Healthy Green Smoothies To Increase Energy

Healthy Green Smoothies To Increase Energy

healthy-green-smoothies

In the previous post about healthy smoothies, we discussed why they are an essential daily habit. Even more critical are healthy green smoothies. If we are already making a smoothie, especially on the 21-Day Clean Program, why not put some greens in the blender? It’s an easy way to plant nutrition and reap energy from our diet. Now we will talk about how to make healthy green smoothies taste delicious and our favorite ways to incorporate them into daily life.

Diversity of ingredients

We have not found a more straightforward way to include diverse whole food ingredients into a diet than in healthy green smoothies. We can make unique healthy smoothies every day with different fruits, leafy greens, herbs, green powders, healthy fats like coconut oil and delicious homemade almond butter, and a powerful protein shake full of vitamins and minerals.

We know that it’s important to eat from all the colors of the rainbow, and a daily shake can make eating each spectrum of color easier. We can add wild blueberries, fresh ginger, nut butter, and non-dairy milk like hemp in one shake. In another, you can focus on red and orange fruits like raspberries and peaches, then go green with some leafy greens or a green powder and a touch of avocado. Each different shake recipe will bring with it a unique profile of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (and you can find more shake recipes here on our blog).

Don’t forget to rotate your greens. It’s imperative to cycle through greens to receive a multitude of vitamins and minerals but also to prevent a build-up of oxalic acid. Adding kale or spinach to your healthy green smoothie won’t give you hypothyroidism or directly cause kidney stones, but it’s good to rotate all the foods we eat, including greens.

Excellent for cleansing and more

We often talk about shakes in the context of doing a 21-Day Cleanse. But shakes are helpful in our daily lives as well. Once we find some great recipes for healthy green smoothies, we can use them anytime we want to give our bodies a boost or daily.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to use healthy green smoothies:

Daily breakfast shake

Research has shown that our food choices worsen throughout the day. One way to improve this situation is to start our day off with a nutrient-rich shake by itself or in addition to your breakfast. You’ll prime your body to desire cleaner foods as the day goes on.

Post-workout

Athletes and weightlifters have been using shakes for years after a workout to give their bodies the nutrients they need. Use a shake post-workout to replenish and recover. We can make a more carb-heavy shake after an intense workout when our body is more able to absorb sugar.

Late afternoon snack

A significant time for cravings is later afternoon. This is when it can be hard to resist the cookies and candy a co-worker brought in. A late afternoon shake is a perfect time to give our bodies some much-needed nutrition.

Healthy travel food

When we’re traveling, it’s not always easy to find clean food. Take a few shake mix packets and a shaker bottle for easy travel food. Shake mix packets are handy on plane travel, as they pack easily.

For weight balance

There is no magic bullet. Healthy green smoothies can be integrated into programs as a simple tool to include more easily digestible and nutrient-dense food into the diet. The added nutrients can help to reduce cravings and increase energy. For people underweight and looking to gain weight healthily, eating more calories is necessary. Shakes can act as a carrier for additional calories and nutrients. Try having shakes in between meals to hit that daily nutrient goal.

To get back on track

When we’re feeling off track or haven’t been eating well, we use healthy green smoothies to get back on track. Shakes help rest our system after a long weekend or vacation and get us back into the habit of eating clean.

Written by the Clean team

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