Green Smoothies: Overhyped Or Under hyped?

While many people can't stop raving about green smoothies, there are people who think just the opposite. If you'd have asked me what I thought a year and a half ago, I'd have told you ALL smoothies are overhyped. Ask me the question today and you'll have a hard time shutting me up. Let's just say I jumped on the green smoothie wagon and never looked back! If you want to understand why these smoothies are so potent, you need only to look at one important ingredient: greens. Greens such as kale and spinach are loaded with vitamins A, C, K, and rich in nutrients such as calcium, iron, and magnesium. I'll spare you the spiel about why you need vitamins and minerals.

Step 1: What I Use to Make Mine

Since the purpose of this post is to help you prepare a smoothie, I am not going to talk too much about what blender I use. I think most of the blenders on the market will work fine. Having said that, I do use the Magic Bullet Nutribullet, and up till now I have not had any issues. It produces the same consistent smoothies now as it did when I first bought it 2 years ago. What do you use and how do you like it? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Step 2: Cleaning & Measuring Your Ingredients

This is the part I hate the most, especially washing the greens! I measure based on the tall cup (24 oz.) provided with the Nutribullet. To ensure my smoothie is low in calories, I add less fruit or fruit with low carbohydrate content. Awesome! Let's go through all the ingredients.

Spinach - I use about 100 grams of spinach. Make sure you rinse the spinach thoroughly in lukewarm water beforehand. To help me do this I use a strainer.

Kale - 2 full branches of kale will suffice. Again, make sure you rinse. I like to include the leafy parts as well as the stems (why waste them!?).

Strawberries/Blackberries/Raspberries - About 10 (or a handful) of any will work. I prefer strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries because of their low carb content. And they do a great job masking the taste of spinach and kale! Feel free to add a little more if you please.

Mint Leaves - 2 branches (stems included) of mint leaves will make the smoothie that much more refreshing!

Turmeric Powder (Optional) - 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder is completely optional, but this adds a little boost to the immune system.

With the above measurements you'll find that you need to squish the greens and pack them tightly for everything to fit. I like to get as much nutrition in one serving as possible!

Step 3: Add Water & Blend!

Now that we have all our ingredients cleaned and measured, it's time to blend! To get a good consistent blend, you need to add enough water. I usually add about 425 ml of water. The result is 2 full glasses of green smoothie. Have one in the morning, and one in the afternoon or evening! Blend time is important. You don't want to blend for too little time, as you may end up with an inconsistent chunky smoothie, and no one wants that. If you blend for too long, the blender blade heats up and as a result your smoothie is warm. Ever had a warm smoothie? If you have, you'll agree that it tastes nasty! As a rule of thumb, I blend for no more than 50 seconds.

Step 4: Sit Back, Relax, & Sip Away!

That's it! Now you can enjoy this delicious, refreshing beverage. It's one thing to have a green smoothie everyday and another thing to start your day with a green smoothie. The first thing I drink every morning after waking up (and brushing of course!) is a green smoothie. I think it's much better than starting your day with tea or coffee. If you tried this low carb green smoothie, let me know what you thought.....positive/negative experiences....I'd love to hear either way! For more low carb green smoothie recipes, check out http://myelectricknifesharpener.com/recipes/3-low-carb-green-smoothies-that-pack-a-punch.html