Green - Green Smoothies

Copyright 2014, 2015 by Hachette Livre (Marabout)

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

www.crownpublishing.com

www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Originally published in French in France as Green Smoothies: La Bible by Marabout, a member of Hachette Livre, Paris, in 2014. This edition was subsequently published in slightly different form in Australia by Hachette Australia, an imprint of Hachette Australia Pty. Limited, Sydney, in 2014.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

Trade Paperback ISBN9781607749387

eBook ISBN9781607749394

eBook design adapted from printed book design by Helen McTeer

Photography by Deirdre Rooney

First American Edition

v4.1

a

CONTENTS

These days, we seem to have a better understanding of how to control disease and the aging process. We know that it matters what we put into our bodieswe recognize the benefits that can be achieved by eating well, how it affects our energy levels, and how we feel about ourselves. Eating healthily gives us a positive outlook on life in general.

We also often hear that cooking can kill healthy enzymes and damage nutrients found in foods, and so were looking for quick and easy ways to eat raw food.

What a great way to eat all those raw fruits and vegetables in your kitchen: take a handful of spinach, add an apple or two, throw them into your blender or juicer, and away you goa fun-packed, nutrient-rich green drink! You would have to eat a lot of spinach in a salad to get the same amount of nutrients that you can by juicing.

This book will offer you helpful hints and fantastic recipe ideas to set you up on green drinks for life. Whether you want to lose weight, fight fatigue, combat disease, or just be healthier, adding green drinks into your diet will slowly transform your health for the better.

Smoothies can:

Cleanse and detox your body, as well as balance acid and alkaline levels, helping to prevent disease and heal existing health problems.

Help you to replace your caffeine fix with a natural energy boost.

Benefit kids who perhaps are not that keen on vegetablesyou can hide the vegetables in with their favorite fruits.

Give you energy from the antioxidants and phytochemicals present.

Provide for a healthy snack or a meal replacement.

Help purify your blood because they are packed full of vitamins, enzymes, and chlorophyll.

Smoothies and juices are both very good for you, and which you choose to drink is a matter of personal preference. Both are highly nutritious and use raw ingredients, but to make a smoothie, you use a blender, and to make a juice, you use a juicer (see for advice on equipment).

If you put some fruit and vegetables in your juicer, a great drink full of vitamins and minerals will pour outone that you can drink quickly and will no doubt give you an energy boost, because all the nutrients will enter your bloodstream in a matter of minutes. Juicing is the quickest way of getting healthy greens into your body. The pulp that is left in the juicer (which its best to empty and clean out right away) is where the fiber is. Fiber slows down the absorption of nutrients, which then release slowly into your system.

When you make smoothies, this pulp is whizzed in a blender and broken down into a thick liquid. You can adjust the consistency to your liking by adding water to make it more digestible. Smoothies contain fiber which is important to help the body eliminate waste, as it cleans your digestive tract and colon. Its recommended that you sip smoothies; drinking them too fast can cause bloating.

Having just one juice and one smoothie a day can yield incredible results for your bodyjust try it!

When you begin mixing fruits and vegetables, it can be hard to get used to the green taste. There is nothing wrong with thisyou will find that you may need to experiment at the beginning as you might crave more fruit (that is, more sweetness). Most of the recipes in this book are roughly 60 percent vegetable to 40 percent fruit, and sometimes contain even less fruit.

Do remember to rotate the greens that you use in your smoothies and juices, as variety is key to supplying all those different nutrients to your body. It also keeps your taste buds interested!

Blenders

Blenders can be useful tools in the kitchen because not only do they make smoothies, but they can also help make other delicious things such as soups and sauces. For these benefits alone, a powerful blender is a very good investment.

You will need to look for one preferably around 1,000 watts, with high revolutions per minute (RPM) and an advanced cutting action. This will create the smoothest of smoothies, which will ensure easy drinking.

Blenders at the low end of the market tend to burn out quickly, especially if used on a regular basis. You will need to set these blenders on a low speed to start, then increase it to blend all the ingredients completely.

Juicers

These days, there are many juicer models on the market that are easier to clean than the early models. Cleaning seems to be an important pointif its too hard, it puts some people off juicing. Juicers vary widely in price and come in a variety of styles. The centrifugal juicer, which is relatively cheap, works at a high speed and juices very quickly. Other styles include masticating juicers or twin-gear ones. These juice a lot more slowly, which reduces the oxidation time of the juiceso you can keep it in the refrigerator for longer before it spoils.

Greens have many benefits and are full of fantastic nutrients. We all try to include them in our diets, but it can be hard to eat them in large enough quantities that our bodies can make the most of these benefits. Juicing and blending these vegetables makes it easier to consume larger quantities than you would if you were eating them.

Also, all these leafy greens have cell walls composed mainly of cellulose, which is difficult for the body to break down. Juicing or blending these leafy greens makes the nutrients easier to absorb, thus increasing their uptake.

This popular herb is rich in nutrients necessary for cardiovascular health. It is often used as a natural anti-inflammatory and an inhibitor of bacterial growth, as it targets toxins affecting skin and hair. It can be great for those with inflammatory bowel conditions and arthritis. Its also a good source of vitamin K and contains iron, calcium, and vitamin A.