By Dr Joe
The cucumber spinach avocado smoothie is one green smoothie couched on the starter level of smoothies. But don’t be fooled by its simplicity.
You take the dog for a walk, get back, take off your dog-walking gear and you need some refreshment. What do you reach out for?
You probably want to reach for a cup of tea or coffee. Nothing wrong with that.
What if I tempt you with the cucumber spinach avocado smoothie as a refreshing yet nourishing drink?
I am not suggesting the cucumber spinach avocado should replace your everyday refreshment, but it should become part of your staple a couple of times a week.
You need greens in your life and this cucumber spinach avocado smoothie is a good starting point.
The cucumber spinach avocado smoothie has the vital components of the greens, bar the root. It has leafy green, stem green, fruit green. It’s no surprise it’s nutritionally dense but yet calorie light.
I call it the CSA smoothie. If you are a guy whom the acronym CSA sends you running for the hills because you are failing to meet up with your child support payments, then be reassured. This CSA is not after your financial freedom. If anything this smoothie is as affordable as it gets.
The CSA is an acronym or should we say, mnemonic for your shopping needs. For you to remember the core ingredients for making the CSA smoothie – the core ingredients being Cucumber, Spinach and Avocado.
So, what do we need for the cucumber spinach avocado smoothie?
Cucumber X 1
Celery X 2 sticks
Spinach X 120 g
Avocado X 1
Banana X 2
Lemon X 1
Hemp milk X 80 ml
Flaxseed X 3 tbsf
If you are asking why add the banana and the lemon. The banana and the lemon are mainly performing flavoursome functions. The core CSA ingredients emit the typical earthy taste which might put some people off.
Add the banana and a lemon squeeze and the veggie greeny taste is masked for good. Now we are talking.
Food whether it be in the solid form or liquid form should taste exciting and the cucumber spinach avocado smoothie is doing its best to keep up.
You get lots of phytonutrients from the cucumber, celery and spinach inclusive of anti-oxidants that suppress inflammation keeping your body cells free from reactive oxygen species. Anti-oxidants are by their very nature anti-inflammatory as well.
The avocado does its best to furnish you with monounsaturated fatty acids essential for optimum health. One banana is good enough if you are trying to lose weight, otherwise two will help you bolster the calories for weight maintenance.
Nutritional information for Cucumber per 100 g
| Calories | 16 g |
| Total fat | 0.1 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Monounsaturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0.0 g |
| Total Carbohydrate | 3.6 g |
| Sugars | 1.7 g |
| Fiber | 1.5 g |
| Protein | 0.7 g |
| Sodium | 2 mg |
| Potassium | 147 mg |
You also get Calcium, Iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Magnesium from the cucumber.
Nutritional information for Avocado per 100 gm
| Calories | 160 kcal |
| Total fat | 15 g |
| Saturated fat | 2.1 g |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 1.9 g |
| Monounsaturated fat | 10 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Total Carbohydrate | 9 g |
| Sugar | 0.7 g |
| Fiber | 7 g |
| Sodium | 7 mg |
| Potassium | 485 mg |
| Cholesterol | 0.0 g |
A ready supply of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, magnesium, Calcium and Vitamin B6 is available from your avocado as well.
Nutritional information for Spinach per 100 gm
| Calories | 23 kcal |
| Total Carbohydrate | 3.6 g |
| Sugar | 0.4 g |
| Fiber | 2.4 g |
| Total fat | 0.4 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.1 g |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 0.3 g |
| Monounsaturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0.0 g |
| Protein | 3.0 g |
You also get a good supply of Iron, Magnesium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and Calcium from your spinach.
Nutritional information for Celery per 100 gm
| Calories | 16 kcal |
| Total fat | 0.2 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 0.1 g |
| Monounsaturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0.0 g |
| Total Carbohydrate | 3.5 g |
| Sugar | 1.9 g |
| Fiber | 1.6 g |
| Protein | 0.8 g |
| Sodium | 80 mg |
| Potassium | 260 mg |
Celery will also offer you Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Iron, Magnesium and Calcium.
How to prepare the Cucumber Spinach Avocado smoothie
>> Split your avocado in two and scoop up the flesh into the Nutribullet processor.
>> Slice up the celery into tiny pieces and add them in.
>> Add the spinach – You may want to add the spinach in batches as they take up lots of space in the blitzer.
>> Slice up the cucumber and add them in. You may add the Hemp milk now.
>> Now blitz the content for about 30 seconds.
>Pause the Nutribullet. You will notice that content have shrunken.
>> Now add the banana in small chunks.
>> You may add some more of the spinach now
>> Blitz again to shrink the content because the spinach can be space-consuming.
>> Now add the flaxseeds and squeeze in the lemon juice. The lemon juice adds a bit of zing to the taste.
>> Blitz one more time for 30 seconds or thereabouts.
>> Pour into a cup and enjoy your health in a cup.
This cucumber spinach avocado won’t win awards in the protracted hunger-suppression department in my experience, but you will surely get at least 4 hours of hunger-busting out of it.
Heck, it hasn’t got lots of calories in it. What have you got to lose drinking this health in a cup. Nothing!
If you are on a weight loss journey, this is one smoothie that is guaranteed to help the weight fall off you. I love it!
Don’t have the Nutribullet? Get one here on Amazon.com and if you live in Europe here on Amazon.co.uk
Dr. Joe