Green Smoothies - Join the Revolution
Why Green Smoothies?
According to the Center for Disease Control, the vast majority of Americans aren't getting nearly enough fruits and vegetables in their diets. In fact, more than 75% of people eat fewer than three servings of vegetables a day--far below the recommended daily amount of 3-4 cups a day. For many people, finding out how to fit that many fruits and vegetables into their diet can be a daunting task. Green smoothies simplify healthy eating and are the antidote to the lack of disease-fighting nutrients and minerals in our diets. Here's why:
- They're fast. Green smoothies are the ultimate fast food. In less than 2 minutes, you can blend up a green smoothie that contains all the fruits and vegetables you need for the day.
- They're easy. Preparing a green smoothie is as easy as adding fruits and vegetables to your blender and pressing a button.
- They're delicious. While the thought of drinking spinach and avocado might make you cringe, believe it or not, green smoothies are a delicious treat. When combined with fruits and juice, you'll be amazed at how much they taste like any other great-tasting fruit smoothie.
Health Benefits of Green Smoothies
The health benefits of green smoothies are virtually unending, but here are some of the most compelling reasons to start incorporating them into your diet:- Boost your nutrition intake. Green smoothies provide large servings of leafy greens, including spinach, kale, chard, and lettuces. These are some of the most nutritionally dense foods you can consume. Adding 2 cups of leafy greens to your smoothies adds just 20 calories and a host of vitamins and minerals.
- Defend against cancer. Not too many things can make this claim, but the chlorophyll in leafy greens have been shown to help prevent a wide range of cancers.
- Stay fuller longer. Green smoothies are a great source of fiber, which keeps you feeling full for longer periods of time.
- Assist in weight loss. Approximately 45 million Americans diet each year in an attempt to lose weight. Green smoothies can help you lose extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight.
Getting Started
Making green smoothies is easy. Here are a few tips to help you get started:Use recipes.
One of the great things about green smoothies is the chance you have to experiment with different recipes and tastes—the possibilities are endless! In the beginning, however, it’s a good idea to stick to some tried and true popular green smoothie recipes for beginners.Always load your jar properly
You will get the best blends and avoid the dreaded cavitation (air bubbles that form around the blade) if you load your jar in this order: 
Start with the basics.
For some people, green smoothies can take some getting used to. Don’t get too crazy by adding every green ingredient you can think of to your smoothies at once when you’re getting started. Instead, start with the basics. Spinach and kale are green smoothie staples. As you develop your palate, you can work your way up to more creative and adventurous green smoothie recipes. Try our week of green smoothie recipes. They start out with a slight taste of greens and work there way up to a stronger taste. 
Do you get the benefit from whole flaxseeds being added to a smoothie, or do you have to grind them first. (i dont’ have a coffee grinder)?
Yup that is perfectly right, left over juices and smoothies can be stored in the fridge. But make sure that it doesn’t stay in the fridge for a time period longer than 18 hours or it’ll lose its taste. http://benefitsofjuicing.net/ covers this great detail and also explains why smoothies need not be stored for too long.
Cool! I had no idea that there was an optimal way to load the jar but after trying it, it seemed to make a difference! Thanks for the suggestion.
Hello Nancy,
I think I can help you trouble shoot your recipe.
1. You must add water (use distiller water if possible)
2. Use the ‘smoothie’ button. Do not use the ‘whole juice’ button.
3. Chop up your ingredients into chunks, especially tougher ones like the beet.
As some have already stated, the Blendtec is not a ‘juicer,’ It is a very powerful blender, so you cannot simply follow a ‘juice’ recipe and expect it to be the same. If you were to follow that recipe in a juicer, you essentially would be extracting all the water soluble vitamins, enzymes, and sugar (gasp!), And you leave behind all the fiber, pulp, and antioxidant-cancer-killing phyto-chemicals that balance out that glycemic index and act like a car-wash for your veins and circulatory system. You are not going to find a better way of lowering your BP and cholesterol than this blender in my honest opinion, so don’t give up on it! Traditional juicers are a lie in my opinion, unless you are using them in conjunction with a powerful blender such as this. There is an amazing book “Conquering Any Disease” by Jeff Primack that does a really great job explaining a lot of science behind food based healing and what foods directly benefit certain conditions or health goals. I highly recommend it, as it also has several smoothie recipes for treating specific ailments such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. Good luck!
Yes, smoothies and juice can be stored in the fridge and will stay good for up to 24 hours.
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