New Year Empower Detox Smoothie

Are you ready to unprocess your life for the New Year? Empower yourself. Take back your life and your health for the start of the new year! Let’s start out with a seasonal grapefruit empower detox  smoothie! This cleansing drink has a refreshing mix of grapefruit, green apples, pineapple, mint, and ginger.

This smoothie has everything you are looking for after the winter holidays of processed snacks at holiday events, processed desserts at the office Christmas party, and processed dinners when you didn’t feel like cooking after Christmas shopping.

The dog days of winter have just begun and you need to keep your immune system up during the cold and flu season. These detoxifying ingredients will help keep your body energized and feeling solid even when you are around sniffling people.

No, you don’t need to eat only grapefruit for 3 days or buy a $40 dollar bottle of detox pills. This is not necessary and could lead you to detox too fast.

Some people may have prescription drug interactions to certain detox diets.  Balance is the key. Anything can be harmful if not done in moderation. Some people may just have a sensitive stomach, like me, and need a gentle detox.

Just drink this smoothie first thing in the morning and continue to eat tasty real food for the rest of the week…. and the rest of the year! Keep looking in the Real Food Recipe category for —–> TASTY. QUICK. MINIMAL INGREDIENTS. LOW COST. NUTRIENT DENSE. REAL FOOD RECIPES.  All combined in each recipe. Make sure you hover over the category to reach the tasty sub categories. Yes, it is easy to make real food…real fast…real easy.

Make sure you have a quality blender. The NutriBullet is a perfect compact size for home use (free shipping here), so you can make easy on-the-go healthy smoothies all the time! Try some of these other clean smoothies!

Seasonal produce is the freshest and usually the most inexpensive real food in the store. The local supermarket in my area is selling a 5lb bag of ruby red grapefruit for $3.99. That is a great value! We could call this the “Frugal Detox Smoothie”!

Grapefruit also holds up well in the fridge, so the other 4lb’s won’t go to waste. Maybe you can make it a team effort and get someone in your household to detox with you.  You can just say, “…..but I don’t want all of this grapefruit to go to waste…and it’s not really a detox, it’s tasty and happens to be good for you!”

So what is it about these ingredients that detox your body so that you will have more energy, has the potential to help you loose weight, increase your metabolism, lower your cholesterol, and even cleanse your lungs after a new year’s resolution to quit smoking.

Grapefruit- It has so many health benefits that the entire month of February has been named National Grapefruit Month, which is the peak of grapefruit’s season. It is packed full of nutrients such as phenolic acid, limolin, fiber, water, potassium and vitamin C.

All of the nutrients and enzymes found in grapefruit help pull out toxins and increase bile flow. Bile is made in your liver and stored in your gallbladder. That is why grapefruit is good for gallstones.

This low sugar citrus fruit is rich in vitamin C. It was studied that vitamin C  increases glutathione, which is probably the most important detoxifying enzyme for the liver that are bodies produce, but it can be depleted by pollutants and toxins.

Grapefruit also contains pectin which has been shown to  lower LDL “bad” cholesterol. Lycopene is only found in pink or red grapefruit and is known to have anti-tumor properties.

Pineapple – Also high in vitamin C and contains the enzyme bromelain, which breaks down proteins. Pineapple is good for digestion, mucus, inflammation, overall immunity, and smoker’s lungs. So if you made a new year’s resolution to quit smoking… EAT PINEAPPLE!

Granny Smith apples – No doubt an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Green apples have the highest malic acid content, which increases  bile flow, and the tartness of the apples contain less sugar than other apple varieties.

Mint – Mint is good for digestion, stomach upset, allergies and colds. I think it adds a refreshing boost to the smoothie.

Ginger – I can’t say enough about the benefits of ginger. Ginger is antimicrobial, antiviral, can help nausea, upset stomach, and is good for inflammation. I drink ginger green tea in the morning to keep my body running smooth all day.

I chose ruby red grapefruit for the less bitter taste. Start by peeling the grapefruit. The white pith holds most of the limolin, which also can leave a bitter taste. It is up to you how much pith you want. If you don’t mind the bitter taste, then grind up the seeds as well, as they are packed with nutrients.

You can freeze the pineapple in reusable freezer bags, or jars if you want to cut down on using plastic. Try pineapple in this green smoothie!

Keep detoxing! Try fresh ginger in water, tea, soups, and sauces. Have some mint tea, use as a breath freshener or in a rejuvenating bath.

Try this detoxifying yoga that you can download and do any time at home!

You can gently detoxify your body everyday by eating spices, herbs, fruit, and vegetables.  Follow or subscribe to Unprocessed Purpose  to see the up and coming, full of flavor, winter clean food dishes. This is the year to make real food mainstream and have consumer involvement in a healthy food system!

PREVIEW: The next Real Food dish will boost your vitamin D to combat the winter blues! No synthetic vitamin D needed!

This post is shared with these support communities: Allergy Free Wednesday, Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural Living.