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A viewer asks, "it seems like smoothies are all the rage. Do you have any good ideas for
making green smoothies?" Well, I love, I love smoothies. I make them often. I always encourage
patients, especially those who I want to get extra calories and nutrients in, to make good
smoothies; and, green smoothies are great. Green, you know, green basically means we're
going to put some green veggies in them like kale, chard, spinach, and that can be the
juice of them, or we just put some leaves. I have many patients tell me they just throw
a handful of spinach or a handful of chard in the blender, or you know, or high level
blender, simple blender, and mix it up in everything else the put in there. Often I
use green powders, which have dehydrated vegetables in them. Also, algaes like chlorella or spirulina,
and wheat grass or barley grass, are powders in them and that makes your smoothie look
green. Now, I actually add a red powder which has a high antioxidant, you know, pomegranate,
blueberry, and açai, so my smoothies don't look quite green. They look more like mud,
they look more brown when you mix green and red together, they get more brown, but I won't
talk about brown smoothies too much. It's important, you know, when you have, when you
add some veggies, first you're getting, we all know we all need more fruits and vegetables
in our diet, and this is a good way to get the vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients
from the plants that come in these smoothies. And I encourage people, also, to think of
them as a food, not just drink them down, but, you know, take your time. Put a mouthful
in, chew it a little bit, mix your saliva in, start the digestive process, and drink
them a little more slowly than you would just a simple glass of juice or water. So, you
know, those are some important ideas for making green smoothies. I think, you know, if you
don't put a little bit, since most of the green vegetables, and vegetables in general,
aren't as sweet as fruits, if you want to make them taste more yummy, then you maybe
add a little bit of fruit juice in your smoothie, or you add an apple, or some blueberries,
or an orange, or a banana in and blend it in. That's how I do mine. I mix a few pieces
of fruit in. I'll peel an orange and put the whole orange in. I'll put some fresh or frozen
blueberries in there. You know, I put some powder. You could put some protein powder
in, of your choice. And, you know, that makes a pretty rich, nutritious smoothie. So those
are some general ideas on making healthy and green, tasty smoothies.