I love a green juice. Really I do. But greens in a smoothie? I wasn’t sure until I recently came across a book called “Green for Life” by Viktoria Boutenko.

Viktoria is a long time raw food enthusiast who healed herself and her family from multiple illnesses with raw food. She recommends blending lots of fruit along with the greens so the “green” taste is not so strong. Her research and experience really inspired me to give these green smoothies a try. I did, and I’m hooked. The hardest part is keeping my fridge stocked with fresh greens.

The advantage that smoothies have over juicing is that you are getting much needed healthy fiber from the fruits and vegetables. With juicing, the fiber is discarded and you only drink the juice. Since digestion begins with chewing, blending greens might even be better than eating your greens since the blender does the “chewing” for us. Most of us could never chew long enough to liquefy our food the way the blender does. And the benefit of “liquefied” greens is that your body can digest and absorb the fiber and nutrients better than if you had chewed them.

You can use any blender to make smoothies, but if you think you might get hooked on making smoothies often, I highly recommend investing in a high powered blender, like a Vita-mix. That’s what I have and I absolutely love it. I’ve also heard about BlendTec blenders, but I don’t have one, so I can’t tell you much about it. Apparently there’s been some debate about which is better, and you can read all about the “Blender Wars” here.

The best thing about it is that it’s a nutritious smoothie drink almost instantly. I can make a great smoothie in under 5 minutes. As long as you’ve got some fresh fruit and organic greens around you are good to go!

That being said, I know it’s not easy to always get fresh vegetables, especially if you are out on your lunch break or traveling. If you can make a green smoothie for yourself at least once per day, try even a few times per week – that’s a gigantic leap towards better health.

The beauty of smoothies is that anything goes. I mention green smoothies here because I know you will feel and look better by eating more raw greens, and smoothies are a great way to get them in. But you can make your smoothies any variey, color, texture or flavor. Almond butter, frozen berries, protein powder, ground up flax seeds, chia seeds – the possibilies are endless. I’ll be posting some more delicious smoothie recipes soon, stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you’re feeling adventurous, give this one a try. It’s one of my favorites. I really think you’ll like it!

Apple-Blueberry Green Smoothie

1 apple, chopped
2 celery ribs
1/2 lemon (washed, pitted, but not peeled)
about ½ cup blueberries
1 medium banana
large handful baby spinach or other greens (up to 2 cups)
water or juice(more or less depending on how thick you like your smoothie)
ice

Blend and enjoy! Please share any delicious combinations you might have as well, I would love to try them out.