Greenberry Smoothie

My name is Shaun Schofield. I am going to show how to start your day off healthy and with the energy that you need! My mom has shared this recipe with me since I was probably 14 years old and it's the greatest! It's a healthy smoothie and really easy to make! It serves one to two people.

Taste: I really like the taste of these smoothies. The taste is much like a regular fruit smoothie that you would buy in a restaurant, but with vegetables. They really taste great and they have spinach in them! Can you believe that?

The preparation really is simple. It's as simple as putting every ingredient into a blender and pressing start. And in about 5 seconds you have your Greenberry smoothie.

Preparation time: 2 minutes.

Greenberry Smoothie Recipe: 

• 1 cup raw spinach
• 1 cup mixed berries
• 1 banana
• 1 container of greek yogurt
• 1 cup water

 Put all of the ingredients into the blender. Blend until smooth. Serve right away.

Some totals for the Greenberry Smoothie:

Total fat: 2.9g                                            Saturated fat: 1.6g

Cholesterol: 15mg                                     Sodium: 112.25mg
Potassium: 652mg                                     Carbohydrates: 63.75g
Calories: 330                                             Sugar: 41g

Yogurt: Calories:140 Total Fat: 0g Cholest. 5mg Sodium: 60mg Total Carbs: 21g Dietary Fiber: <1g Sugars: 17g Protein: 13g Vitamin A: 0% Vitamin C: 2% Calcium: 15% Iron: 0%
Spinach: Calories: 5 Total Fat: 0g Cholest. 0mg Sodium: 16.25mg Total Carbs: .75g Dietary Fiber: .5g Sugars: 0g Protein:.5g Vitamin A 40% Vitamin C 10% Calcium 2% Iron 3.75%
Mixed Berries: Calories: 70 Total Fat: 0g Cholest. 0mg Sodium: 15mg Total Carbs: 17g Dietary Fiber: 3g Sugars: 11g Protein: 1g Vitamin A: 2% Vitamin C: 20% Calcium: 6% Iron: 4%
Banana: Calories: 110 Total Fat: 0g Cholest. 0mg Sodium: 0mg Potassium:450mg Total Carbs: 30g Dietary Fiber: 3g Sugars:19g Protein: 1g Vitamin A: 2% Vitamin C: 15% Calcium: 0% Iron: 2%

These ingredients make for a great smoothie and if you take out the yogurt from the smoothie, the numbers drop surprisingly in fats and sugars.

There are negative aspects of the recipe including sugars and sodium. Sugar is bad for your teeth and it can become addictive. Sodium is bad because after you consume it a lot it makes it so you have high blood pressure and more at risk for a heart attack.

Variations: This smoothie has almost everything you need to have all of the food groups in it but one of the groups it doesn't have is grains. I would suggest adding granola to the smoothie to give you the grains that you need. Also it lacks the meat group. To substitute this group you could add a fish (which I would not do) or you could add some seeds with the granola like sunflower seeds.

*Vitamins and Minerals provided from each of the ingredients:

Spinach: Is rich in iron and has a medium content of calcium. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, and magnesium. It is also a very good source of dietary fiber.

Let me just say some of the benefits of spinach in your diet: Cancer prevention, asthma prevention, lowering blood pressure, better bone health and it gives you healthy skin and hair. I don't know why you wouldn't want luscious skin and hair. Put two cups in the smoothie!  

Mixed Berries:  

Potassium – helps combat high blood pressure, and its a risk factor for heart disease. 

Dietary fiber – helps reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Vitamin C – for growth and repair of all body tissues and keeps teeth and gums healthy. 
Folate (folic acid) – Helps the body form red blood cells.

The raspberries in your daily life will help you with cancer prevention. 
Blueberries keep your memory sharp as you age! 
All of the berries mixed help with your heart and your bones as well. 

Banana: It is high in potassium. Bananas are a great source of vitamin B6 and a good source of manganese, vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, biotin, and copper.

Bananas are so important in so many ways and can help you out a ton! I just learned a few. Here they are: they help you overcome depression, reduce swelling, protect against muscle cramps and they lower blood pressure.

Yogurt: The yogurt in this smoothie is what gives it thickness along with the banana. I used greek yogurt because it is less in calories and sugar compared to regular yogurt like Yoplait. It's an important part in the smoothie but you can also put a yogurt that is lower in sugars to make it even more healthy.

Yogurt contains probiotics that help your immune system and give a healthy digestive track. It also is rich in calcium which will strengthen your bones!

*Vitamin and Mineral information found on the internet.