What Are The Benefits Of Homemade Green Smoothie?

9 Reasons Why to Start Your Day with a Homemade Green Smoothie

Have you ever come across friends or colleagues drinking some green smoothie and wondered why they take it? You have probably tried it and thought: ‘yuck!’ Or maybe you force yourself to have it once in a while. But, are you aware of any good reasons why to start your day with a homemade green smoothie?

What Is A Green Smoothie?

A green smoothie is a drink made by combining vegetables and fruits and grinding them in a smoothie maker. Some of these ingredients may be frozen or you may add ice to help break up the veggies and fruits to form a smoother drink.

What Are The Ingredients Of A Green Smoothie?

Most common ingredients of green smoothies include:

• Spinach
• Kale
• Cucumbers
• Celery
• Parsley
• Beet leaves
• Kiwi fruit
• Green apples
• Blue berries
• Raspberries
• Mango
• Banana
• Avocado
• Carrots
• Beets

These are, however, only some of the common ingredients. You can select from these or add others to make green smoothie combinations of your personal choice. By using more vegetables than fruits, you end up with a smoothie that contains less sugar and more antioxidants.

To make your green smoothie a more complete meal, add other ingredients such as:

• Flaxseed
• Chia seed
• Hemp seed
• Nut butter
• Coconut Oil
• Oats

Because they are made from green leafy vegetables and fruits, green smoothies contain the various nutritional ingredients of the individual vegetables and fruits including the following:

• Vitamin C
• Non-dairy calcium
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Fiber
• Carotenoids
• Foliates
• Antioxidants

Benefits of Making Vegetables and Fruits into a Green Smoothie

Making a smoothie involves mechanically breaking up some of the vegetable and fruit cells to release their rich stores of nutrients. This action ensures that absorption of the nutrients begins sooner than when the veggies are cooked. It is, however, worth noting that when drinking your green smoothie, you swirl it in your mouth to enable it mix with the digestive enzymes in saliva.

Green smoothies are more nutritious than juice because they contain the complete fruits and veggies, including fiber. But in order for you to get the benefits of homemade green smoothies, start by identifying a source of organic ingredients. This way, you will be sure that your green smoothie does not contain toxins from agrochemicals.

How to make a green smoothie at home

1. Clean 2 cups of your organic green ingredients such as kale, parsley, spinach, etc
2. Cut off the stalks then cut the veggies into smaller sizes
3. Put into a high speed blender and add 2 cups of water
4. Cover the smoothie maker and switch it on and let it run for a few minutes until the vegetables are broken down
5. Peel a banana or avocado, and cut it to remove the seed
6. Toss into the smoothie maker and run it for a few more minutes
7. Pour your homemade green smoothie into a glass and enjoy it at the start of the day.

You can also make a larger quantity of green smoothie and store the extra in the fridge to drink later. When properly stored; homemade green smoothies can keep for up to three days. But why start your day with a homemade green smoothie?

9 Benefits of Starting Your Day with a Homemade Green Smoothie

1.     Fights Inflammation

The high amounts of antioxidants and phytonutrients in a green smoothie, helps to prevent or reduce inflammation in the body. It is worth noting that excess inflammation is the cause of health conditions such as arthritis, allergies and cancers.

2.     Boosts Immunity

Besides the healing properties of vitamin C, green vegetables such as kale and broccoli, have been found to contain immune boosting properties. These help to improve your health by protecting you from ailments such as flu.

3.     Stabilizes Blood Sugar Levels

A green smoothie is a great way to keep a stable blood sugar level. While fruits contain fructose, choosing green veggies and low fructose fruits, you can make a low sugar green smoothie that stabilizes your blood sugar level. This is especially useful for to people with diabetes.

4.     Boosts Energy

Green smoothies containing ingredients like bananas, spinach, and citrus fruits boost energy production in the body. Healthy Ways to Boost Energy Levels

5.     Reduces Risk of Heart Disease

A 2001 study involving 84,000 women, found that people who eat more fruits and green vegetables rich in vitamin C, have a reduced risk of coronary heart disease compared to those who eat less or no fruit or green veggies.

6.     Helps in Weight Management

Various studies show that consuming green smoothies helps you to remain full for longer so that you end up eating less in a day. Starting your day with a green smoothie helps you to stay satiated for longer. You therefore don’t feel the urge to keep snacking, which ultimately leads to weight loss provided you maintain the habit.

7.     Improves Digestion

Most green smoothie ingredients are rich in fiber which helps in the movement of food through the digestive system. This prevents or helps to treat constipation. To increase the amount of fiber in your homemade green smoothie, add fiber-rich ingredients like oats, flaxseed and wheat germ.

8.     Improves Bone Strength

Calcium is one of the most abundant elements in bones. But your body requires calcium for several other functions. For this reason, you need to continuously eat foods containing calcium such as milk and kale. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it is healthier to get calcium from a mix of vegetable and dairy sources. Getting calcium from dairy alone means that saturated fat, lactose, casein, and cholesterol can interfere with calcium absorption. By contrast, calcium from plant sources such as kale in a green smoothie is more readily absorbed into the body.  Dark green vegetables are a good source of magnesium, also crucial for bone and nerve health.

9.     Protects Against Cancer

Green veggies and fruits contain high amounts of antioxidants which many studies have indicated play a part in cancer prevention. Various scientific studies have led to the conclusion that consuming a high amount of green vegetables and fruits like in green smoothies, protects against many cancers including those of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, lungs and colon.

In conclusion, starting your day with a homemade green smoothie provides you with a lot of benefits. And being so easy to make, you can easily incorporate it in your daily routine.

What do you take at the beginning of your day? Have you tried homemade green smoothies? If not, why?

Please share in the comments.