The Drink of Champions
In the raw food circles, green smoothies are pretty well known.

For the rest of the world, green + smoothie = Whaaat?!

Victoria Boutenko has a book called Green for Life that talks about nothing BUT green smoothies and their benefits. She certainly didn’t invent the green smoothie, but she has done so much to share the benefits through her travels and her book (translated into many different languages -- I even gave it to my aunt in Hungarian).

The book is worth getting and shares many details, but I’ll do a quickie of summarizing it now. Green smoothies are GREAT to add into your diet, no matter what the rest of your diet is like. Tossing your greens into a blender does all the chewing we do not have time to do (and more) so that the cells walls are broken down and the body is ready to use it. And mixing it with fruit tricks our taste buds into not minding all the greens.

This isn’t just about getting big muscles like Popeye, either. The minerals in green smoothies can help rebuild our whole bodies so that we are strong from the inside out. And also --- well --- erm -- our bowels become much healthier to boot (it’s like a healthy Drain-o for the body).

So here is the basic recipe:
--1-3 frozen bananas
--Some green leaves (like spinach)
--Enough water for the drink to blend
--As much ice as you need, depending on your preference

Other options:
For a fresh taste: basil, mint, parsley
The greens: spinach, kale, ANY green leaf... Use less in the beginning, more as you get used to it. Heck, you can even start with ONE LEAF if you hate greens and want to get into it slooooowwwwwwly.
Other great fruits to add: All of ’em
To make it like a mylkshake: Use almond (or another nut/seed) mylk, some soaked dates
To make it "savory": Instead of sweet fruit, use tomatoes, a couple soaked dates and some herbs.

Recipe for the smoothie in my picture:
-1.5 frozen bananas
-5-6 strawberries
-a few sprigs of mint
-6 oz. (about 2-3 c) spinach
-.5 c water
And BLEND!

Happy Blending!

--Eva Rawposa