While you may have heard all your life that you should “eat your greens,” most Americans are seriously neglecting these incredibly nourishing foods, which are─hands down─the greatest nutrient-per-calorie bargains in town.
If you’re not consuming a huge salad packed with dark, leafy greens every day, you may be interested in a clever short cut that will put you way ahead of the game. How about “drinking your greens?” If this concept is new to you, you may find you’re actually in for a treat.
Ounce for ounce, green smoothies rank among the most nutrient-dense meals on the planet, packed with whole food antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and enzymes to boost your wellness and help disease-proof your body. These drinks are an ultra smart, efficient way to obtain the benefits of numerous servings of veggies in one tasty beverage.
The easiest way to create a delicious green smoothie or shake is to use a carefully formulated green superfood powder, which provides a highly concentrated form of numerous super greens. Yours will ideally include wheat and/or barley grass, as well as blue-green algaes like spirulina and chlorella. Look for cancer-fighting green tea as an ingredient as well.
One study examining the potential of chlorella to relieve symptoms of chronic illness found that supplementing this unique algae daily may reduce high blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, accelerate wound healing, and enhance immune functions,1 which other studies have confirmed 2,3,4. And barley grass is a significant source of superoxide dismutase,5 which offers a key antioxidant defense in virtually all cells exposed to oxygen.
Spirulina not only helps wards off colds and flu, it may also combat cancer by boosting your natural killer (NK) cell activity.6 With its extraordinary nutritive value, spirulina is now widely used as a nutraceutical food supplement worldwide, with extensive studies attesting to its therapeutic benefits on conditions like high cholesterol, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, cancer, and viral infections.7
The high-powered antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of spirulina have been demonstrated in numerous studies.8 In fact, both NASA and the European Space Agency long ago proposed that spirulina should be one of the primary foods to be used by astronauts during long-term space missions.9,10
EnergyFirst Greenergy incorporates pristine Hawaiian spirulina along with 36 phytonutrients, digestive enzymes, and probiotics in a great tasting instant mix. Blended with whey protein powder, almond, soy or skim dairy milk, a little healthy fat, plus fruit if desired, gives you a powerful, nutrient packed, energizing meal that will keep you in great form for hours. Join the green smoothie revolution!
References
1 Altern Ther Health Med. 2001 May-Jun;7(3):79-91
2 Mol Immunol. 2007 Jan;44(4):347-59. Epub 2006 Apr 17
3 Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Apr;15(4):717-25
4 J Med Food. 2002 Fall;5(3):141-5
5 Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2009 Jun;64(2):122-8
6 Cancer Sci. 2009 Aug;100(8):1494-501. Epub 2009 May
7 J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Sep 19;55(19):7962-7. Epub 2007 Aug 16
8 Cardiovasc Ther. 2010 Aug;28(4):e33-45
9 CELSS)Characterization of Spirulina biomass for CELSS diet potential. Normal, Al.: Alabama A&M University, 1988
10 Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2008 Sep 14. [Epub ahead of print]
About the Author
