I used to be sick and run down pretty much the entire winter. It was not fun. Fatigue, lack of focus, head aches, body aches — all of these lead to a decline in performance or even missing practices, games, work or school. Since your body is already trying to recover from the wear and tear you put on it during the season — trying to fight off a cold makes it that much harder.
Last year I started drinking green juices everyday and literally did not get a cold once. It is incredible what this has done for my immune system. And, in turn, energy levels I don’t ever remember having during the winter.
I would suggest drinking at least 12-16 ounces everyday and if you’re looking for a pre-practice or game snack, try the Orange Mint. Chia seeds are an excellent source of energy.
A forewarning — these can take some getting used to so start with the sweetest ones first.
Here is are a couple of my favorites for the basketball season, starting with sweetest to greenest. It’s a short season. Stay healthy.
Note: If you do not have a high powered blender like a VitaMix or Blendtec you will want to blend the greens first with the water. Otherwise, you’ll end up with chunks of greens and hate me. Going to get serious about green smoothies? Check out Simple Green Smoothies or Food Babe for a ton of great recipes and more in depth information about the health benefits.
Beginners Smoothie
- 1 banana
- 1 cup pineapple
- 1.5 cup spinach
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup ice
Beginner’s Smoothie II (Cilantro-Mango Detox)
- 1.5 cups spinach, fresh
- 1⁄2 cup cilantro, fresh
- 1.5 cups mango
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup pineapple
- 1⁄2 avocado
Orange Mint
- 1.5 cups greens (kale or spinach)
- 2 oranges (peeled)
- 1 cup Pineapple chunks
- 2 tablespoons Chia Seeds
- 15-20 mint leaves
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1/2 cup ice
Super Green Juice*
- 1 cup parsley
- 3/4 cup Kale
- 3/4 cup Spinach
- 3/4 cup Red Chard
- 1 Green Apple (cored)
- 5 Celery Stalks
- 1 cucumber
- 1 lemon (peeled)
- 1 lime (peeled)
- 1 cup water
*Must be strained through nut milk bag or it’ll be too thick to drink. This one is “Super” Green.