When spring arrives, I can't help but think about cleaning up my eating habits. After all, spring detox is a thing (along with spring cleaning, which technically is a detox for your home). That's why I’m sharing with you a smoothie packed with nutrients your body will love. Drink it in the morning and you'll give your body a much-needed boost of energy to get you through the day.
Ingredient Breakdown: Why Each One Matters
Before I get to the actual recipe, I'd like to shine the spotlight on each individual ingredient used in this smoothie. You'll quickly see why this is a great spring detox smoothie worth drinking.
Green Tea
Not only is green tea tasty to drink on its own, but it's also full of health benefits. It's high in antioxidants and contains a large amount of catechins, polyphenolic compounds that are thought to exert numerous protective effects, especially for your heart. Green tea is great for your cardiovascular system and can even help ward off different kinds of cancer, such as skin, breast, ovarian, prostate, and lung. There are also several other benefits to green tea, such as reducing "bad cholesterol," aiding weight loss, and improving memory. It's no wonder you should drink green tea for health: There are so many reasons it makes an excellent addition to this spring detox smoothie.
Cilantro
Love it or hate it, cilantro contains several phytonutrients, flavonoids, and active phenolic compounds. This rids the body of heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, aluminum, lead, and mercury. All these metals can reside in our tissues and lead to serious problems like neurological conditions, heart disease, infertility, hormonal imbalances, and so much more. Cilantro can bind these toxic metals together, which helps the body eliminate them faster, loosening them from tissue. Heavy metals are absorbed through the body in many ways: Primarily through seafood, especially mercury found in fish. But heavy metals can also enter our bodies through other means such as lead in paint used in older homes, cadmium in furniture, and aluminum in (some) deodorants. To be on the safe side, it's a good idea to get some cilantro in your diet to help your body detox from any possible exposure to these metals. Cilantro, for this reason, makes the perfect ingredient in a spring detox smoothie!
Cucumbers
Cucumbers deserve a lot more love—they do so much for us! They mainly consist of water (96 percent to be exact) so they're a great way to stay hydrated and flush out toxins from the body. Cucumbers are also full of phytonutrients that provide anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antioxidant benefits. They're also loaded with nutrients, particularly vitamin K, C, and molybdenum, manganese, potassium, silica, and sulfur. There are several health benefits to ingesting all these nutrients, such as supporting a healthy bone structure, lowering blood pressure, regenerating skin, and promoting hair and nail growth. Since cucumbers have all these healthy nutrients, using them in a spring detox smoothie is a great idea.
Pineapple
Got a sweet tooth? Pineapple is a healthy way to curb sugar cravings. It's not only sweet, but it's also a great source of vitamin C. Just 1 cup of pineapple chunks provides 131 percent daily value of vitamin C. This makes it great for supporting your immune system and energizing you in the morning. The fruit is also great for bone strength, considering it contains nearly 75 percent of the daily-recommended value of the mineral manganese. As an added bonus, pineapple contains dietary fiber which helps keep you regular and supports healthy intestines. Pineapple contains significant amounts of bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down protein, which is what makes it extra efficient at helping with digestion. Adding pineapple to a spring detox smoothie will improve your health in more ways than one.
Kale
Kale is a powerhouse of nutrients and one of the best superfoods out there. It's a high fiber vegetable that has relatively low calories and contains no fat. It helps aid digestion, is a powerful antioxidant, and contains more iron than a serving of beef. This makes it great for preventing cancer, maintaining proper liver function, and promoting cell growth. It's also high in vitamins K, A, and C which is necessary for healthy bones, eye health, and the immune system. Adding this to your smoothie will really pack a punch.
Raw Honey
Raw honey is not just sweet, it's also a treat for your health. Raw honey is great for helping people who suffer from allergies specifically. That's because allergies are triggered by continuous exposure to the same allergen over time. However, honey made from bees in proximity to the plant will act as a sort of vaccine if taken in small amounts. That's because honey can contain tiny amounts of pollen from the allergenic plant. This typically only works when buying raw honey that's local to your area though, so keep that in mind. Raw honey is also great for reducing symptoms of colds and flus, inducing restful nights, and supplying active enzymes, B vitamins, and minerals to your body. It makes a tasty sweetener to add to any smoothie.
Lemon Juice
Many health buffs agree lemon juice is a key component in their diet. That's probably because lemon juice is loaded with vitamin C, soothes the stomach, and can even reduce fever. Adding just a little bit of it to a meal can help cure things like indigestion. It also works with the liver to cleanse the body and can help balance pH levels, leaving you with clearer skin. That's why adding some to this spring detox smoothie will be sure to help you out (especially if you plan on drinking it in the morning).
Spring Detox Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup green tea (chilled)
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 cup cucumber
- 1 cup kale
- 1 cup pineapple
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 2–3 tablespoons of raw honey (optional)
Directions
Place ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth. Drink up and enjoy! You'll get the best results possible if you drink this once a day in the morning throughout the spring. If you can't drink it that often, try drinking it at least two times a week.
