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Top 6 Healthy Reasons To Drink Green Smoothies.
Green smoothies are an excellent way to boost your health while youâre getting fit. Just drinking one of these every day can totally transform your health. Weâre not talking about the fattening dairy smoothies of days gone by. Do your best to use organic ingredients and fluoride-free water when you make one. IF you canât use organic fruits and veggies, get ones from the Clean Fifteen list.
Add anywhere from 60-80% greens for maximum benefit and use low (apples, pears, grapefruit, peaches and berries) to medium (bananas, mangoes, papaya, and pineapple) glycemic fruit to keep your blood sugar from bouncing around. If youâre just getting started, use some neutral tasting greens like romaine lettuce and spinach and then move up to the heavier tasting stuff.
A nutritious, tasty green smoothie has been a cherished morning ritual for me since early 2008. Since then, I have experienced dramatic improvements in health, energy and mental clarity by increasing my consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole foods.
Health Benefits of Green Smoothies
Drinking a green smoothie is the best thing you can do to lose weight. I weighed 147 pounds when I added smoothies to my diet. I lost 40 pounds in just a few months and now maintain a healthy, normal weight around 107-108.
Green smoothies provide the nutrition, vitamins, minerals, healthy carbohydrates, fiber and low fat whole food that you need to lose weight quickly, safely and effectively without starving yourself. After drinking green smoothies for a few weeks, I noticed that my cravings for junk foods were greatly reduced and I actually began craving healthy food options!
2 Â Easy Digestibility and Nutrient Assimilation
Blending fruits and vegetables together breaks down the cells of plants and improves digestibility. Your blender unlocks the nutrients and maximizes their delivery to your body more than chewing any salad could. Smoothies are quicker and more convenient than preparing and thoroughly chewing a salad, especially when you are on the go.
Green smoothies are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients. Not only are you giving your body the best defenses for disease, but you are ingesting a variety of natural substances that are essential for optimum health and fitness.
Smoothies provide a powerful boost of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients without bogging down your digestive system. Since you are eating natural, whole foods in the most optimum form for your digestion and nutrient absorption, you will have more energy to get things done and enjoy your day.
5 Â Increased Fiber Intake
Unlike fruit juice or using a juicer, green smoothies use the whole fruit and vegetable so that you get all the fiber and nutrition. Fiber is essential for good colon health and it keeps your bowels in working order. This is the main reason why green smoothies are better for you than green juices.
6 Â Excellent Source Of Minerals For Healthy Bones
Green smoothies provide a rich source of minerals thanks to the dark, leafy greens. All of the bone-building nutrients are abundant including calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Many green smoothie recipes contain more than 200 milligrams of calcium, and many have more calcium than a glass of milk.
 In addition to these health benefits, green smoothies are:
Easy to make and clean up after.
Will keep for a couple days in the fridge.
Are fun to make and experiment with different fruit and vegetable combinations.
Click here to read more health benefits.
SOURCE:Â Tracy Russell at IncredibleSmoothies.com
IMAGES: ARTICLE by Belinda, FEATURED by Sivinjski Danijel, HEADER by Joanna Slodownik all via Flickr
SOURCE: http://www.getfitnotinjured.com/top-6-healthy-reasons-to-drink-green-smoothies/