
from, however, a great base recipe to start with is:
4 cups of greens (baby spinach, beetroot leaves,
dandelion leaves, cos lettuce, kale, watercress, bok choy, mint, parsley,
basil, etc)
1 frozen banana
1 pear or kiwi fruit
2 cups water (adjust to desired consistency)
Blend together in a blender
The texture of the smoothie is a lot nicer when the
banana is frozen, however ice cubes can also be added instead.
Additions that I commonly use are frozen blueberries,
frozen mango, paw paw, apple, persimmon, apple, half an avocado, broccoli,
etc. I also like to add green powders like wheatgrass powder or Vital
Greens, as well as cacao powder, bee pollen, Acai berry powder, etc to make my
smoothie as powerful and healthful as possible.Some further alkalising steps to
consider include:
• Laugh
daily...
• Breathe
in fresh air, mindfully, daily...
• Soak
up the sun’s rays, mindfully, daily...
• Filter
your water and ensure you are adequately hydrated. Start your day off
with 1L when you get out of bed to flush your system after rest and hydrate
your brain.
• Consider
the portions of your meals - cover three quarters of your plate with salad
and/or vegetables. Overeating can lead to acidity.
I hope you all find time to get to the market this
weekend to pick up the necessary ingredients to include a green smoothie into
each day!
Happy blending!
Janelle.
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