Attention: the following information can change your life. Some claim it saved their lives.[1] No kidding.

Would you like any of the following?

•  A more positive mood
• More energy
• Better digestion
• Improved skin tone
• Weight loss

Keep reading. I’d already planned to write on the benefit of drinking green smoothies when I learned that Robyn Openshaw, aka Green Smoothie Girl, was lecturing in town last weekend. Her statistics fired me up even more.

“Twenty years ago, she weighed over 200 pounds and had 21 chronic health conditions, including mini-strokes, migraines, anxiety, infertility, a large tumor, and three auto-immune conditions, which she took drugs to manage. Now she is a 135-lb. competitive athlete with no health problems, taking no drugs.”[2]

Those who switch to plant based diets report improvements in the areas bulleted above. And the great thing, those making the switch didn’t focus on those goals. They simply consumed more nutrient dense plants and experienced the benefits as a bonus. The fiber and nutrition in fruits and vegetables nourish our bodies and satisfy our cravings. Whole foods awaken our taste buds so we enjoy our food more.

Research shows that our bodies are more likely to thrive when we consume eight to ten servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Openshaw said there is even greater scientific evidence that eating more plants promotes health, than evidence to show that smoking causes cancer! Yet the average child consumes only one serving of fruits and vegetables a day. Half that serving is made up of fries and chips. The other half is ketchup and juice. Adults don’t do much better.

Green smoothies are an easy and tasty way to consume your fruits and vegetables.

Basic recipe:

• 1- 1½ cups of liquid, (You can use water or non-dairy liquids)
• 2 cups of dark greens. (Start with spinach and work up to adding kale, collards, and chard) Blend until liquid. If using a high power blender you can wait and blend all ingredients at once.
• 2 Tablespoons of seeds (chia or flax seeds)
• Combination of fresh or frozen fruit of your choice.
• Optional, ice

The Green Smoothie Girl said the cancer rate used to be one in one hundred in a lifetime. This was before processed foods became the norm. Now one out of every two men is diagnosed with cancer and more than one in three women.

If you aren’t used to greens try my special Chocolate Cherry Almond Smoothie:

• 1- 1½ cups chocolate almond milk
• 1-2 cups of spinach
• ¾- 1 cup of frozen dark sweet cherries
• ½ – 1 fresh or frozen ripe banana
• almond extract to taste
• 1-2 Tablespoons chia or flax seeds
• ice if needed

If you answered yes to any of the questions that began this blog, then give smoothies a try. Let me know how it goes.

Question: What’s your favorite way to add fruits and vegetables to your diet? For those who eat plant based diets, how has eating whole foods benefited you?

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Blessings,

Deborah W. Wilson