Spring Greens Smoothie

Spring has sprung in Boston!  Things are feeling warm, sunny, and GREEN around here.  And I couldn’t be happier about it.

To celebrate this springy weather, I’ve whipped up the perfect spring greens smoothie.  It has a bright flavor, loads of nutrients, and is guaranteed to put you in a springy mood!

Spring Greens Smoothie Ingredients (serves 2):

1 lemon, peeled
1 green apple, cored and cut into chunks
1 overflowing handful of kale or spinach
1 overflowing handful of parsley
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled
2 – 3 stalks of celery
1 cup water

Directions (5 minutes):

Wash all the ingredients and combine in a blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth and creamy – about 30 seconds in my blender.

Pour, sip, and enjoy!

Green smoothies are a terrific way to add more vegetables into your diet — especially at breakfast.  The process of blending also does some pretty cool things to the nutritional content of our food.  All fruits and vegetables have varying levels of nutrients to offer the body, and these nutrients are accessed through different preparation methods.  For example, you may have heard that tomatoes have more lycopene when they are cooked than when they are eaten raw.  Similarly, leafy greens offer higher antioxidant levels when they are blended.  The blending process breaks down the cell walls and releases loads of antioxidants and phytonutrients.  Think of it like super-chewing!

Blending also uses fruits and vegetables in their whole form, thus preserving their healthy fiber.  The fiber is important for a few reasons.  First and foremost, it helps your body process the naturally occurring sugars in the produce.  You can think of fiber as the wrapping paper around the particles of fructose — adding an extra layer for your body to digest before it absorbs the sugar.  This natural barrier helps your body maintain a stable blood sugar level because it isn’t able to access all the sugar at once.

Fiber is also key to the overall digestion life-cycle.  It helps the body recognize when it’s full, so you are less likely to overeat, and it adds bulk to the stool to keep your digestion regular.  The little fibers also act like tiny scrub-brushes as they pass through your intestines – scraping away any waste and keeping your system clean.

So bottoms up on this Spring Greens Smoothie!

P.S. Here’s a post where I talk about the differences between smoothies and juices, and share some of my favorite smoothie recipes.