GREEN SMOOTHIES – ROCKET FUEL FOR YOUR BODY Drinking green smoothies is the easiest, cheapest, yummiest and most efficient way to increase


the volume of green leafy vege by Casey Con


the volume of green leafy vegetables in your diet. b Cas


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Why do humans need to blend their greens? It’s mainly for the green leaf (heavy greens like kale) in green


smoothies. Greens are harder to digest and need to macerated to a point that we can access the nutrition at a cellular level.


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When you have a high powered blender it effectively opens up the cell wall. In In nature grazing animals like cows have a number of things they do to resolve this issue. You may have heard the term ‘chewing the cud’. This is a regurgitation prro process, which is one method used by grazing animals to access the nutrition. An


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Another is to have multi-chamber stomachs whereby there is a step-by-step process using the stomach acids to gain access to the nutrition.


Humans don’t really have any method unless we chew and chew and chew. Part of the problem also is that the strength of our stomach acids


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is not what it could be because of our Western diet, pollution and toxic load. So the easiest way around it is to use a high speed blender.


Photo: ©shutterstock, Africa Studio. STARTING OFF Y F YOUR DAY with


a green smoothie is like injecting a pH balancing, super cell-hydrating rocket fuel into your body! They provide a fibre and plant protein boost, as well as being highly alkalising and hydrating, buffering the everyday acidity and dehydration our bodies counter. My corporate clients know the power of a green smoothie. For busy mums, fussy kids and uni students, they can be lifesavers. If you don’t have green smoothies in your life, you are missing out!


What is a green smoothie? Green leafy vegetables, fruit and water blended together with a high-powered blender. It is best enjoyed straight away, but you can save any leftovers for later or take it to school or work with you in a wide-mouthed flask.


Why green? We all know green leafy vegetables are good for us but few of us have the time or desire to sit down and eat a head of lettuce or a bunch of silverbeet. (I tried this once and I couldn’t look at silverbeet for several months afterwards.) Pure fruit smoothies are delicious but don’t contain the


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nutritional punch that green leafies have. Fructose from fruit is another form of sugar and many people already get plenty of simple sugars. Instead of drinking a week’s worth of fruit in one glass, use a little fruit as a vehicle for getting greens into your cells and you’ll get the best of both worlds.


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Why a smoothie? Blending greens with fruit enriches your body with countless vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, phytochemicals, antioxidants and enzymes in an easily-digestible form that is delicious. Swap the types of greens around daily so you don’t overload on any one in particular, and so you can reap the benefits of many different kinds of plants.


What greens should I use? Any greens you would ordinarily eat in a salad. Think baby spinach, rainbow silverbeet, Tuscan kale, cos lettuce, collards, dandelion leaves, nasturtium leaves. Remember herbs such as parsley, pineapple sage and mint are also delicious green smoothie additions. Then there’s the greens often confined to cooked dishes, yet are perfect in green smoothies: bok


choy, pak choy, choy sum, and broccoli leaves. You can also use fresh organic sprouts such as sunflower sprouts, broccoli sprouts or alfalfa sprouts. Remember, green leafy vegetables are


among the Dirty Dozen (meaning they tend to retain a high level of pesticide and other chemical residues when conventionally grown) - so go organic or at least spray - free when you can. Better yet, grow your own! Sprouts and weeds such as dandelion greens are easy, economical and fun to grow and don’t take up much space – a naturally lit kitchen counter can be all you need to produce cheap protein- packed sprouts.


What fruit do I use? Any fruit you like! I tend to use frozen bananas as they lend a creamy consistency to the smoothie. Just peel your ripe bananas first before freezing.


What liquid do I blend it with? Pure filtered water is best. You can also experiment with organic coconut water, nut milk or vegetable juice. You will need a high-powered blender. The finer the machine can chop up the


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