The 10 Best Leafy Greens for Green Smoothies

Kale

Best Blended With

To offset the bitterness of kale, it is best blended with sweet fruits, like mangoes and bananas.

Swiss Chard

Best Blended With

Since swiss chard has delicate leaves, it can be seamlessly blended into any smoothie. Swiss chard can be deliciously paired with flavorful fruits like banana, pineapple, and citrus.

Spinach

Best Blended With

Once again, the soft leaves of spinach make this superfood prime for blending. Our favorite fruits to blend with smoothies are strawberries, blueberries, apples and pears. Since these fruits are low in sugar, the spinach acts as a nice neutral green.

Beet Greens

Best Blended With

The mild and dainty leaves of beets can be blended smoothly into almost any smoothie. The flavor of the greens will not overpower the flavor of your fruit of choice. Be adventurous. Try beet greens with grapes, peaches, apples, even figs!

Romaine

Best Blended With

Honestly, the light and mellow flavor of romaine makes it ideal for any smoothie. You won’t be able to taste all the nutrients your giving your body with every sip.

Arugula

Best Blended With

The strong flavor of arugula goes well with other strong tasting smoothie ingredients. We love being innovative with this powerful green by adding it to beets, and citrus. Using dried fruit, such as cherries, raisins, or dates also compliments the bitterness in the best possible way!

Carrot Tops

Best Bleneded With

Since carrot tops are bitter, they blend well with sweet fruit. We think ginger compliments the flavor of carrot tops perfectly! 

Bok Choy

Best Blended With

In green smoothies, the bitterness and earthiness of bok choy is easily masked by just about any fruit. We love it with papaya, pears, strawberries, and citrus. Here’s a winning combo if you’re feeling thirsty.

Collard Greens

Best Blended With

To offset any bitterness collard greens may add to your smoothie, we recommend blending them with flavorful fruits such as mango, pineapple, peaches, banana, or cherries. Collard on your mind? Here’s a recipe we love.

Dandelion Greens

Best Blended With

The bitter nature of dandelion greens make them ideal additions to smoothies containing very sweet and flavorful fruit. Try adding this nutritional punch to your kiwi, citrus, strawberry, or banana smoothies! Coconut water is also a great way to add some natural sweetness to more astringent greens, we know from experience.

Healthy and hydrated: 5 Easy recipes for fruit infused water !

Staying hydrated during the summer is important, but let’s face it… water is just plain boring. Thankfully, my mom shared these recipes with me, which can add some life (and nutritional value) to my daily H2O. I think you guys will really enjoy trying these out, they’re really tasty and by the end of the day, you won’t believe how much water you actually drank! Here’s to an easy and delicious way to stay hydrated this summer! Cheers!

1) The classic — Lemon and Cucumber:

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with one cucumber and one lemon, thinly sliced and 1/4 cup of fresh finely chopped basil leaf and 1/3 of finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

2) The granite — Strawberry and Lime or Raspberry and Lime

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with 6 strawberries 0r 6 Raspberries and one thinly sliced lime and 12 finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

3) The digestive — Fennel and Citrus

First, infuse 1 to 3 grams of dried and crushed fennel in 150 ml of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher, add lemon juice (put the leftover lemon in the mix) and a small thinly sliced orange and 12 fresh chopped mint leaves and the infusion of fennel seeds. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

4) The antioxidant — Blackberry and Sage

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with 1 cup of blackberries that have been very slightly crushed and 3-4 sage leaves. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

5) The tropical — Watermelon and Rosemary

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with 1 cup of watermelon cut into cubes and 2 rosemary stems. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

If you use any of these recipes to make your own fruit infused waters this summer, or if you created your own flavors, let us know by sending a picture on Twitter or Instagram ! Enjoy!

Health Benefits of Berries !

Let’s take a look at how these tasty treats can help keep you healthy !

Pretty much all berries are loaded to the brim with antioxidants. For those who don’t know, antioxidants help prevent illness, improve your skin and hair, and lead to a healthier life. Berries are low in calories and that means you can load up on them without packing on the pounds. Because they are juicy they contain a lot of water, so much of their mass is really water, which contains no calories at all. A medium sized strawberry has between three and six calories.

Pretty much all berries consist of about 85% water. The rest is mostly fiber and fiber is an integral part of a healthy diet. It helps you stay regular and maintain your weight, and is essential for bowel health. This is standard for pretty much all fruit. For each piece of fat-free, cholesterol-free, nutrient-packed berry you eat, that’s one step further away from heart disease you’ll come.

Research published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis suggests that flavonoids and other compounds found in berries may help reduce colon cancer risk. Because cancer prevention diets generally emphasize fruits and vegetables, including berries certainly won’t hurt. Again, Copperman stresses, any cancer-preventing benefit is enhanced by the inclusion of many different colors of fruits and veggies.

Vitamin C is another strong antioxidant found in berries. It is largely responsible for the health of collagen, which helps maintain cartilage stores and aids in joint flexibility. Eating vitamin C–rich berries will contribute to radiant skin and healthy hair, and may reduce the risk of arthritis, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

Try adding berries to your water, so you can easily increase the intake of them.

Get your Infuser Water Bottle  ! ♥

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