Green Smoothie with Banana and Mixed Berries

When we were shopping yesterday one of the items on our list was green drink powder. The most recent book I have been reading “Life Over Cancer” recommends green drink powder to make certain you get the 12 servings of vegetables they want you to consume each day. If you haven’t tried to buy green drink powder before it is completely confusing. There are so many brands of the stuff and the ingredient combinations are varied. You can spend a lot of time reading labels in the store.

I chose Green Vibrance (which they carry at Whole Foods) for a number of reasons. First, it contains 25 billion dairy free probiotics per dose from 12 different strains. Given that probiotics are so important for intestinal health I liked the idea of a lot of probiotics. Second, the product is mostly organic. A product being organic is always a big plus with me. Third, each dose contains 1500 mgs of spirulina. Last, each dose contains 1000 IU of Vitamin D, 100 IU of Vitamin E and 3.51 mcg of Vitamin B12. I thought this brand had some impressive nutritional statistics so we picked it up. If you look for it know that it is a little pricey ($44.99 for a 30 dose container).

The taste…… well, it tastes green. I can definitely say it is an acquired taste, which I have not yet acquired. I tried a little bit straight and it makes like something that is really good for you, like cod liver oil.

Today’s smoothie was designed to mask the taste of the green powder, which it did. However, I only used 1 tablespoon of the powder, which equates to ½ a dose. I decided that is the most we do for now. The mixed berries did a great job of overpowering the taste of the green powder. The berries also made the color more appealing. Tomorrow’s smoothie is going to be green since I feel we need to drink it once without the berries to see what it is like.

I think it is going to take us a few weeks to get accustomed to this green drink powder. We will be using half the recommended amount of powder while we “acquire” a taste for this green drink. We both know the green powder is good for us and plan to work to find ways to include it in our diet that we also enjoy. This smoothie is a good start of how to incorporate green drink powder into your diet in an enjoyable drink.

Green Smoothie with Banana and Mixed Berries
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of Green Vibrance Powder
1 frozen banana
1 cup of mixed frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries and marion berries)
2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
2 cups of water

Directions:

Toss everything into the blender and puree until smooth. Serve immediately in chilled glasses.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 176.44
Calories From Fat (31%) - 54.16

Total Fat - 8.54g
Saturated Fat - 0.94g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 35.49mg
Potassium - 378.22mg
Total Carbohydrates - 31.65g
Fiber - 8.22g
Sugar - 15.05g
Protein - 4.51g

Comments:

This smoothie tasted better than I expected. There was a grassy note in the background, but the berries did a nice job of overpowering the flavor. Both my husband and I thought we could drink the green powder this way. Tomorrow I will try the smoothie without the berries and see what happens.