Green Smoothie!!!

I attended a class at the end of January that focused on healthy blood sugar balancing and one of the concerns that the teachers brought up was that a morning fruit smoothie tends to contain higher glycemic index foods, which are rapidly digested and absorbed, and can cause imbalanced blood sugar as a result. Although I haven't felt like the regular fruit smoothie that I have been drinking in the morning for many years caused blood sugar fluctuations for me, I still wanted to experiment with introducing more lower glycemic index foods into my smoothie. Low glycemic index foods have a rating of 55 and lower. Many fruits do fall into the low glycemic index category (apples are 30, pears are 38, and strawberries are 40, all of which I have still been including in my smoothie), but most vegetables have a considerably lower glycemic index (spinach and cucumber, both of which I have also been including in my smoothie, are 0). I have also been soaking chia seeds (which are rich in protein, fibre, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, calcium, phosphorous, and manganese and also have a low glycemic index of 1) in water over night and adding them to my smoothie - when soaked, the chia seeds form a mucilage which also slows down the absorption of the nutrients in the smoothie, further supporting healthy blood sugar balance. When I initially thought of adding vegetables to my smoothie, I couldn't imagine being able to drink it(!), but I have been very pleasantly surprised by the taste and now thoroughly enjoy my new smoothie (and I feel like my blood sugar remains well balanced for many hours after drinking my smoothie).

Here is the recipe for the basic green smoothie (see picture to the left): 1 cup greens (I have been using a mixture of spinach and parsley), chopped, 1/4 cucumber, chopped, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 apple (or I have also used 1/2 pear instead of 1/2 apple), chopped, 1 tbsp chia seeds, soaked, 1/2 cup water

*I have also been adding 1/4 cup of pecans for extra protein and 1 tsp of coconut oil for further blood sugar balancing support

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

It looks a bit scary, but it does taste very good!