How To Make The Perfect Green Smoothie

Quick Quiz: Think back to yesterday. How many fruits did you eat? How many vegetables? How many cups of leafy greens?

You should be aiming for 8-12 servings of vegetables and fruit daily. A healthy body is best fueled by raw, fresh produce so do your best to aim for these numbers.

Still, most people struggle to eat even just a few servings of fruits and veggies in a day.

Smoothies are a fantastic way to boost your fruit and vegetable intake.

In a single glass, you can blend up 10+ cups of fruits, vegetables, and greens — more than most people eat in a whole week.

Increasing your vegetable and fruit intake will have an incredibly positive impact on your blood alkalinity and thus your cell health. You’ll be repairing your body on the cellular level.

Now let me play nutrition coach here for a second, and throw a loop into that statement: You don’t just need more fruits and vegetables.

You need more greens.

Dark leafy greens like kale, spinach, and collards contain amino acids, antioxidants, and vital phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are plant-based chemicals that decrease inflammation, support a strong immune system, and may reduce chronic disease.

A large review of the literature in 2004 looked at the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and the incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and deaths from other causes. The study included intake from 71,910 females and 37,725 males. Of the food groups investigated, green leafy vegetables had the strongest protection against major chronic disease and cardiovascular disease. Essentially, the more greens consumed, the lower the risk of all disease and overall death.

How to Make a Perfect Green Smoothie

The simplest way to eat more greens is to drink them back smoothie-style. Even if you don’t like the flavor of green veggies, most have a mild flavor which can be easily masked with cleansing citrus and low-sugar berries. The secret to a good green smoothie is blending up the right combination.

Instead of giving you pages and page of insights and ideas, I wanted to make smoothie-making irresistibly easy. So I rounded up the top tips for Green Smoothie making and pulled them into a single printable.

Photo: Yuri Elkaim

Hang it in your kitchen and use it to make thousands of delicious Green Smoothie combinations. These tips will help you make the most delicious smoothies you’ve ever tasted. You’ll never again think it’s a chore to get in your greens.

My Favorite Smoothie Recipe

I begin most mornings with a smoothie. Over the years, I’ve blended up a ton of combinations, some were way better than others. This one is my favorite.

Yuri Elkaim is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and author of the NYTimes Best-selling book "The All-Day Energy Diet." In his upcoming book, "The All-Day Fat-Burning Diet" (Rodale, 2015) he walks readers through a 5-day food cycling program guaranteed to double your weight loss. Look for it in bookstores December 2015.