Making a green smoothie is simple. Take a standard fruit smoothie — strawberry-banana or mango-pineapple, for example — and add a big handful of spinach, kale, lettuce or one of your other favorite leafy greens. The result is an energy-packed power drink that tastes good and comes with a variety of health benefits.
"It's like drinking a multivitamin," says Debi Farley, a licensed acupuncturist and certified raw-food chef and instructor who has a clinic on Old Richmond Avenue. "By drinking two or more cups a day, you will consume enough greens to nourish all the tissues, cells and organs in the body."
Registered dietitian Tina Shiver agrees that green smoothies "can help with overall health." Smoothies deliver the same perks that come with an increased intake of fruits and vegetables in any form, such as fiber, calcium, vitamin C and antioxidants. However, smoothies are not a cure-all: A balanced intake of nutrients is still necessary for a healthy diet, says Shiver, who has an office in Henrico County.
I decided to try making a few of my own green smoothies. For beginners like myself, Farley recommends a ratio of 60 percent fruit to 40 percent greens. This balance allows for a sweet, appealing drink that still contains enough greens to pack a nutritional punch. I threw my first smoothie together using what I already had in the fridge: kale, carrots, banana, avocado and apple.
My recipe resulted in a thick, bright-green drink with a pleasant taste. After substituting this smoothie for my usual breakfast (oatmeal or granola), I experienced an incredible mid-morning jolt of energy and wakefulness. I did feel hungry relatively soon after finishing the smoothie, an occurrence that Shiver attributed to a protein deficit. She recommends protein-rich smoothie additions such as Greek yogurt, almond or peanut butter, and milk or hemp protein powder.
Other recipe tips: Stick to organic produce when possible. Increasing your intake of raw fruits and vegetables means consuming more pesticides if you go with conventionally grown produce. Also, try to rotate the greens to vary your nutrients. Try kale, spinach, cabbage, collards, Swiss chard, turnip greens, sorrel, escarole or arugula. Head to a farmers market and see what's in season. Recipes abound, some featuring ingredients such as carrots, parsley, ginger, dandelion greens, celery, broccoli and basil.
Farley plans to teach a class on green smoothies in the fall; visit debifarley.com for details. In the meantime, transform your breakfast by testing one of her delicious smoothie recipes, listed below. Each recipe makes one quart, enough for two to four "snack" servings or one meal-size portion.
Recipes
Pear/Spinach/Cranberry
- 4 ripe pears
- 4 ounces of fresh cranberries
- 1 bunch of fresh spinach
- 2 cups of water
Mango Heaven
- 3 to 4 fresh or frozen mangoes
- 1 orange
- 1 cup of strawberries
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 2 cups of water
Blueberry/Banana/Kale
- 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2 bananas
- 5 leaves of kale
- 2 cups of water
