Beauty comes from within, we’re all familiar with this saying, right? I already told you guys in one of my recent posts how changing my diet improved my skin (if you missed it, here it is) and today I’m sharing one of my favorite smoothie recipes: green smoothie for healthy and glowing skin.
Smoothies are pretty awesome. They usually take only about five minutes to prepare, they’re easily digestible and a great way to get all those various nutrients into your system.
One of my favorite, green bases for smoothies is kale. It’s packed with fiber, Vitamin A, C and K as well as iron. It aids inflammation, it detoxifies and helps boost immunity. Avocado is also a great ingredient to add to your smoothies. It’s packed with vitamin E – a skin antioxidant, and due to its high oleic acid content, it moisturizes the skin and reduces redness and irritation.
I personally cannot stand the taste of plain coconut water, but knowing how many health benefits it has (hydrating and anti-aging properties, energy booster, helps hair growth, fights bacteria, etc.), I still wanted to incorporate it into my diet. Using coconut water as a liquid in my smoothies is a perfect solution. Another liquid I like to use is unsweetened almond milk or fresh orange juice (that I make myself, not the stuff from the bottle/carton!).
Green Smoothie for Healthy, Glowing Skin
1 cup of kale
1/4 avocado
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup of frozen pineapple
1/2 cup of frozen mango
1 cup of coconut water
1 tsp ground flaxseed
Combine everything together and blend until smooth. Sometimes I like to add some unsweetened coconut flakes to my smoothies to add a little crunch and texture.
Speaking of smoothies, I have a quick tip for you guys. I recently started pre-packing my smoothies and it’s made my life so much easier. I measure out my ingredients (kale, spinach, bananas and other fruit such as strawberries, blueberries and pineapples-all of which are great for your skin) put them in plastic bags and throw them in the freezer. All I need to do in the morning is grab a bag from the freezer, add my liquid and my chia seeds for flaxseed, blend and I’m ready to go. I also started doing the same thing with any left over spinach and kale. It not only saves you time, but it saves money too (I can’t tell you how many times I had to throw out my kale or spinach because I usually buy them in bulk and not always use it all up before it goes “bad”). After I freeze my kale or spinach, it’s pretty obvious that I can no longer use them for salads or anything similar, but it’s a perfect solution for my smoothie-making.
