The “Green” Shake – The Ultimate Recovery

One of my very first Blogs was sharing my morning routine and recipe for my Morning Shake and it has been one of the most viewed blogs I have written. In fact, the most often thing I hear readers say is that they have changed their morning routine to include the shake. My belief is that this is the single most important thing I have done in my personal quest for better health. If you change that one simple thing as part of your daily routine you are taking a great step forward. For those that want to review or missed that initial blog on The Morning Shake, you can access it here: http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/the-morning-shake/

Quite often I have another shake in the day and many have asked me when I have it and what my recipe is for my second shake of the day so I wanted to share that with you.

There are some different circumstances that determine if I have a Green shake. Typically I have a green shake following a late day or evening workout. This most typically happens if I go to the gym to do an evening weight workout, go to an evening spinning class, or have a late day run or ride. The reason I have my green shake following my workout is to replenish the glycogen stores that are exhausted during a workout. Research shows that we should replenish our system with healthy carbs and protein as soon as possible after a workout to aid in recovery and replenish glycogen as well as protein(particularly after a weight workout).

Other times I have a green shake if I don’t have time for a meal in which case I use as a meal replacement. Sometimes I make the decision to detox for a day and only consume shakes for the entire day(this is very rare I must say). When I do this it is often after a tough weekend or a weekend of working out or racing in order to give my body a break as shakes are very easy for the system to digest and therefore do not use a lot of energy.

I call it The Green Shake as it is mostly made up of green vegetables and super greens powder.

The key is not to get too rigid in terms of measurements or amounts of each ingredient you put in the shake. It is important to mix it up so that the body doesn’t adapt and you are always putting in different nutrients and minerals. Therefore although the list below is what I typically include, I am very flexible in terms of the items I put in and often change it up, leave out a few items, or throw a few others in based on what I have on hand or is in our fridge.

Below is my standard Green Shake Recipe that I use.

1.Frozen Organic Vegetables – I typically have frozen Broccoli, Kale or Spinach

2.Spiralina – usually put a tablespoon in

3.Organic lettuce – usually I throw in a few handfuls of spring mix, lettuce,kale or spinach

4.Power Greens – I use green powder which tastes good and also provides many health benefits. A good clean brand I use is Progressive Vega Greens

5.Tumeric Powder – I put in some Turmeric as a anti inflammatory

6.Chia/Hemp or Flax Seeds – I usually throw in a tablespoon or two of some or all of these

7.Protein Powder – I use organic vegan Protein powders such as Vega or Sun Warrior brands

Sometimes I also add a handful of frozen fruit depending on the intensity of my workout. If I have had a hard workout and need to really replenish my Glycogen stores then I would add in a cup of fruit or so. However I typically do not use fruit as I get my full complement of fruit through my Morning Shake as well as fruit I have during the day.

Then I fill the blender to the brim, power up my Vitamix and get ready to fill by body and cells with 1 – 2L of pure healthy rejuvenation magic!

I hope you enjoy your Green Shake and please let me know if you have any questions.

Yours in good health, Kev