Recipes — Green Smoothies
ORGANIC SMOOTHIE RECIPE
If you're trying to live a healthy lifestyle and drink green smoothies, it's always best to make your own at home. Smoothies at cafes or smoothie shops tend to be loaded with sugar and other unnatural ingredients.
To ensure that your smoothie is truly green, we've created this simple recipe that can be prepared in seconds to give you a healthy start to any day. The key is to purchase all organic ingredients.
Why Choose Organic Smoothie Ingredients
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), organic produce must be grown without synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetically modified organisms. This designation means organic food is generally better for the planet and healthier for humans to ingest.
Exposure to the pesticides commonly found on non-organic produce has been linked to several health issues, including cancer and Parkinson's.
Pesticides are used to keep harmful insects away from produce as it grows. There is wide debate over whether agricultural workers use enough pesticides on fruits and vegetables to cause harm to the consumers who eat them. It's more clear that pesticides harm to the environment by damaging soil health.
Guide to Buying Organic Smoothie Ingredients
Unfortunately, buying organic is generally more expensive. You may notice a big difference in your grocery bill if you abruptly switch all of your items to organic. But there are ways to cut costs, starting with knowing which produce items have been found to contain the highest amounts of pesticides.
The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit that puts together a list of fruits and vegetables with the most pesticides using data from the Department of Agriculture.
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Cherries
- Pears
- Tomatoes
- Celery
- Potatoes
If you are trying to buy organic smoothie ingredients on a budget, start by purchasing these produce items with organic labels first.
Another tip to save is to buy organic produce that is in-season. Items will be priced higher when they aren't currently growing naturally.
Finally, look for sales and coupons on the organic smoothie ingredients that you need. It may take some extra time, but the health benefits and reduced environmental impact will be worth it.
Blendtec's Organic Green Smoothie Recipe
You'll notice that three of the ingredients in our organic smoothie recipe are on the EWG's "Dirty Dozen" list. You can always choose the conventional version of those ingredients if your budget requires, but be sure to at least thoroughly rinse and clean your non-organic produce.
Once you've gathered all of your ingredients, this unique organic smoothie recipe takes less than one minute to make, and keeps you going with three grams of protein and 48 grams of carbs. And don't let those 33 grams of sugar scare you — that's all natural sugar!
Let us know how you like this organic green smoothie in the comments below!
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