Victoria wrote ‘Ode to Green Smoothie’ after ’Green For Life’ was published in 2005. This article is a great summary of the Green Smoothie facts and benefits. I highly recommend reading this information as a helpful reminder or as an excellent introduction to anyone joining the Green Smoothie Revolution.
ODE TO A GREEN SMOOTHIE
by Victoria Boutenko
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.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Green smoothies, as a posed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber.
4. 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 ofgreen smoothies with complements. They were quite surprised that something so green could taste so nice and sweet.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. When you consume your greens in the form of green smoothies, you can greatly reduce the consumption of oils and salt in your diet.
9. 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.
10. Green smoothies can easily be freshly made at any juice bar, restaurant or health food store for the great convenience of health-oriented customers. Please bring a copy of this article to your local juice bar.
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. Here are more ideas for your green creations. Some of my favorite greens to add to green smoothies: parsley, spinach, celery, kale and romaine. My favorite fruits for green smoothies are: pears, peaches, nectarines, bananas, mangoes and apples. Strawberries and raspberries taste superb in green smoothies, when combined with ripe bananas.
Puddings enrich the diversity of textures and flavors you can enjoy in green smoothies. Puddings are thicker smoothie that you can eat with a spoon. Green puddings generally don’t contain any water and are often thickened with mangoes, blueberries, persimmons, chia seeds, dates, coconut, etc.. We recommend using a tamper, which often comes packaged with blender, to help mix these thicker smoothies as you blend. The following recipes have been prepared with a Vitamix but I assume it could be made in other blenders.
