"Cold-fighting" Green Smoothie

Getting my young boys to eat their vegetables can be a challenge. If you have a similar challenge with your family members, or maybe even with yourself, then this smoothie is for you. 

My boys call this "Cold-fighting" Smoothie. A big part of your immune system exists as immune cells in your gut - according to one UCLA researcher, up to 70%! These immune cells interact with the bacteria in our gut and are heavily influenced by the diversity and type of bacteria. This is where what we eat comes into play. A healthy gut microbiome (that's just a fancy word for all the bacteria living in your gut) that gives the best immune function needs a variety of plant-based foods, i.e. fruits and vegetables!

As much as these little gut bacteria LOVE spinach, my boys really do not. Sometimes if I lather on enough dressing my boys will eat one or two leaves. But mostly they leave it untouched on their plates. This little smoothie is my spinach secret weapon. They drink it up and ask for more. And I quietly smile knowing their immune systems, via millions of happy gut bacteria, are getting a little boost. 

There are a couple of tricks to making this smoothie work. One, pack that spinach into your measuring cup as tight as you can. You can get a lot of great nutrition into this smoothie with a half cup full of spinach. Two, you need to blend the spinach and the water together first. This ensures the leaves blend smooth before you add the other ingredients. Once the leaves are chopped fine, you can add the rest of the ingredients and blend. You can play around with the amount of banana and pineapple to get the right balance of sweetness. And make sure your banana isn't too green. Green bananas don't blend well and you miss out on some of it's natural sweetness. 

Finally, enjoy and know you've nourished your body well today. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup spinach, packed tight

1/2 cup water

1 Tbps Orange juice concentrate

1/2 banana

2/3 cup frozen pineapple

Instructions

1. Pack spinach into half cup measuring cup as tight as you can.

2. Combine spinach and water in a smoothie blender and blend until finely chopped.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

4. Enjoy!

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