By now it's commonly known that we humans don't eat as many plants as we should. We're unfortunate as a species in that our brains have developed too fast for our bodies to keep up. We've gotten smart enough to manipulate our own biological reward system, creating food that both tastes great and is terrible for us. It's a bummer, especially considering the bulk of it isn't just the obvious junk we know we're not supposed to eat. Most of our calories come from processed grains; we're even told by the government that they should. But research is starting to show that we're not built to eat a diet based around sugars. 

Leafy plants are probably the healthiest things you can put in your body. Packed full of phytochemicals, vegetables like kale, chard and spinach are efficient vessels for loads of nutrition. They reduce the risk of many common deadly illnesses, like heart disease and cancer, by reducing inflammation in the body. Eating greens regularly can even help with lesser ailments, like acne, by regulating hormones. There's really no reason not to gorge yourself on clorophyll daily—except that finding ways to make your veggies taste good can be a challenge. 

Luckily, there's a new trend in health food circles: green smoothies. It's a brilliantly easy way to throw superfoods into your diet, especially if you're already in the habit of drinking fruit juice. The formula is simple: take two big handfuls of greens, two pieces of fruit, one to two cups of water, and blend them all to a pulp. You might like to add more fruit or other ingredients, like honey or cocoa powder, for flavor. I'm a big fan of mixing frozen berries into my smoothies so that they're sweeter and colder right out of the blender—no need to pre-chill. I almost always use a ripe banana as one of my fruits; its texture allows it to act as an emulsifier, binding the smoothie together and giving it a creamy texture. Avocadoes are also great for this if you're not big on bananas. 

Spinach, especially baby spinach, is a great green to start blending into smoothies. It has a mild flavor that ensures you'll barely notice it mixed in with the pears and raspberries. I've also found raw bok choy to be a good beginner green; its juicy, slightly sweet taste works great alongside peaches and frozen pineapple. Kale has a much stronger flavor, but goes down easy with two bananas, a teaspoon of cocoa powder, and a generous handful of blueberries. But the best thing about the formula is how flexible it is. You can try all sorts of leaves and fruits together and see which combination best enables you to actually enjoy your daily greens. 

Sources and further reading:
http://www.rawfamily.com/green-smoothie/green-smoothie-questions
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-primal-carbohydrate-continuum/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/naturally-reduce-inflammation/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-get-that-natural-glow/
http://greensmoothierevolution.com/

Photo credit: 
http://www.chasingafterwellness.com/2011/03/10/green-smoothies/