There’s probably no better season to enjoy green smoothies than summer. Don’t get me wrong, I love green smoothies all year around, but I just love them especially in the summer, when everything is green and bright anyways. I also love to start my day with a big green smoothie bowl more in the summer than winter because it’s such a nice and light breakfast opposite to a rather heavy warming winter porridge bowl.
This green smoothie is especially refreshing because it uses a different kind of green leaf than most smoothies: radish leaves. If you’ve been following my blog, then you may have noticed that I am a big fan of radishes and particularly their leaves. They taste amazing in soups like this cleansing green radish soup.
Radish leaves are a great alternative to commonly used greens such as spinach or kale. They have a wonderful lemon-y taste and give smoothies something really refreshing and cleansing. You can also use them as greens in your next salad – they are unbelievably versatile.
The greens are actually the most nutritious part of the radish plant, even more nutritious than the radishes themselves. The leaves are packed with minerals such as potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, folate and vitamins such as vitamin A, C & K. They are also a great fiber source which makes them the perfect addition to green smoothies. Fiber helps slow the absorption of sugar into fruits in the green smoothie, which prevents our blood sugar level from piking fast. Thus, green radish leaves are one of the best green leaves that you can add to your smoothie. The other real superfood in this smoothie is bee pollen.
What are bee pollen?
You might have already heard of them, but some of you may be totally new to bee pollen. They are called superfoods because of their high nutrient density that results in many health benefits. The list of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids and healthy fatty acids is so long that it would take forever to write them all down. They contain the entire list of B vitamins and all 22 amino acids that your body needs to make a complete protein (think muscle building). Moreover, they are one of the rare plant-based sources of the vitamin B12 that is usually only found in dairy or meat. B12 is one of the most important vitamins for a healthy nervous system and many metabolic functions.
Pollen are the fine powder that is found on the stamen of a flower. As bees fly from one flower to another, they collect this fine powder with their little feet and store it in their concave area. Here, the pollen are mixed with bee saliva, traces of honey and digestive enzymes and then formed into bee pollen. They are the most amazing superfood of all, because they have so many health benefits that it would take forever to write them all down. Just remember that they are an absolute beauty-food for our skin, fighting signs of age and acne on our facial skin. They are also known to cure allergies such as hay fever or help relief symptoms of PMS or joint pain. This area is, however, not widely studied yet.
Note: If you’re allergic to bee or suffer from severe allergies related to pollen, then please do not eat bee pollen before consulting a physician. Please use common sense before consuming bee pollen in any way.
- ½ cup fresh mango (90g)
- 1 kiwi (80g)
- 2 peaches (160g)
- 1 banana (60g)
- 1 handful organic radish leaves
- 1 handful mache or baby spinach
- 1 cup (250ml) organic coconut water
- 1 tsp bee pollen
- 1 tsp hemp seed powder
- Simply add the radish leaves and mache (or baby spinach) and the coconut water to your high speed blender. Blend until smooth.
- Next add all the fruits, peel and stones removed, to the blender and blend again until you have a heavenly creamy smoothie.
- Top it with some bee pollen and/or hemp seeds.
- Enjoy!
Just leave the bee pollen out if you want to be on the save side.
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