Wholefood green smoothies are one of my favourite ways to deeply nourish and fuel up on essential phytonutrients. Greens provide a heap of nutrition but you need to eat a lot of them to reap the benefits. By adding a large handful to your smoothies (I promise your won't even taste them) you can sneak in extra doses of dietary fibre, trace minerals and vitamins. Ready? Come on, let's blend!
Snap, I'm already salivating because I know how darn delicious this recipe tastes. I first posted this one on my Instagram and I got a heap of DMs for the recipe. You'll find this spinach and kale smoothie in my Fat-Burning Smoothie recipe book bundled with 15 other deliciously good recipes to try. Enjoying a green smoothie an excellent way if you're one of those people who struggles to consume enough greens. Add this to your weekly menu and feast on all the essential fibre and phytonutrients from leafy greens in a delicious meal that tastes more like dessert!
Why Are Green Smoothies Good?
So, why are green smoothies so popular? If you struggle to eat the RDI of vegetables and greens, enjoying a tasty smoothie with dark leafy greens like seed sprouts, spinach, kale and Swiss chard can help you boost your fibre, calcium and vitamins A, C and K intake. In essence, green smoothies are a great way to get much-needed vegetables.
When combined with a little fruit (for natural sweetness), protein powder and fibre from chia seeds or psyllium husk, you can create a very well-balanced meal. This will keep you feeling satiated all morning or afternoon, properly balanced blood sugar levels, as well as improve your gut health. Three excellent reasons to start experimenting with green smoothie recipes.
Free Sample Meal Plan
Download a sample of one of my Meal Plans featuring a few of my nutritious and super easy-to-make recipes!
Key Ingredients Used
The nutritional star of this recipe is dark, leafy spinach and kale leaves while protein powder lends a satiating hand. Eating spinach and kale on the regular can help lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes and cancer, three worrisome chronic diseases. Greens also provide dietary fibre which is an essential macro in a healthy diet, and one many people don't consume near enough of each day.
On a budget? Most greens are super cheap and even come washed and bagged, ready to consume. For as little as $2-3 you can find a ever expanding variety of leafy greens to add to your smoothies. Shop what's on sale. If you buy greens such as kale, spinach, or watercress you can rinse and freeze them very easily in pre-portioned servings. These drop easily into your blender and make smoothie making a snap!
Healthy Smoothie Variations
This green smoothie recipe is pretty densely nutritious all on its own but experiment with these healthy additions to create your own recipe that you'll simply come to love.
Add protein powder: make a super high protein, low carb meal by stirring in 30-40g of whey or vegan protein powder. Choose a top quality whey protein from grass-fed cows or a clean plantbased variety that contains both pea and brown rice protein to create the full amnio chain. If you are into food combining, a plantbased protein is best.
Add extra dietary fibre: make your smoothie into a super healthy, well-balanced meal by adding extra fibre to the mix. Choose from high fibre additions such as berries (all types), chia seeds, coconut meat, pumpkin seeds, psyllium husk, or raw rolled oats.
Spices: this is by far the best way to boost your metabolism with a gentle nudge from fat-burning spices like cayenne, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric.
Superfood powders: boost the nutritional profile of your smoothies by adding your favourite superfood powders to the mix. Try a 1/2 - 1 tsp of acai berry, a greens blend, maca root, raw cacao, spirulina, or turmeric root.
Probiotics: yes, that's right. Crack your probiotic capsule or powder into your blender right before your power up.
As you can see, smoothies provide such a quick and easy way to jam-pack as much nutrition into one meal as possible. Try any one of these or a combination next time you blend!
Food Sensitivities
Can you be allergic to pineapple or spinach? Some people with histamine intolerance may react to eating spinach because it is a high-histamine food. If you find you are sensitive, try other nutrient dense greens that are low in histamines such as arugula, kale, pea shoots, Swiss chard, and baby salad greens. In fact, pea shoots can help lower and break down histamine in the human body.
Green Goddess Super Slimmer Recipe
This green smoothie recipe is a high fibre recipe. Its a tasty dessert-like meal to enjoy on a carb reduced diet in a way that supports natural weight balance. Try it after the gym or vigorous exercise for a deeply nourishing post-workout smoothie.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
250ml almond, milk, unsweetened
1/2 banana, frozen, choose slightly green for lower GI
30g whey or vegan vanilla flavoured protein
1 tbsp of psyllium husk or chia seeds
1/3 cup fresh spinach, organic
1/4 cup fresh kale, rinsed
1/2 Hass avocado, pitted
1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1/2 cup crushed ice
Optional: 1-2 tsp greens blend or spirulina powder
Add all the ingredients to a high-powered blender to combine. To serve, add a blob of Greek yogurt to the top and a sprinkle of raw nuts. Enjoy!
Batch Cook & Meal Prep
Yes, you can totally batch cook smoothies. I'm a huge fan of fresh food, so blending and saving for the week isn't my first choice. BUT what I do like to do (and highly recommend) is making "smoothie drops" and using these to make quick work of my mornings. Smoothie drops are made by preparing your smoothies ahead of time by either adding the recipe ingredients to small freezer bags or pureeing and freezing in ice cube trays.
It is definitely worth the effort to make these smoothie drops over the weekend to speed up your morning breakfast or make for a quick grab and go meal. Stuff a small, sandwich sized freezer bag with a handful of greens, half a banana or small cup of steamed cauliflower (lower GI), handful of berries or other fruits and boom--you're all set to drop the pre-packed ingredients into your blender with a splash of milk or water.
Other Recipes You'll Absolutely Love...
You'll find this Green Goddess Super Slimmer smoothie in my Fat-Burning Smoothie recipe book bundled with 15 other deliciously good recipes to try. You'll also find more tasty recipes like the above inside my 7 Day Meal Plans all geared towards supporting a wholefood diet.
Healthy + happiness,
Emma Lisa xx
HEALTH & NUTRITION PRACTITIONER
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