Green smoothies: The new fun way to drink your veggies!

 

 Thank you to Hilary Greenleaf for the complimentary e-book for use in this review.

Author Hilary Greenleaf brings new meaning to the idea of drinking your troubles away. She asked me if I’d review her latest book, The New Green Smoothie Diet, and I must say Greenleaf really pours on advice and nutritious recipes in a pretty digestible 35-page read. Available in both hard copy and e-book form, Greenleaf writes that the key to her green smoothies is combining fruits and vegetables in a respective 60 to 40 percent ratio so you can get the benefits of each while avoiding the often-bitter taste of raw vegetables. She offers information on maintaining good, general health as well as tips and recipes for specific interests ranging from hair care to cancer prevention. Trying to lose weight? Trim off a few pounds with the help of a Blackberry Lettuce Smoothie. Want to ward off that nasty cold that’s been going around? Then The Mighty Citrus Smoothie should do the trick.

The handy thing about smoothies is that it’s so simple (and fun!) to pack in a ton of colorful nutrition in such a condensed space. Many fruits and vegetables give us vitamins A and C, plenty of fiber and countless antioxidants and other disease-fighting benefits. If your kids turn their nose up at raw kale maybe they wouldn’t mind drinking a naturally sweetened version in a fun cup or pretty glass. For example, I think most kids will be delighted with the mauve color of the Energy Booster Smoothie and will likely not notice the spinach flavor so much.

As long as you’re not expecting Jamba Juice, you should be quite satisfied with the natural sweetness level of these smoothies. For kids, Greenleaf recommends upping the fruit portion to 70 percent until they get used to the flavor. You can also sweeten the concoction with natural, fruit-sugar containing mango or pineapple or by squirting in some citrus juice. Greenleaf actually discourages the use of fruits that naturally contain a lot of sugar, but if a little orange or mango juice helps my kids swallow their leafy greens, I’m pretty happy!