Green smoothies

[DharmaDisciple]

In the raw world, green smoothies are big things. I have the book Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko and it is interesting reading. I haven't read it all yet, so maybe the answer is in there. But I was wondering WHY are green smoothies so good for you when you can just eat the greens?

Example, one recipe asks for 2 mango's and a bunch of parsley. Which is great, but why not just eat the bunch of parsley in a salad? Another asks for 1/2 bunch Romaine, again why not have it as a salad.?Why does it have to be in a smoothie? A green leafy salad contains more green than a smoothie.

Any ideas??

[Village Mama]

The book is best for explaining! Essentially the point is to be eating a lot more greens than you would eat in a salad. Breaking the cells up in a blender makes the greens super acessable and easy to drink.... and then you can eat a salad too! Green smoothies are awesome for kids though. You truly can't taste a lot of the green, depending on what green you are using. There is no way I could force my kiddos to eat that much kale/ spinach etc. They are happily begging for the green smoothie though!

[laohaire]

Yeah that. It's amazing how you can't even taste the greens in a smoothie. I like greens very much, so I don't have a need to avoid them, but it's sure an easy way to stuff an amazing amount of greens into myself.

Personally I have to eat with a spoon and I do get full pretty fast.

[avendesora]

My kids LOVE green smoothies. I personally don't have the patience to chew through a very large salad. Smoothies are so easy to drink while doing other things, and are more portable. The book discusses how we've lost our masticating abilities, and the blender does that work for us.

Aven

[GreenSmoothie mama]

Yep - green smoothies are so good for you because blending greens breaks down the very strong cellulose of the cell walls giving your body better access to the nutrients.

In most cultures we just don't chew our food enough to get the full benefits of the nutrition. In order to break down the cell walls by just chewing our greens would require chewing them for a long long time (I've seen as much a 1/2 hour suggested) and without wisdom teeth (the best masticator of all teeth) it would be even longer.

And as mentioned it's an easy way to eat a good amount of greens. With generations of conditioning that "greens don't taste good" people simply choose other things that are sweet and rich to eat. It's not uncommon to eat several bunches of greens a day in green smoothies. The amount of total nutrition in greens is hard to beat with any other food.

[kalisis]

There is no way I could chew through as many greens as I can drink in smoothie form each day. I just wouldn't want to do it.

And as a pp mentioned, my kids will beg for green smoothies, but pick even the smallest bit of spinach out of a salad.

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by DharmaDisciple

A green leafy salad contains more green than a smoothie.

I usually put the amount of greens in my green smoothies that I would eat in a salad--I guess it depends on how you make them!

A quote from this site: http://gotgreensrevolution.com/green-smoothie.html

As fantastic as greens are, we would have to chew them for nearly a half an hour with each bite, if you are fortunate enough to still have wisdom teeth, to get them to the creamy consistency necessary to take full advantage of all the nutrition they hold; that’s where the smoothie part comes in... blending your greens in a high speed blender, such as a Vita-Mix 5200 or Blendtec Total blender, breaks the greens down to the cellular level and beyond, releasing more flavor and making the bounty of nutrients more readily available for your body.

Kind of reiterates what others have said--just wanted to add it!

[lil_earthmomma]

I would love some of your favorite green smoothie recipes!!!!

[425lisamarie]

I eat them because I like them, but i put them in my protein shakes just for extra. I don't want to push it on my kids, they will eat a little in a salad or a burger/soup but mostly in smoothies. They don't relaly have a palate for greens yet

[nolansmummy]

I really love green smoothies, especially in summer when a hot breakfast just feels too heavy.

My favorite recently has just been:
Almond milk
Spinach
banana
Strawberries
Blueberries
Ice

Very good.

[GranolaMum]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

I would love some of your favorite green smoothie recipes!!!!

one whole mango
one banana
a handful of spinach

I add a little bit of water to make it easier to blend. Delicious!

[FairyRae]

I recently posted my fave green smoothie recipes here: http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1101041

There are multiple green smoothie ideas in that thread. YUM! I think I'll go make one now!