INTRODUCTION

Fruits and vegetables naturally contain many of the nutrients people need to survive and keep healthy. The concept of drinking smoothies and juices to maintain good health and cure many ailments has been around for centuries, but only recently has it gained popularity in Western civilization. There are as many different purposes for incorporating smoothies into your diet as there are ingredients to use in them. Some of these uses include:

• Anti-aging

• Diabetes control

• Disease prevention

• Healthy skin

• Increased cognitive function

• Meal replacement

• Weight loss

Though many people choose to extract the juice from the pulp, especially if they wish to detoxify, there are definite health advantages to drinking smoothies. Throughout the following pages you’ll discover many of the ways these fiber-rich, low-calorie foods can help you achieve better health, but first, let’s define what exactly a smoothie is.

Strictly speaking, a smoothie is a concoction created by blending the pulp, juice, and often the skins of fruits and vegetables into a soup or drink that is relatively smooth and requires little chewing. While purists add nothing except water to their smoothies, others may choose to add supplements or flavoring agents, such as protein powder, yogurt, milk, nuts, or seeds.

In the interest of giving you as many options as possible, this collection includes recipes of all kinds so you can choose for yourself. If a particular recipe that contains extra “stuff” sounds good to you, but you’d prefer to keep it pure, just omit those ingredients. The opposite is also true: If you’d like to add something to a particular recipe, feel free to do so. After all, it’s your health and, therefore, your decision.

Now, it’s time to talk smoothies!