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Wherever you look these days when it comes to healthy drinks it's all about green smoothies. It was over a year that tried my first green smoothie. I loved it but wanted to know more about it.

It seems that Victoria Boutenko, a russian immigrant in the US, is the creator of the first green smoothie. She never gets tired of promoting the benefits of the green raw drink. For her the green smoothie is the cure for many modern health problems like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure ? to name a few. I am always very critical when it comes to health claims. But as the ingredients are all natural I gave it try to make my own smoothies. First with simple mixer, later with a Vitamix which I was given for testing over a period of three months.

The benefits for me: I stopped feeling hungry. Having 3 cups (750 ml) during the day I didn't crave chocolate or icecream or any other sweet treat in the afternoon. Working as a food editor I can tell you that there are temptations to snack all day through.

Most of the times I don't return home before 7 pm. A problem because if I want to cook, it'll get late and for me early dinners would be best. Feeling hungry at 6 pm I very often craved pasta. With the green smoothies cravings stop. And even more: I stopped craving any sort of junk food.

Good digestion is another benefit of the green smoothies as long as you have no problems with high amounts of fibre. Remember that you put the peel of an apple as well as the core of a pineapple that is full of fibre.

Leafy greens are full of good things: Antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fibre. If you eat some spinach leaves for example you can break down the cells and make them release their rich content. Mixing green leaves with a mixer breaks down the cell walls and makes everything available to the body. Drinking a green smoothie in the moring provides you with a lot of nutrients that give you energy. I personally feel less tired.

One thing they say about green smoothies is: They give you a better sleep at night because your body is not irritated by modern ingredients from the laboratories of the food industry. I'm not sure if it's irritation but my sleep became better and I don't wake up that often anymore.

But the best reason for me to drink green smoothies? I like the taste. I always loved smoothies and going green with smoothies was not something anybody had to convince me of. I started with a lot of fruit in them but now I basically stick to leafy greens, a banana, an apple and water. If available: pineapple, mango and other fruit.

Some rules for a very pure and basic green smoothie:

Avoid starch from root vegetables. They can cause wind in combination with the fruit sugars.

Try to put a lot of leafy grenns into the smoothie and not too much fruit.

Some people put nuts in their smoothies. There's nothing wrong with that but remember that they are high in calorie ? important if you drink your smoothie for weight loss reasons.

I always have a banana for consistency. I love avocado but not in my smoothie.

My basic recipe:

2 hand full of leafy greens (spinach, bokchoi, chard, lettuce, etc.)
Some stalks of carrot leaves
Some radish leaves (if I have them at hand)
1 banana
1 apple
1 small piece of ginger
300-400 ml of water

Blend together in a blender. If you don't have a blender like vitamix, you should start mixing the leaves with the water and then add the rest. With a vitamix you can even mix whole apples including the core. I don't do that. Thats just too nutritious for my liking ;)

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