The Healthy Green Drink Diet (16 page)

A sweet treat and an easy way to introduce dark greens like collards into your diet. Collards have a

strong, distinct flavor especially when cooked, but when blended raw among earthy-sweet and tropical

flavors like kiwi and strawberry, you’ll find collards are great at adding a spicy zing to an otherwise

typical fruit smoothie.

Mangoes add a list of health benefits to the smoothie with enzymes that aid healthy digestion,

glutamine for memory power, and heart-healthy antioxidants.

Straw-megranate

Ingredients

6 strawberries

1 cup pomegranate seeds

1 red apple

1 stalk celery

1 peach

1 handful red grapes

2 handfuls fresh spinach

1 banana (optional)

water

Fill blender with as much water as you like. And ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Big, bold strawberry flavor with a tarty pomegranate kick. This antioxidant-rich smoothie may

decrease the risk of heart disease and guard against free-radical damage.

Blending pomegranate seeds can be tough for some blenders, so if you’re not rocking a Vitamix or

Blendtec, try replacing them with some fresh-squeezed juice or a cup of store-bought pomegranate

juice.

Black Melon

Ingredients

½ cup watermelon

½ cup honeydew melon

½ cup cantaloupe

½ cup blackberries

2 handfuls fresh spinach

1 banana (optional)

water/ice

Fill blender with as much water/ice as you like, adding greens. Blend until smooth. Add fruit. Pulse-blend

until desired consistency.

An easy way to start introducing greens into your smoothies is to start off sweet. This drink is higher

in natural sugars but still provides essential nutrients without the added preservatives and refined

sugars. Black Melon contains high amounts of antioxidants, fiber, and vitamin C.

Spinach, an amazing source of protein, has a very subtle flavor and is often completely masked by any

sweetness from fruit. Taking care of your body has never tasted so good.

Green Java

Ingredients

1 bunch wheatgrass

2 oranges (peeled)

1 banana (optional)

water/ice

Fill blender with as much water/ice as you like, adding wheatgrass (if you don’t have a high-powered

blender, juice the wheatgrass first). Blend until smooth. Add fruit. Pulse-blend until desired consistency.

Some of us can’t even function until we get our morning coffee. A quick jolt of caffeine and energy is

all you need, but what you tend to get is high calories, excess sugar, and a tainted smile. Hardly

appealing when you can get twice the energy boost with none of those downfalls in a glass of

wheatgrass-heavy Green Java.

Blend juiced wheatgrass with orange and banana to cut the bite of wheatgrass’s intense flavor and

pump you full of vitamin C and potassium.

Aloeberry

Ingredients

1–2 large spear fresh aloe vera (or 1/4 cup bottled)

1 cup spinach

2 large leaves chard

1 green apple (seeded)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 banana (optional)

Fill blender with as much water/ice as you like, adding first 4 ingredients. Blend until smooth. Add fruit.

Pulse-blend until desired consistency.