The Green Smoothie Revolution: Time to Take Your Health to The Next Level

The Green Smoothie Revolution is here. Have you heard of these magical drinks? It’s time you got in the know, because what I am about to tell you will really take your health to the next level, if you’re ready for the leap.

What are green smoothies? To put it simply, they’re raw greens blended with sweet delicious fruit. You might be scratching your head. Raw greens? In a blender? You might even be thinking… Ick!

Here’s the thing: they don’t taste like vegetables. They taste like the sweet juicy fruit they’re blended with. Thanks to green smoothies, you can seriously up your intake of fresh raw greens, which, let’s face it, we all intend to do, because they’re so amazingly good for us, but we always fall short. Realistically, there’s only so much salad most of us are willing to chew.

Have you ever taken an entire huge bunch of green chard or a big bag of spinach home from the grocery store and eaten the entire thing in one sitting? Probably not, right? That would fill an entire salad bowl for a family of four.

With green smoothies, you’re going to dramatically change the way you consume greens, and you will reap all the health benefits. Think: Popeye with his cans of spinach, and you’ll get the idea.

Once upon a time, I was a hardcore coffee addict who had a major energy crash every afternoon (this is not an unusual problem: ever see those commercials for energy drinks?). I would literally feel ill if I couldn’t lie down and take a nap. Green smoothies changed all of that for me. I gave up coffee in 2007, and when I began having a big smoothie every day for lunch, instead of what I would usually eat, I watched my health take off. Now, the afternoon hours are when I am most productive. No more crashing. No more fatigue.

With our tiny human jaws, teeth and tongues, chewing greens can be a lot of work, especially the darker, denser greens like kale and chard (the ones with the most nutrients). Blending them in the form of a smoothie makes chewing totally unnecessary. You just sip, sit back and let the green power move through you.

To get started, you're going to want to invest now in a real blender. No, not a cheap $50 one from Target, but a real, honest to goodness blender. I bought a Vitamix professional blender in 2010, and it has completely revolutionized my kitchen. This powerful tool can whip the tough plant fibers into a consistency as smooth as silk. The green smoothies it creates are divine.

Now you need a recipe. This one is perfect for beginners. Blend four bananas (make sure they’re ripe!), 10 unsweetened frozen strawberries and 3 big handfuls of raw baby spinach. Do not add water. Blend in stages: first blend the bananas, then add the frozen strawberries and blend, then add the spinach and blend. It should have a smooth and creamy consistency. You’ll love it!

My suggestion is replacing your midday meal with a big smoothie. When I do this, I get a steady, permanent buzz of energy that lasts throughout the day. My blood sugar doesn’t crash, and I don’t feel tired or hungry. Instead, I feel awake and alert. I even got my junk-food loving sister to give them a shot. She likes to have one for breakfast, before she leaves for work. She was stunned to observe how they completely replaced her usual morning sluggishness with a brand new feeling of being energized.

So now it’s your turn to get inspired by the Green Smoothie Revolution. Drive to your grocery store, stock up on some fresh vibrant greens, sweet juicy fruit, and go crazy!