Ode to Green Smoothies

To answer a question that Amy asked in a comment left to a prior post:
When I make smoothies, I don't peel my green apples. I cut the apple into chunks or slices, depending on my mood. I do remove the core, though! There's nothing more disgusting than the tough part of an apple core, and some seeds can make a smoothie bitter. I sometimes add about a half cup of water or pineapple juice. Sometimes I don't, though. I use a big carrot to push everything down instead. If the carrot gets nicked from the blade in the blender, it's no big deal, it just means I have a bit of carrot in my smoothie. I don't add any honey. Extra pineapple and banana makes it sweeter. When I need it extra sweet, I add as much as an entire half of a pineapple --I buy the already peeled whole ones in plastic containers at the grocery store; it costs the same as an entire pineapple that hasn't been peeled ($5). I add LOTS of greens to mine - 6 huge leaves of green leaf lettuce plus a handful of spinach, or, if I'm trying to wean myself back to the diet, I'll buy the bagged baby greens and throw in the whole bag, since I can't use the to-lazy-to-rinse excuse to forego my green smoothie. They say that variety is best - you should vary the kinds of greens you use, maybe using lettuce and kale one week, lettuce and spinach the next week, etc.

The following article has been passed around quite a bit lately on health message boards, and has spurred a lot of interest in green smoothies. Alissa Cohen, who was recently on Good Morning America promoting a raw diet, said that starting your day with a green smoothie for breakfast is the single most beneficial change you can make to your diet.

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Ode to Green Smoothies

by Victoria Boutenko
http://www.rawfamily.com/articles.htm
http://www.rawfamily.com/articles/odetogreen.pdf

As the Russian proverb says: New -- is something old, that has been long forgotten. This summer I re-discovered green smoothies. What do I mean by green smoothie? Here is one of my favorite recipes: 4 ripe pears, 1 bunch of parsley and 1 big cup of water. Blended well. This smoothie looks very green, but it tastes like fruit. I like green smoothies so much that I bought an extra blender and placed it in my office, so that I could make green smoothies throughout the day. More than half of all the food I've had in last several months have been green smoothies. I have so much more energy and clarity that I have removed green juices from my diet. (Juicing has been something that I've been doing regularly for years.) Green smoothies have numerous benefits for human health.

Green smoothies are very nutritious. I believe that the ratio in them is optimal for human consumption: about 60% - ripe organic fruit mixed with about 40% - organic green vegetables.

Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, all the valuable nutrients in these fruits and veggies become homogenized, or divided into such small particles that it becomes easy for the body to assimilate these nutrients, the green smoothies literally start to get absorbed in your mouth.

Green smoothies, as opposed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber.

Green smoothies belong to the most palatable dishes for all humans of all ages. With a ratio of fruits to veggies as 60:40 the fruit taste dominates the flavor, yet at the same time the green vegetables balance out the sweetness of the fruit, adding nice zest to it. Green smoothies are simply the best tasting dishes for the majority of adults and children. I always make extra smoothie and offer it to my friends and customers. Some of them eat a standard American diet. They all finished their big cup of green smoothies with complements. They were quite surprised that something so green could taste so nice and sweet.

By consuming two or three cups of green smoothies daily you will consume enough of greens for the day to nourish your body, and they will be well assimilated. Many people do not consume enough of greens, even those who stay on a raw food diet. The molecule of chlorophyll has only one atom that makes it different from a molecule of human blood. According to teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore, to consume chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion.

Green smoothies are easy to make, and quick to clean up after. Many people told me that they do not consume green juices on a regular basis because it is time consuming to prepare green juices and clean the equipment after juicing, or to drive to the juice bar.

Green smoothies are perfect food for children of all ages, including babies of six or more months old when introducing new food to them after mother's milk. Of course you have to be careful and slowly increase the amount of smoothies to avoid food allergies.

When you consume your greens in the form of green smoothies, you can greatly reduce the consumption of oils and salt in your diet.

Regular consumption of Green smoothies forms a good habit of eating greens. Several people told me that after a couple of weeks of drinking green smoothies, they started to crave and enjoy eating more greens. Eating enough of green vegetable is often a problem with many people, especially in children.

Green smoothies can easily be freshly made at any juice bar, restaurant or health food store for the great convenience of health-oriented customers.

I encourage the readers of this article to start playing with green smoothies, and to discover the many joys and benefits of this wonderful delicious and nutritious addition to the menu.

(See website for specific suggestions and recipe ideas for green smoothies!)