Power Detox Smoothies: Easy Smoothie Recipies and Medicinal Plants to Support Detoxification
Many of my clients as well as family and friends often tell me they feel they need to “detox” and ask for my recommendations. Detox is somewhat of a “buzzword” these days and is often correlated with alternative medicine and not accepted by many conventional doctors as something that is useful for health maintenance. Delving into the many opinions about detoxification and human health is beyond the scope of this blog article but what I can say with confidence is that our body’s natural detoxification pathways can either be supported or depressed by nutrition and lifestyle choices. If our natural detoxification systems are not functioning optimally, this may lead to toxic accumulation and promote disease down the road.
We are all living in a toxic world, it is impossible to avoid environmental exposures to chemicals such as herbicides, car exhaust, or persistent organic pollutants (POPs) also known as “forever chemicals” that stay in our environment and drinking water affecting humans and animals alike. The foods we eat that contain pesticides or chemical preservatives, the alcohol we drink or the occasional cigarette or cigar at a party that all need to be eliminated by our innate detoxification systems via the liver, urine, feces, sweat, and lymphatic system.
So what can we do? Aside from throwing up our hands in defeat, we can control a couple of variables such as which foods we eat and what we drink. Avoiding obvious toxins such as cigarette smoke, excessive alcohol intake, processed foods, and conventionally grown produce helps lower the toxic burden. Choosing foods that support the detox pathways in the body can also help. An easy way to get these functional foods in is via healthy smoothies that include medicinal foods and are not too high in sugar.
Basic Template To Design Your Own Detoxifying Smoothie
This smoothie template provides you with basic food groups to design a well-balanced smoothie that is medicinal and can even be used as a meal replacement when all categories of macronutrients are used as ingredients. The foods given as options contain nutrients that support detoxification pathways in the body and should be used in conjunction with a healthy plant-based diet and other detoxification enhancing therapies recommended at Rezilir Health.
You can choose 1 or 2 ingredients from each category below to create your own detox supporting power drink.
- Liquid base: 6-8 ounces of Traditional Medicinals Everyday Detox tea or other detox tea that contains herbs such as dandelion greens, lemon grass, milk thistle or ginger, non-dairy milk alternative of choice, coconut water, or green tea
- Carbohydrates: ¼ cup cubed beets, 1 handful beet greens, 1 handful arugula, ¼ cup diced apple, ¼ cup blackberries, ¼ cup pineapple (if using bitter greens such as arugula, dandelion greens or beet greens, balance out with ½to 1 cup cup of fruit listed above of choose your own favorite fruit)
- Healthy Fat: 1 Tbl Chia seeds, 1 Tbl ground flax seeds, ¼ cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes or coconut milk, or BodyBio PC, BodyBio Balance oil, Evening primrose oil if prescribed by your healthcare provider
- Protein: 1 scoop of Designs for Health VegeCleanse protein powder, organic whey protein isolate, organic pea protein powder or 1 scoop grass-fed collagen protein powder of your choice
You can design your smoothies to fit your lifestyle and budget. Don’t have time to be making a complex smoothie in the morning? Below I have included recipes such as a simplified version of a healthy smoothie (for those busy parents struggling to get kids and themselves out the door each morning) as well as other variations you can try so you do not get bored of the same ole’ smoothie every day.
The easiest option can sometimes be to use a medical food that is designed for detoxification support and contains medicinal foods and nutrients proven to support detoxification. These come in a powder form that can be blended with water, coconut water or any milk alternative. Options include Opticleanse (Xymogen) or Vegecleanse (Designs for Health) Contact our supplement Manager Mackenzie Motola at Rezilir Health to learn how to order these products.
Easy Detoxification Support Smoothie
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 green apple
- 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- small handful fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and serve right away.
Liver Support Smoothie
Your liver carries the heaviest burden when it comes to detoxification and is responsible to break down everything toxic from alcohol to pharmaceuticals. Ingredients in this smoothie support the detoxification pathways in the liver.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw coconut water or cooled liver support tea (milk thistle, lemon grass, ginger are common ingredients) or filtered water
- 1 medium green apple, skin on, cored and diced
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1/2 small avocado, pitted and peeled
- 1 cup dandelion greens or baby spinach (baby spinch has a milder flavor, good for beginners not used to green smoothies)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- Add a small amount of ice for a thicker consistency if desired
- If you want a sweeter smoothie, increase sweetness by adding some Stevia or Monk Fruit
Optional nutritional boosters:
- 1/4 cup frozen raw broccoli
- 1/8 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 small raw red beet, peeled and diced (grated for conventional blenders)
- Probiotic supplement
Instructions
Place into a blender and blend until smooth
Green Tea Detox Smoothie
This recipe yields 2 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 c. kale and chard mix
- 3/4 c. fresh pineapple chunks
- 1/2 orange
- 2/3 c. unsweetened green tea
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/3 c. water
- 5 ice cubes or 1 cup ice
Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into individual glasses and enjoy!
For more information on creating a personalized nutrition plan with Jannell, please contact us at 1-866-REZILIR or email us at therezilirway@rezilirhealth.com.
Jannell (bilingual Spanish/English) has been a practicing Registered Dietitian for over 20 years. She began her career as a clinical dietitian in the hospital setting, eventually specializing in nutrition support for intensive care unit patients. Following this, she practiced as a licensed dietitian in San Juan, Puerto Rico working with endocrinology patients and later assisting in the implementation of a government-sponsored weight loss program for obese children in the San Juan public school system.
Jannell went on to work as a consultant dietitian in 2005 providing nutrition services to patients as well as corporate accounts in the areas of bariatric nutrition, diabetes, weight management, cardiovascular disease, and wellness education. She participated in several clinical drug trials as a research dietitian, testing the efficacy of various weight loss and diabetes medications.
For the past several years, Jannell has been pursuing a specialization in functional and integrative nutrition. This practice perspective for nutritional care and lifestyle changes is applied to all of our patients at Rezilir, using food as medicine to promote optimal healing and wellbeing to our patients.
Jannell is passionate about educating our patients and the community about the power of optimal nutrition and its influence on health and healing. Ms. Baez received her Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Florida International University.
