MY ENERGY AND IMMUNITY GREEN SMOOTHIE

“Eat your greens!!” How many times have you been told that since you were a kid? But because the whole idea of eating a lot of greens can make our stomachs turn we are leaving out an important source of what I like to call the little soldiers that fight hard against just about every toxin, free radical and chronic disease today. They help boost immunity, protect against cell damage and they are very low in calories.

I’m not a great cook (at all) but I like to make smoothies and I also juice a lot. I like to stick to greens for the basis of most of my smoothie recipes. Smoothies are a great way of getting nutrients into you especially if you don’t like or eat enough veggies. They have been a key part of my recovery from depression and anxiety and coming into the winter I find them great to boost immunity.

I generally tend to use either kale or spinach as the base (sometimes kale can be a little bitter though so again its up to the individual)

So for my morning energy and immunity booster I use:

• Handful of kale or spinach
• 1 small avocado
• 1 tablespoon of Terranova Lifedrink (all good health food stores have them)
• 1/4 cucumber
• 1/2 small green apple (slice in half and take out pips)
• 1 teaspoon of coconut oil (optional but recommended)
• Big sprinkle of mixed seeds.

Fill to the line with almond/rice milk (if looking to lose weight or you don’t like almond milk, use water or coconut water) Play around with the consistency and If you like it thicker add less liquid!

*Seeds are great for getting your omegas. Omegas are good fats essential for our brain, heart health and general health and wellbeing.

The one thing I do love about blending is that I can throw in extra greens and supplements and things like seeds to add extra nutrients and I find I’m much fuller and satisfied on the run. I love using avocados as they make the texture creamy and delicious.

I use Life Drink in most of my smoothies. I love Terranova’s products because they contain only ACTIVE ingredients – with no fillers, binders, anti-caking agents, colours, flavours or other manufacturing additives. Also like all Terranova products, Life Drink is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans. Above all, Life Drink is deeply nourishing and intensely, profoundly synergistic.

While vitamin and mineral supplements are extremely valuable as tools for maintaining health, their effectiveness can be significantly limited if a person’s overall nutritional foundation is poor. Terranova Life Drink was designed as the ideal foundation not only to provide its own remarkable nutritional versatility, but also to enhance the effectiveness of a person’s normal food supplement programme.

Formulated by Terranova’s founder, Stephen Terrass MRNT, former Technical Director of Solgar, Life Drink provides a staggering array of health-promoting natural ingredients. Life Drink features a balanced pea and rice protein blend; the antioxidant powerhouse stabilised rice bran; spirulina and chlorella; 10 different freeze dried super-greens; 10 different freeze dried super-berries; freeze dried reishi and shiitake mushrooms; vegetarian omega 3, 6 and 9 oils; 7 different digestive enzymes; and 5 different probiotic species with prebiotics – a combination of ingredients not provided by even the most comprehensive multivitamins, and ingredients which can enhance the utilisation and effectiveness of vitamins and minerals in general.

Even the ingredients that don’t immediately capture the imagination have a significant story to tell. For example, pea protein and rice protein are not ideal protein sources in terms of biological value (BV) when taken individually. . . but when you combine them together, did you realise that they have a similar quality as a protein source compared to whey? (and without the high allergenicity!) Stabilised rice bran is not only the most nutritionally diverse superfood of all, but also contains more than 100 known antioxidants and has research proven benefits in supporting healthy blood sugar balance. When you combine these with the significant levels of micro-algae, greens, berries, fatty acids, probiotics and so on, perhaps it’s not such a surprise that so many people report a dramatic rise in energy levels and wellbeing! And the fact that people tend to find Life Drink so light, easy on the stomach and quick acting is, to a great extent, due to the pH–stable digestive enzyme blend included in the formulation. Available from most good health food stores or online Evergreen Healthfoods