I have a secret. I don’t eat breakfast most days. No, actually, I drink it. In the form of a green smoothie. Yes, it looks like green sludge. I actually like that it looks so off-putting, because it tastes amazing. Much more smooth, sweet, and flavorful than you’d ever imagine. Honestly, it’s as good as any smoothie that uses just fruits. Nutritionally, it’s better.
To say this drink has changed my life would almost be an understatement. If you Google around green smoothies, you’ll find all sorts of recipes and lists of benefits. Some of the benefits I’ve personally noticed:
- Higher, even energy levels.
- Better moods.
- A clean, light feeling because the smoothie is full of fiber and nutrients.
- Better digestion.
- Calmer, brighter skin.
- Food cravings are noticeably reduced.
- A feeling of accomplishment for having loads of veggies as the first meal of the day. (I think this is important–so much of balanced eating is psychological and emotional as well.)
- I’ve noticed that the smoothie makes it easier to stick with healthier eating throughout the day.
- Filling enough to power me through Yoga teaching and practice, without weighing me down.

For some reason, I love drinking my green smoothies out of beer mugs. Never got into beer, so go figure. I do have a lot of random glasses and dishes around. Sometimes I add a drink umbrella for fun.
I’m forever indebted to my friend, clinical nutritionist, and fellow Yoga instructor, Kim Snyder, for blogging so extensively about the green smoothie. I’m so glad she got me into it. It’s made a huge difference in my life.
The smoothies I whip up aren’t exact replicas of any one recipe. The one pictured today was a tropically-inspired combo of frozen spinach, fresh pineapple chunks, banana, and shelled hemp seeds. The hemp seeds add a nice wallop of protein, fiber, good fats, and zinc to the drink.
Pineapple Spinach Colada Green Smoothie
To serve 2-3
Combine the following in blender:
8 ounces (1 cup) frozen spinach
10 ounces filtered water (more if needed)
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 large banana or 2 small bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 Tablespoons shelled hemp seeds
Stevia or agave nectar (if needed, to adjust sweetness)
Whir up all ingredients except agave nectar or sweetener in blender . Test for sweetness, adding agave or stevia if needed.
Note: By using frozen spinach, you don’t have to bother with ice cubes. If room temp spinach is all you have on hand, though, by all means, use that and just add in some ice cubes.
So this is the infamous green smoothie! I will have to try it out.
I am sure it has all those positive benefits, especially on your skin. From what I can tell, you have great skin. 🙂
The thing with me is that a smoothie will fill me up for an hour or so and then I feel hungry again. Maybe that’s not the smoothie’s fault, it’s probably just me. hehe.
Hey Nadia. I know what you mean about not feeling full for long on the smoothie. I felt this too in the beginning, so I’d eat a something extra–like a small bowl of oatmeal with a dollop of almond butter–whenever the hunger hit. Now something has shifted, and the smoothie is usually enough for me. Dunno what changed exactly. As for the skin, I’ll admit that my skin has its good days and bad days. But it’s calmer overall since upping the greens in my diet and cutting back or eliminating other foods that weren’t serving me well.
Mmmmm I love green smoothies. I usually have them in the afternoon though. Like the above commenter, they don’t usually fill me up enough for breakfast, but for a midday snack, hell yeah! I completely agree that using frozen spinach means you don’t have to bother with ice! My go-to combo is a banana, spinach, peanut butter, berries, and cinnamon. Tastes like a pb&j!
Ilana, that combo sounds great. I’ll have to try it. The smoothies fill me up most days now, but if they ever don’t, I have some go to items to hold me over til the next meal. I think adding that hemp seed stuff really helps–very high in protein.
I agree. I like them too! You are on my blogroll just to let you know!
Hey Noelle! Thanks for stopping by. Always good to hear from a fellow green smoothie fan. So sweet of you to put me on your blog roll. Thanks so much for the shout-out! I rolled by your site and it looks great. I can’t wait to dig deeper and read more of what you have to say.
Bria
I love that picture of you; you look pensive and so so pretty!
I am gonna try that green concoction of yours! Why not! My son too, when he comes over he loves smoothies and I will let you know what we think!
Glad you like the pic, Joumana. I always like the pensive look more than the grinning ear-to-ear look. Hee hee! 😉 Do try the smoothie and report back. Bet you guys might be pleasantly surprised with its mellow, tropical taste.
You are so Pretty, Bria! 🙂
Awwww, thanks, Sara. 🙂
I love your photo and you look so beautiful! This green smoothie sounds wonderful and nutritious!
Thanks, Azita 🙂 I love the green smoothie and a lot of my friends do too, once they work up the nerve to try it.
I have a green smoothie every morning without fail. You are right, they are definitely the best way to start the day. I love your idea of using frozen spinach, I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that before. Great photos!
Green smoothies rock! Bagged frozen spinach works best, because you can just dump it right in without having to break it up. Organic, bagged, frozen spinach was on sale at my local health food store recently. I bought as much as would fit in the freezer 🙂
This sounds really good. I love pineapple in a smoothie. I JUST threw out a tub of ‘nutritional breakfast shake mix’ today, while cleaning out my pantry. A personal trainer a couple of years ago had me buy it because I had a bad habit of sometimes skipping breakfast. Needless to say, it was gross and the tub is still 3/4 full. I really want to try this ‘green smoothie’ now. I may make this in the morning. I have everything except the seeds…What can I use besides hemp seeds? Thanks for posting this! You look fabulous as always 😉
Thank, Sherry. Ahhhh, this green smoothie is, IMHO, nutritionally superior to that processed, dried, weird powdered stuff. I only use powders like that in a major pinch. You can leave out the hemp seeds. They’re in there for protein, and they don’t alter the taste. If you have flax or sesame seeds, you could toss those in as a substitute. Otherwise, leave ’em out and you’ll still get a great result. Let me know what you think!
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