When it comes to eating healthy it is important to eat a variety of clean foods. Many people are making smoothies as a meal supplement, snack, or delicious treat. Over the years green smoothies have become more popular. If you’ve tried a green smoothie or would like to take the plunge, it is important to create variety when choosing your greens.
You can’t go wrong with green vegetables they provide fiber, calcium, vitamins, minerals and they do a wonderful job of rejuvenating your cells. Here is a list of some delicious greens, and their benefits, to add to your smoothies:
1. Spinach — This vegetable is very popular for smoothies. The health benefits of spinach include iron, folic acid, and calcium just to name a few. This great green is also known to aid in hair growth, bone health, and known to lower the risk of cancer and blood pressure.
2. Kale — What used to be the decoration vegetable is now known as a one of the greatest green veggies on earth. This unassuming vegetable is packed with vitamin A, C, K, and includes minerals such as iron, manganese, iron, and potassium. Vitamin K helps bone health and calcium absorption while vitamin A helps your eyes, and vitamin C aids in hair growth and glowing skin.
3. Dandelion — Known as the pesky plant that grows on lawns, this leaf does a body good. The taste is strong and a bit bitter, but it is a health powerhouse. This green is packed with vitamin A, K, C, E and minerals such as calcium, manganese, iron, and potassium. Dandelion is known to help skin, acne, maintain a healthy urinary tract, liver and promotes healthy digestion.
4. Cilantro– This little plant is great for releasing metals out of the body, it also aids in healthy digestion, weight loss, and it is also known to lower blood pressure. With a healthy amount of folic-acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin A, beta carotene, and vitamin C this helps with your overall health.
Recipes
3/4 cup water
¼ of an avocado
1 cup greens (spinach, collard, or kale)
1 cup of pineapple chunks
1/4 cup of cilantro
Do you drink green smoothies?
Yvelette Stines (www.yvelettestines.com) is an award-winning writer whose work has been published in Essence, Uptown, Heart and Soul, Jones, Hispanic Executive Quarterly, and Green Build + Design, just to name a few. Her book Vernon the Vegetable Man encourages children to choose healthy lifestyle habits. Stines’ blog Calming Corners motivates readers to live a calm and healthy lifestyle. You can find her calmly playing on social media @yvelettestines and @calmingcorners.