xo amys

“One green juice a day, keeps the doctor away”. Green smoothies have numerous health benefits that leave you feeling good from the inside and out. I mainly use spinach, celery, kale, mint, parsley, collard green, beet greens, watercress or paksoi but any leafy green will do. The darker the green, the better it is. Bananas, apples, ginger, lemon, avocado or mango are a great companion for these juices for flavour or consistency. I commonly make water based juices, but sometimes if you feel like having a thicker more filling smoothie, add some quark or oat milk to it. Despite the fact that if you eat many greens in other forms than smoothies, drinking the greens in a blended form gives you the maximum nutritional benefit as the cell walls of greens must be broken down to almost liquid form. So, making your blender your best friend is the way to go!

Mind you, I’m generally a really healthy person, but these cleansing green smoothies yield great results keeping your body well. They help keep my skin and body hydrated and nourished, giving me more energy and provide me easily those daily greens. Currently, I’m having a green smoothie a day through the next 2 months to survive these dark winter days. Here are 5 reasons why you should join me on my green juice movement. Ps. I love to garnish my smoothies with berries, nuts, pumpkin/ flax/ sunflower seeds, chia, hemp seeds or  coconut flakes

Favourite ‘thick’ green smoothie

• 1 cup spinach
•  chunk ginger
• 1 banana
• 1 avocado
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 cup mint
• 1/2 lime
• 1 cup quark
  

1.Green smoothies are pure nutrition.

Green juices will satisfy your body with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Eating these leafy greens raw, allows your body to gain maximum benefit out of them. Avocados are high in potassium and magnesium. Leafy greens are detox agents and boosts of kale (beta-carotene gives a natural glow) and spinach for example, provide omega 3 potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, and vitamins B, C, and E. Parsley is known to help liver and kidney functions, act as a metabolism booster while removing toxins. I’ve noticed that when you increase parsley to your diet, it also keeps the toxins from showing on the skin.

Green juices increase energy levels at a stable rate. Drinking a green juice in the morning allows the body to hydrate preventing head aches, tiredness or losing focus. People with busy schedules often have coffee in the morning to boost instant energy levels, while adding a green juice to this would provide more stable energy effecting your physical and mental well being.

4. Healthier skin and natural glow

Green juices give you better hair, skin and nails. The hair becomes shinier and softer and nails start to grow faster and become stronger. Since dark green leaves have a cleansing and detoxifying ability, it helps to eliminate toxins from the body and create a healthy intestinal lining. This allows the skin to clear up from hormonal breaks and overall give a natural glow to the skin. Avocados are full of moisturizing good fats that are a great source of antioxidant protecting the skin from fine lines.

5. Easy, Quick & Portable

Minimal effort required, can be done the night before, inexpensive and quick.. there are no excuses really, all you need is blender.

‘Minty Green Juice’

• 2 cups mint
• 1 cup paksoi
• 2 dates
• 1 cup frozen mangos
• 1/2 lime juice
• drizzle of water 

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