Green Love

By Kyla Jacobo, DPT

My husband recently inspired the name green love for the smoothie I am notorious for making and serving to my family. When the complaints about the bitter taste or viscous texture are voiced, which they inevitably are, I usually respond with something like…

“It’s good for you”…

or…

“This makes your body strong and healthy”…

But this morning my husband took a different approach. He said, “This smoothie is love. Your mom loves us so much that she makes this for us every day”. And thus the name was born.

Green love.

It was perfect. Like love in a cup. 

My smoothie represents my love for my family, as it nourishes them and promotes good health. It’s not always easy to get kids to drink something green, bitter, and void of the sugary sweetness they have come to love. But we cannot give up. Throw in a few strawberries or blueberries, or maybe even a dash of honey to make it more palatable. The more fruits and veggies kids are introduced to, the more they will be willing to eat them. 

Tip: Start out by serving the kids a small amount in a shot glass to get them used to the flavor.  Place an orange slice by the glass as a ‘chaser’ if they don’t like the flavor. It makes it fun, taste better, and also provides some Vitamin C!

To broaden our understanding, we can look at green love through the lens of a physiological and environmental perspective. A blender full of vibrant fruits and vegetables represents a love for the human body and its divine creation. It is the respect and willingness to provide our cells with the nutrients they need to function optimally. It is the understanding that our bodies cannot thrive on sugar laden, processed foods that wreak havoc in our bodies and on our world. 

Not only are smoothies like green love good for our bodies, but they help the environment as well. The industrialized farming system mass produces corn and soybean to create many of the processed foods we see in grocery stores. However, that system has come to value quantity over quality, which degrades the nutrients in the food and the health of the environment. These processed foods at the very least, are void of nutrients, and at worst, contain ingredients that make us sick. 

The author Michael Pollan said, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. So why not trade your morning bowl of cereal for a green smoothie? Imagine if we all lived by Pollan’s rule…we would live in a much healthier world.

All of this from just a smoothie? Yes! My kids don’t realize the depth of meaning behind a green smoothie. But it’s like many things we teach them…instill it now with the hopes of a light bulb moment of understanding in the future. 

My green love smoothies sometimes varies based on the ingredients I have in the house, but  my go to recipe is as follows:

2 cups water

Large handful spinach

Large handful kale

1 whole cucumber

1 frozen banana

3-4 frozen strawberries

¼ cup frozen blueberries

Happy blending!