Pretty Peaches & Cheery Chard Greens:
Ingredients for Raw Health, Nutrition & A Mean Green Smoothie!
by Heather Gardner
Juicy peaches and crunchy chard are in abundance right now, and we like nothing better around here, then to blend them up, kick back, relax and chug down that chlorophyll!
Here’s the nutritional low down on the health benefits that peaches and chard have to offer, as well as a couple of delicious green smoothie recipes using these tasty and nutritious ingredients!
Peaches Are Peachy Keen Good For You!
Peaches are one of the juiciest and tastiest fruits we know. Just eating them makes us feel like life is peachy! 😉
Peaches have only 68 calories each, 89% water composition, and are high in fiber and potassium.- Vitamins in peaches include C and B3, betacarotene and small amounts of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc.
- The ancient Chinese claimed that peaches were a longevity food.
- The anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals in peaches are why they are said to be good for beautiful skin, eyesight, and detoxification and the fiber is very beneficial to the digestive system.
Happy Cheery Health Benefits of Swiss Chard
Swiss Chard is jam packed with nutrition! It is an excellent source of vitamins C, E, and K, carotenes, chlorophyll, and fiber. In fact, just one cup of Swiss Chard provides you with 14.7% of the daily fiber requirements.
The health benefits of Swiss Chard contribute towards:
- A healthy immune system
- Bone, lung, and heart health
Cancer prevention, especially colon and digestive tract cancers- Manufacture of glutathione, one of the most important antioxidants in the body, and helps the liver to detox.
- Regulating normal blood sugar levels
- Kidney protection for diabetics
Green Smoothie Recipe:
Strawberry & Peachy Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries
(leave the green tops on)
2 peaches,
sliced and pitted- 1 frozen banana
- 4-6 leaves of chard,
roughly chopped - 1 cup of fresh orange juice
or coconut water
or spring water
Directions:
Put the fruits at the bottom then the greens and add the liquid.
Blend and serve.
Enjoy!
Green Smoothie Recipe:
Pretty Peach & Papaya Green Smoothie
Ingredients:
2-3 peaches- 2 cups papaya
- 1 orange
- 1 handful of chard,
roughly chopped
Directions:
Pit and slice your peaches and put them in the blender. Peel them too if they aren’t organic. Juicy peaches work the best!
Peel the papaya, place the flesh in the blender and a teaspoon of the seeds.
NOTE: You can dehydrate the remaining seeds and grind them up to add to other smoothies later! Papaya seeds are great against parasites.
Peel the orange with a knife, leaving as much pith (the white stuff), on as possible as its very good for you. Take out all the seeds as they taste very bitter and squish the orange with you hands to juice it a bit and add it all to the blender.
Lastly add in the chard or greens, roughly cut.
If the fruit was very juicy you shouldn’t need to add any water unless you want to.
Blend it up and glug it down!
Enjoy!!! 🙂
Try Our FREE 3-Day Green Smoothie Challenge!
If you haven’t already signed up for this easy, natural cleanse you can visit our 3-Day Green Smoothie Challenge. This free 3-day challenge is on-going, so you can sign up any time. It’s also loaded with recipes, tips, and FUN!
Get your hands messy and let the simple power of fruits and vegetables improve your health, energy, moods and well-being!
About Heather Gardner
Heather Gardner is our program support coach for the Wild Edible and Herbal Health programs with the Women’s Wellness University. As a lifelong 3rd generation vegetarian Heather began learning about herbs and wild foods at a young age from her herbalist mother while growing up on a remote mountainside in Ireland. Due to numerous health challenges at a young age, she began delving into the world of foraging, potion making, herbs, nutrition, and raw & living foods as a teenager searching for solutions. At 20 while studying Natural Nutrition she began learning and experimenting with the Raw Lifestyle, and at 27 she began to move onto a raw diet and has transitioned to a balanced high raw diet over time. She is qualified in many healing modalities and has over 10 years experience as a Natural Remedies, Health & Beauty manager and Brand manager within the UK Natural Products industry, working to help people to achieve better health naturally. Now she lives in the west of Ireland, devising raw recipes, making beauty potions, foraging, writing, teaching and running her business www.consciousearthcompany.com as well as running after her feisty little toddler! Connect with Heather on Facebook here.