Now that we’ve finally left winter behind us, we can dwell on all the bad decisions we made. For example, the three pieces of chocolate cake after roast steak were definitely uncalled for. Holiday season tends to have that impact on everyone, though. We stuff our bellies with all kinds of food we should, in normal circumstances, avoid. The best way to deal with this situation is a good old detoxication, and since spring is the season when nature is reawakening from winter slumber, this seems like the best possible moment to join the party and get our bodies into shape.
The Benefits of Spring Detoxication
Before I proceed to two smoothie recipes I like to use to get my family back on the right nutritional track, let’s quickly breeze through a couple of benefits that make detox a necessary spring activity.
- Detox diets stimulate your body to purge itself of all excessive waste it’s been storing for the last couple of months.
- Detox diets help you to lose the weight that you’ve packed over the holidays and gain healthy eating habits that will keep you fit long-term.
- Detoxication strengthens your immune system and improves the quality of your skin.
- The extermination of internal toxins improves the quality of your hair and gives it a very pleasant shine.
Green Protein Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 peeled banana
- 1 peeled orange
- 1 peeled peach
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon chia seed (soaked for five minutes)
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 8 ounces almond milk
My two boys are very physically active, and I’m aware that they need a lot of protein in order to grow. That’s why this smoothie has two properties. Orange and kale, which is largely responsible for it being green, are there to supply my children with powerful antioxidants and vitamin C, kick-start their metabolism and clean their bodies of toxins, while protein-rich fruits like bananas and peach, as well as chia seed, are satisfying their need for quality protein.
Now, there is an ongoing debate which type of knife should be used for chopping these fruits – stainless steel or ceramic. From my personal experience, I can tell you that, in this particular case, ceramic knives perform really well.
Avocado Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 ½ avocado
- 1 apple
- 1 ½ cups apple juice
- 1 stalk celery
- 2 cups spinach or kale
Although my husband and I are doing our best to stay fit, our nutritional needs are much different than the ones of our children and we have some other priorities than building muscles. Our favourite smoothie is aimed primarily at keeping us healthy. Celery is there to protect our liver, keep our blood pressure under control and lower our cholesterol levels. Avocado, on the other hand, is capable of improving eye and cardiovascular health, as well as strengthening bones and relieving joint inflammation. Finally, almond milk helps weight management and keeps digestion in check.
I hope that these two recipes will help you to get rid of all the bad things you’ve infested your body with over the course of winter. Our health is not something to be bargained with and we have to do everything in our power to protect it. A delicious smoothie is not that bad of a way to approach this problem.
This article was written by Barbara Whitney, the main responsible behind Kitchen Byte, a cooking blog focused on improving kitchens all around the world. From healthy recipes, tricks of the trade and tips to improve every area of food preparation, to guides to do everything in the kitchen better, Barbara will take your kitchen to another level.
