The Ultimate Beauty Smoothie
This glowing green smoothie has everything you need for beautiful skin, hair, and nails. (Photo: Kimberly Snyder)
Celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder feels beauty is achieved from the inside out. With clients like Drew Barrymore, Reese Witherspoon, Rooney and Kate Mara, Dita Von Teese, and Channing Tatum, she says “outer beauty is a reflection of inner health.” Snyder is the founder of Glow Bio, an organic smoothie, juice and cleanse company based in Los Angeles, and author of two best-selling books. Her latest offering, “The Beauty Detox Power,” goes on sale today.
My Glowing Green Smoothie is most definitely the ultimate beauty smoothie. It’s something that I drink every day, and also something that I have all of my clients drink daily. When people ask me to choose one thing to incorporate into their diets to change their inner health and outer beauty, this it is—hands down. A serving of the GGS contains over three cups of dark leafy green vegetables, which is more than many people get in a week!
Blending the greens used in this recipe helps make the full spectrum of their nutrition readily available to the body. Nutrients are encased inside plant cells, and getting their benefits requires these cells’ walls to be ruptured. Greens need to be worked down to a creamy consistency, but most people simply don’t chew that much! Blending addresses this problem, helping your body absorb the maximum amount of nutrition from your greens.
I encourage you to mix and match your greens and fruit. Vary this recipe with kale, chard, arugula, and the like. Just avoid melons, as they don’t combine well with other produce. Read on for directions on how to make the smoothie and all the awesome beauty benefits each ingredient provides.
Glowing Green Smoothie
Yield: about 60 ounces (16-24 ounces is one typical serving)
Ingredients:
2 cups very cold, filtered water
7 cups spinach or kale, chopped
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1½ cups chopped celery, about 2 stalks
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 pear, cored and chopped
1 banana
2 Tbs. fresh organic lemon juice
Directions:
Add water, spinach, and chopped romaine to the blender. Starting the blender on a low speed, mix until smooth.
Gradually move to higher speeds and add the celery, pear, and apple. Add the banana and lemon juice last.
Note: The reason I encourage blending the greens first is to ensure they have the most time to break down, as the fruit is made of simple sugars and water and doesn’t need to be blended as long.
Now, onto the beautifying ingredients within the smoothie!
Nutritionist Kimberly Snyder believes outer beauty is a relection of inner health. (Photo: Kimberly Snyder)
Apples: It’s true what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctors away—but this time it’s with blemishes! Pectin is the type of fiber found in apples, which makes up 75% of the apple’s fiber. It’s great for cleansing your system and acting as a natural detoxifier, contributing to clean blood, increased beauty, and clear skin.
Bananas: Lack of sleep is a big contributor to dark under-eye circles, which can make you look tired and older. Studies have shown that the amino acid, tryptophan, in bananas can help fight depression and help put you in a better mood, which can help result in better sleep.
Celery: Celery has balanced levels of potassium and sodium—and this balance can help to flush out excess bodily fluids and to reduce puffiness throughout the body, including the sensitive under-eye area.
Lemon: If you want clear, glowing, blemish-free skin, make sure lemons are a part of your daily diet. Every morning I start my day with a cup of hot water with lemon. High in vitamin C, lemon also helps with digestion by increasing the secretion of bile from the liver and acting as a strengthening agent for the liver’s enzymes, which is a major detoxifying organ.
Kale: This beauty food helps with toning your body by the free-form amino acids that can be assimilated directly into the body and built into protein. It’s great for healthy hair, nails, and glowing skin.
Related:
3 Beauty-Boosting Smoothie Recipes
