I was lucky enough to have a parent that was into healthy eating and at a very young age I developed a love for Smoothies. This obsession carried into my teen and adult years in various forms with many different combinations. Recently I was watching Steven and Chris~ (an  afternoon Talk Show http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/) and they had Nutritionist Peggy Kotsopoulos (http://www.bevibrant.ca/about.html) as a guest on the show. Not only did she have great tips, she had great energy too. In this episode she showed how to make this amazing little smoothie that is supposed to lean you out, rev your metabolism and give your skin that radiant glow.

Lately I have found that my skin was on the drier side and lacking that luster that I was so used to. So I thought why not give it a shot and try it out. I decided to make the smoothie every day for 15 days and see if it really did the job. Now the demo they made on the show used a large amount of the ingredients, so I decided to modify it for one person’s consumption

I faithfully made this Smoothie every morning and within the first few days I was feeling great, had more energy and my skin seemed more radiant. Day after day I was feeling great and by the end of the 15 days my skin was supple and glowing. I can honestly say that this Smoothie packs all the punch and delivers the results ( see below for the breakdown Peggy gave for the ingredients)

Here is the breakdown of the ingredients and the modifications I made for a single serving:

~1 stalk of celery, 1/4 cucumber, 1/2 apple, inch cube of fresh peeled ginger, 1 cup of coconut water or coconut juice (the juice has more sugar), fresh mint leaves (if you’re a mint fan like me I add 4-5), half of a lemon squeezed ( I use a hand-held juicer to get most of the pulp), Pinch of Cayenne Pepper!

Directions (from the show)

Add apples, cucumber, celery, ginger, mint, water (coconut water) and lemon juice to blender. Blend well, adjusting water as necessary. Pour into glass and sprinkle with cayenne. Garnish with fresh mint, berries or celery stalk!

Peggy mentioned that each ingredient has benefits and Here’s why:

• The cucumber and celery are cleansing, natural diuretics that will eliminate excess water weight
• Apples contain beta-glucans that help pull excess estrogen
• Ginger and mint help to banish the stomach bloat
• The lemon helps to cleanse the liver, stimulating the metabolism
• Cayenne pepper is a thermogenic, helping to rev up the metabolism and speed up fat-burning

Whether you are wanting to start the morning off right, add a little more green to your diet or have that radiant glow this smoothie is a wonderful addition to your day. The only warning I can give is it is a little tart so definitely drink it before you brush you teeth!

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Much Love, xo

Beauty Buzz 411