Tag green smoothies

Drink Healthy Green Smoothies and Maximize Your Weight Loss Goals

Drinking green smoothies is indeed very healthy and good for weight loss. In fact, you can drink them every day.

What’s more, you are free to choose your ingredients and you may also vary them from time to time. As there is a wide variety of veggies and fruits, you can actually explore more on the ingredients you use in your green smoothies.

Drinking green smoothies with the same ingredients day in and day out can be boring at times and you are only getting the same level of benefits.

Tips for Making the Most Out of Your Green Smoothies:

Add Several Slices of Avocado

Adding avocado to your smoothie will not only make it creamier but will also make it healthier since avocados are a good source of protein and fats.

Use Frozen Fruit

Organic frozen fruits are best for green smoothies. When you use frozen fruits in your smoothie, they will make your smoothie colder and thicker. Frozen strawberries, peaches and cherries are simply delicious. It is also a good idea to vary your fruit ingredients.

Add Nut Milk

Nut milk can also be added into the smoothie. Try to add almond milk to make your smoothie creamier. However, if you think your smoothie already tastes great, then you can just add a little water or ice.

Include Lots and Lots of Greens

It is a healthy way to include great amounts of greens in your smoothie as this will help flush out the toxins from your body. You can add red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, carrot greens, beet greens, kale, chard or spinach. For a more nutritious recipe, you can include more greens to your recipe. When you do this you do not only get a healthy dose of vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants but also do something good to speed up your weight loss.

Aside from this, the presence of more greens will create a balance in the mixture and taste as they will reduce the sweet taste of fruits. Eating the same kinds of greens every day is not healthy as greens contain little amounts of alkaloids that if taken in large doses can cause toxicity. The key is to add different varieties of greens every other day. By doing this you will discover a whole new flavor each time you use a different variety.

Make it Deliciously Sweet

Although some fruits are naturally sweet, they are not created equal. One orange may taste sweet, while another orange may taste a bit tangy. To make your smoothie sweeter, you can add medjool dates, agave nectar, honey or more fruits. Medjool dates are quite healthy as they contain potassium and fiber. They are also good for digestion, boost your energy and reduce blood pressure.

Prepare a Different Green Smoothie Recipe Every Day

Trying a new recipe can be quite fun and exciting, and the same is true for smoothies. You can find many smoothie recipes online. Try every recipe if you can and make your own as well. Sooner or later you will find what tickles your taste buds the most.

7 Health Benefits of Including Green Smoothies in Your Diet

If you are looking for a tasty and nutritious drink, try drinking a green smoothie. Green smoothies contain ingredients that are essential for health improvement. Read on to see in what ways green smoothies can improve your health.

They Help You Lose Weight Naturally

One of the effective ways to lose weight is to drink green smoothies. They provide the minerals, vitamins, low-calorie whole food, fiber and nutrition you need for losing weight effectively, safely and quickly.

They Are Rich in Antioxidants

Green smoothies contain high levels of phytonutrients and antioxidants. These natural substances are important for your optimum fitness and health. Because of the presence of phytonutrients and antioxidants in green smoothies, your body is protected against diseases.

Green Smoothies Contain Lots of Fiber

Smoothies are more nutritious than vegetable or fruit juices due to their high fiber content. The whole vegetable and fruit used in smoothies are rich in nutrition and fiber. Fiber is good for the colon and essential for easy bowel movement. That is why smoothies are considered healthier compared to green juices.

They Improve Mental Focus and Clarity

A healthy diet can enhance your mental focus and clarity. Green smoothies are healthy alternatives to coffee, so it is a good idea to drink a delicious smoothie in the morning instead of a hot coffee. As they are caffeine-free, smoothies can provide greater energy and alertness. They can also reduce nervousness and anxiety.

They Reduce Your Appetite

Much like a wonder drink, green smoothies can help a lot in reducing your cravings for fats, salt, unhealthy sweets and junk foods. Whether you believe it or not, an amazing thing happens when you regularly drink smoothies, and that is, you will want to eat greens, veggies and fruits more instead of unhealthy foods.

They Help You Increase Consumption of Veggies and Fruits

According to the American Cancer Society, eating 5 to 9 servings of vegetables and fruits every day can prevent an individual from getting cancer or other diseases. Most people do not like the taste of vegetables so they rarely eat them. However, drinking a cold glass of green smoothie will do the trick. The most convenient and quickest way for you to consume some leafy, dark greens and vegetables without even tasting them is to eat them with fruits. This is possible when you prepare a nutritious green smoothie since the fruits you use will mask the flavor of the veggies. Thus, even though your smoothie may taste like strawberry, banana, mango or pineapple, you are still consuming healthy amounts of tomatoes, carrots, kale, spinach, and other types of veggies.

They Are Good for Your Skin

When you eat healthy foods, you get radiant and clearer skin. As they are good sources of fiber, green smoothies make it possible for you to get rid of body toxins properly and not through the skin. This explains why you get a healthy and glowing skin when you drink smoothies regularly.

Indeed, no drink or food is a surefire guarantee for weight loss. If the amounts of calories you take in are still more than what you burn, your efforts at weigh loss will be useless. You should be able to find a way to consistently burn calories by regularly exercising and following a healthy diet. Following a healthy diet means eating the right kinds of food and drinking healthy beverages such as green smoothies.

Green smoothies refer to blended beverages that contain leafy greens, veggies, healthy fats and fruits. Healthy fats include coconut, flax, hemp seeds and almonds. Examples of leafy greens are parsley, mint, Swiss or rainbow chard, wheat and barley grasses, kale and spinach.

The ingredients actually may vary, depending on the individual’s preference. Some people use all raw, fresh ingredients, while others use frozen fruits to create green smoothies with a thicker texture similar to that of an ice cream. However, the ideal smoothies for weight loss usually contain very few ingredients such as veggies, fruits and greens alone.

Green Smoothies are Low in Calories

More often than not, the ingredients that are used to make green smoothies are a combination of whole foods that are low in calories. Thus, they are considered as ideal drinks for losing weight. Chips and cookies or other high-calorie snack foods can be quite tempting, but drinking green smoothies instead of snacking on high-calorie foods is a wise strategy to lose weight.

Green Smoothies Keep You From Feeling Thirsty

According to experts, most people don’t actually drink 8 glasses of H2O daily. Some people, if not most, like the taste of sweet carbonated drinks or high-calorie beverages more than the taste of water, so they tend to buy these drinks more. Aside from that, most people choose beverages or drinks other than plain water to quench their thirst. These drinks primarily contain lots of sugar and great amounts of calories that can lead to weight gain. When preparing your smoothie, you can always add more H2O into it. By doing this, you will be able to drink more water and this will reduce your cravings for sweet or high-calorie drinks.

Green Smoothies are Very Filling

The veggies and fruits present in your green smoothie are not only low in calories but are also high in fiber. As you consistently include green smoothies in your daily diet, you will gradually lose weight. The USDA claims that eating more veggies and fruits can prevent overweight and obesity. Furthermore, based on a certain research review that was published in the 2005 “Nutrition” journal, a diet that contains high fiber is important in maintaining a healthy weight.

Because of the great amounts of water and fiber found in green smoothies, they are the best examples of drinks that are very filling. They will keep you from feeling hungry for long periods of time. For this reason, you will have the tendency to eat less as your cravings are reduced. Thus, many weight losers like to drink green smoothies.

5 Advantages of Green Smoothies

You must have heard a lot of people talk about green smoothies and all their health benefits. Why do so many people nowadays love it? What makes them become a popular drink these days? They are packed with essential ingredients needed for optimum health and not only that but there are also more advantages in drinking smoothies than any other drink. Here are some reasons why it is more beneficial to drink green smoothies than other beverages.

They are easy to prepare.

It only takes a few minutes to prepare a healthy green smoothie at home. They are also quite easy to prepare. As long as you have the equipment such as a blender, a pitcher or any container, there is no reason you cannot make a healthy smoothie for yourself. All you have to do is to select the kinds of veggies and fruits you like, and after that you can mix them well with the use of a blender.

They are easily digested.

Fiber-rich green smoothies are not hard to digest. In fact, since they are liquefied and blended, smoothies are quickly digested. This means your body does not need to put in so much effort to digest it so that the nutrients can be extracted. Green smoothies relieve and prevent constipation.

They are cheap.

Buying a glass of smoothie from any juice bar can cost you up to $6. However, when you make your own green smoothie at home, it will only cost you a few cents. Besides, you do not have to spend much on your vitamins since drinking a single glass of smoothie already contains lots of vitamins.

Green smoothies come in handy.

After you have made your own green smoothie, you can keep it in a container and store it in a fridge. You can store it up to twenty-four hours or so and drink it anytime you want. You can then take the chilled smoothie with you wherever you go, be it at work, the gym, the park or on a train. You can store your green smoothie in a stainless steel or a glass container as this is the most recommended storage option.

They contain veggies that you would not eat or drink alone.

Although eating veggies is quite healthy, most people still prefer to eat more fruits than vegetables. Since vegetables are combined with fruits in making green smoothies, you will get to eat some vegetables without even tasting them. More often than not, the flavor of the veggies is somewhat masked by the fruity flavor that it is even hard to distinguish the veggies used in green smoothies.

A green smoothie is not only good for adults but also for children. Most children don’t like, if not hate, vegetables. However, they love to drink a cold glass of chilled smoothie. The best way to prepare green smoothies for kids is to use lots of fruits instead of veggies until they become more comfortable with the taste.