Once you start a green smoothie diet, it is very important to have a good rotation of greens and fruits. Too much of anything is not good, and you really want to balance everything you consume in good moderation.
One good alternative you can add to your diet is bok choy, very similar to spinach in so many ways. Read on so you can learn more about how to make a bok choy smoothie and the benefits you can get from them.
Learning about bok choy
Bok Choy, otherwise known as Chinese cabbage is readily available in the US in its Baby Shanghai variety. This is perfectly okay since the smaller variations are, in fact, healthier than the bigger varieties.
Phytonutrients
Bok Choys are very rich in phytonutrients, which makes them one of the best ingredients for your smoothies. Phytonutrients fall in a league of their own as they can not be classified as vitamins or minerals, but are scientifically accepted as very beneficial to the human body.
Food, like bok choy, which are rich in phytonutrients are very good in eliminating and flushing out toxins from your body, not to mention giving you healthier and stronger tissues, not just your regular muscles but also your organ muscles. They are also believed to eliminate the risks of acquiring tumor and cancer in the long run.
Flavanoids
Bok Choys are rich in flavanoids which serves both as an antioxidant and as an anti-inflammatory agent. The presence of flavanoids in the circulatory system is much lower that anything we consume.
They do not have an actual presence except for the way they are processed by the human body and how they interact, and then utilized by our bodies. Once foods containing flavanoids are ingested, they are modified by our digestive system into something that it can use as an antioxidant and antiflammatory agent.
While studies and researches are still being conducted to thoroughly understand the roles of flavanoids in our bodies, it is believed that it plays a great role in fighting cancer.
Bok Choy is also rich Beta-carotene
One of the health-benefits of Bok Choy is in its high beta-carotene contents. One of the many carotenoids which may be found in bok choy is lutein which is popularly known as the eye vitamin. It alleviates risks of cataracts and other known eye problems which normally develop with age.
Not only does it help keep your eyes in awesome condition for a prolonged period of time, it also improves overall well-being of your eyes, even for those with pre-existing conditions.
A wealthy source of vitamins and minerals
Bok choy contains an abundance of vitamins A, which is essential for brain functions and eyesight, Vitamin C for a healthy immune system and Vitamin K to help blood to clot which is essential to prevent excessive bleeding.
It also contains calcium for your bones, magnesium and iron to say the least. Bok choy is an ultimate rock star among vegetables and definitely a superb source of healthy nutrients and minerals. The list can go on and on, but this is definitely a healthy alternative that you will not regret having in your diet.
Bok Choy Smoothie
As I have mentioned earlier in this article, bok choy is a leafy vegetable. Being a leafy vegetable, it is normally included in soups in Asian dishes, but may also be included in salads, or other recipes you can think of.
However, with the modern innovations, bok choy may now also be used for making green smoothies that are pack with so many nutrients in their purest forms.
You can use bok choy with any recipe that you use a spinach or cabbage with. I personally never combine leafy vegetables in this category together. I am not much of vegetable person which is why I opt for green smoothies rather than eating them as is. With that being said, I like my smoothies to taste awesome and not taste like grass.
Time to make some Bok Choy Smoothies!
Tropical Mango Bok Choy Smoothie Recipe
What you will need
- 3 Large mangos (peel and separate from the seed) Mangoes are very succulent fruits with a very full, rich taste, making them a great addition to any leafy vegetables for making smoothies, not just bok choy.
- 2 large sized oranges (peeled and quartered)Complements the taste of mangos and adds more fiber into your green smoothie.
- Bok ChoyA whole bundle of bok choy (do not remove the stems as they are also very rich in nutrients which we definitely want to take advantage of)
- 2 Cups of fresh milk (adds calcium into your diet, while enhancing the taste of your bok choy smoothie at the same time.)
Procedure:
- Set up your juicer and blender. You will be needing both for this smoothie since we want to preserve to fibers from your oranges and mangoes.
- Using a juicer, process your bok choy one stem at a time in the juicer to extract all the green juices.
- Combine mangoes, oranges and milk in the blender and blend for about two minutes.
- Add the bok choy extract in the blender.
- Best served when chilled.
All Green Bok Choy Avocado Smoothie Recipe
One of the most filling, and super healthy smoothie you can have is a bok choy avocado smoothie. You can even substitute this for breakfast on the go!
What you will need
- Bullet Point 1
- one bundle of bokchoy
- 2 cups of fresh milk
- 3 tablespoons of honey (use more or less depending on your preference)
Procedure:
- Slice around your avocado until the middle part where you feel the seeds. You don’t have to cut the seed because it will separate from the succulent flesh easily enough.
- Slice grids along your avocado and scoop the flesh out with a spoon.
- In a juicer, process your bok choy leaves one stem at a time.
- Place extracted juices in a blender and add milk, honey and avocados.
- Best served when chilled.
Banana Apple Bok Choy Smoothie Recipe
This is one of the easiest recipes you can make with bok choy since, compared to avocados and mangoes, bananas and apples are more readily available. They also tend to be cheaper which can be a good advantage, especially if you are making smoothies on a daily basis.
What you will need
- 2 Large apples (cored but not peeled)
- 3 Large bananas (peeled)
- 1 stalk of bok choy2 cups of fresh milk
Procedure:
- Process your bok choy leaves and stems in a juicer to extract all the juices.
- Transfer all the juices you have extracted with your juicer into the blender.
- Add bananas, apple and milk.
- Blend until smooth.
- Serve immediately, as bananas and apples tend to darken and doesn’t look very appetizing after a while. Pulp may tend to settle at the bottom, too, which may make a bit hard to drink after a while.
Lemon Pineapple Bok Choy Smoothie
Via Instagram.com
This recipe is so full of vitamin C which is perfect if you need an added immune booster. This is also fabulously refreshing in the summer months when you just want an alternative to your lemonade. We will not be keeping the pulp for this recipe so in terms of fiber, it will contain less.
Remember that keeping the pulp with your smoothie gives you more fiber, so you can choose to keep the pulp at all times though I personally leave them out of my recipes every now and then just to have texture variations. Banana peels are also very healthy so you may want to looking into recipes you can make with banana peels for even healthier recipes.
What you will need
- 2 cups of sliced pineapple (you may substitute this with a can of fresh pineapple juice for convenience)
- 1 regular sized lemon (quartered)
- 1 bundle of bok choy
Procedure:
- Process your bok choy leaves and stems in the juicer.
- Next, process your fresh pineapples to extract the juices (skip this step if you are using the canned pineapple juice.)
- Try to remove any protruding lemon seeds then shove them into the juicer, too. You don’t have to peel the lemon since the peel is also very rich in nutrients.
- Stir mixture well.
- Pour into glasses and add ice.
- Will taste very much like a pineapple lemonade but with a healthy green color.
Bok choy has a slightly stronger taste compared to regular spinach and cabbages. This is really not a problem if you are a vegetable person but, if like me, you are not very fond of eating greens, then these recipes are going to be perfect for you.
I found that combining bok choy with these fruits make them so much more palatable, and makes it easy even for me to forget that there is fresh leaves included in there. You can substitute bok choy with spinach or other leafy vegetables for a healthy rotation of your greens.
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