A Raw Food Green Smoothie?

The Best Kept Raw Food Diet Secret

A raw food green smoothie is simply a blended drink consisting of fresh fruit, water and some leafy green vegetables. You can be as creative as you like when making them but usually, the simpler the ingredients, the better the smoothie. I became hooked on raw food green smoothies from my very first attempt in the kitchen - bananas, grapes, baby spinach and water. Fantastic! Spinach is one of my favorite greens to add and you can put tons into your smoothie and not taste it a bit. It also makes for a fabulous dark green color.

Consuming a raw food green smoothie each day is the easiest way to get those vital, healthy, nourishing leafy greens into your body in a way that is easy, tasty and very digestible as the blender does all the chewing up for you. When I first started adding one green smoothie a day to my diet and changed nothing else - 18 pounds melted off my body without me doing anything else! 18 pounds that had been stubbornly hanging around since the birth of my twins for years. This of course led me to begin to study the benefits of a raw food diet. I have had so many people comment on my appearance and ask what 'diet' I've been on that when I tell them it's the 'green smoothie' diet they look at me as if I'm insane! But it works!

If you are new to green smoothies, start with your favorite fruits and water, blend and then add in a few leafy greens. Taste. Add a few more. Taste again. Get braver and add green until you are satisfied. Some greens have a more pungent or bitter taste so taste as you go just as you would when cooking.

Raw food green smoothies are very alkalizing to the body. Most people following the SAD( standard american diet) have very high acidity and raw leafy greens counteract this.

The best choices for the most nutrient dense greens are the darkest in color. Kale, dandelion greens, romaine, collard greens, spinach and swiss chard are all excellent choices and are best eaten raw. There are many more as well as different varieties of each. The problem is that none of us have the time to sit and chew our greens for hours on end to break down the cellulose strands properly. By blending your greens your chewing is done for you, eliminating any possible problems with digestion and giving you the most nutritional benefit.

Serving raw food green smoothies to your children is an excellent way to add to their nutrients on a daily basis as well.

You will need a decent blender to get a nice smooth consistency to your smoothies. If you're just starting out blender shopping look for one that is at least 600watts to start out there. There are many amazing blenders on the market today and you don't want to burn yours out quickly, especially if you will be adding ice to your smoothies!

Now what fruits to add? The choices are endless but I recommend bananas to start with. Either fresh or frozen they add a creamy sweetness and a milkshake-like consistency to your smoothies. Apples, grapes, pears, mangoes, papaya and any kind of berry are all excellent. Don't be afraid to experiment - or of the color of your smoothie! Blueberries and greens can make for some pretty unusual colors.

When starting out choose the sweeter greens such as spinach, parsley or baby romaine. Blend up your fruits and about 3/4 of a cup of water and then start slowly adding in your greens. Taste test as you go along.

You can have a smoothie at any time of the day. I enjoy mine after a workout in the morning and usually for dinner in the evening most days. Try to have one at least 40 minutes before a meal or 40 minutes after. They are best taken alone and not with a meal for proper digestion. If you are looking to lose weight I'd recommend replacing one meal a day to start and take it from there as your body tells you.

Amazing things start to happen by simply adding a raw food green smoothie to your daily diet. Try it and see!

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