My glowing review of the "Glowing Skin Smoothie"


Chronic sleep deprivation = aging skin 
Since becoming a new mom, I have been operating on a major sleep deficit. Between juggling a toddler with a sleep disorder, a second pregnancy and a demanding job, I was lucky to get in 4 hours of consecutive sleep a night over the last two years. Since sleep is critical to rebuild and renew your skin, my lack of a good night's rest caused my skin to age a lot quicker than I expected.

Now that Sister has arrived, I am determined to get my sexy back! While I may dream about long lazy days of sleeping in, I know that is simply not possible right now. I decided to research alternative methods to keep my skin nice and healthy without breaking the budget on fancy creams.

Thankfully, there are a ton of recipes online for healthy smoothies that claim to moisturize your skin and bring back your youthful glow.

Enter the "Glowing Skin Smoothie"! 
I found this aptly titled little gem, the Glowing Skin Smoothie (via Sally's Baking Addiction), through good ole' Pinterest. It promises that the smoothie is "delicious," "energy boosting," and that it can "dramatically improve my skin tone"! Seriously? SOLD!

Since the ingredients sounded like something that I could stomach, I ran to my local market, set up my fancy new NutriBullet and was good to go. The basic ingredients were surprisingly simple:


Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut water 
2 frozen ripe bananas 
1 cup chopped pineapple 
1 cup chopped mango 
2 cups of spinach or kale 
1/2 medium avocado 

It took less than 5 minutes to put together and blend away! For extra skin boosting benefits, I added a tablespoon of Healthy Chia Seeds and a tablespoon of Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil to the mix. I have to say that this smoothie was quite tasty!

I also tried to add a pinch of milled flax seed, but didn't really care for the texture. It turned a really great tasting smoothie into just *meh. It is amazing how much texture affects taste!


My Review
So far, I really like this smoothie. It is quick and easy to make and it tastes about as close to a tropical frozen cocktail as a green smoothie could. *Note - this recipe results in two servings, so it is quite a large portion in one sitting.

My skin looks firmer and better moisturized. As an unexpected benefit, my typically dry eyes were noticeably well-hydrated! There was an increase in my natural tear production, which made wearing contacts much more comfortable.
 
Based on my experience so far, I am totally down with the whole food smoothie movement. Since I don't expect to have a good night's rest in the near future, I am praying that this smoothie will continue to provide me with a buffer in the meantime. Anything to slow down the aging process is a win in my book!


Tips and Tricks
  1. Go organic - using organic sources will boost the nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables giving you the best benefit per smoothie.
  2. When freezing ripe bananas, peel and cut them first! A novice mistake that I learned the hard way. It is a pain to try to peel a frozen banana.
  3. Save time by washing and cutting your kale or spinach ahead of time. You can store your pre-cut greens in a ziplock bag for an easy way to put your smoothie together quickly. To make them last longer: make sure the greens are dry and toss in a couple of paper towels into the ziplock bag to soak up any extra moisture while the greens are stored in the fridge.
  4. Frozen pre-cut pineapples and mangoes are the way to go for an icy cold smoothie.



Enjoy!




Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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