Don’t let the humble appearance and simple ingredients of this smoothie fool you… this is some serious refreshment, and extremely healthifying! Smoothies don’t necessarily need to be dark green or explosively colorful to be wonderful for you (and wonderful-tasting).

This smoothie is pure refreshment. You may find yourself drinking the whole blenderful before you even get it in a water bottle to take with you on the road. It’s light, mild, just sweet enough, and the very essence of “freshness”.

There is no better (or easier) smoothie to make to take to the gym or dance studio, or after you’ve had a great workout. Kids will drink this like water – forget the bottled juices and sodas! Stock up on cucumbers as you would lemons and apples, and pop them in the blender whenever you have a craving for… “something”. I’d bet money that many of your cravings will just disappear.
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Health Benefits of Cucumber

Cucumber has so many benefits to one’s health and well-being, I’m personally re-committing to enjoying cucumber smoothies on a daily basis. For starters, cucumber has an alkalizing effect on the body. Our systems universally tend toward the acidic, which explains much of the bloat we carry in our bodies, which hang onto the water as a means to try to neutralize that acidity.

Cucumber’s reputation for being a diuretic no doubt comes from this alkalizing effect. The body’s pH begins to return more to a balanced state and shucks off that excess, un-needed water. So if you’re unpleasantly enjoying a bit of water retention, jack up the cucumber smoothies every single day!

In addition, the flesh of the cucumber is high in silica, which is necessary for healthy connective tissue in the body. If you’re an athlete (or you’re a non-athlete who wants to feel as young and “sproingy” as possible), this is the natural way to give your body the silica it needs to keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage strong, flexible, and youthful!

The silica is also great if you’d like lovely, glowing skin.

You can read more about the health benefits of cucumber here. But make cucumber smoothies if you want to enjoy those benefits.

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Recipe for: ”Cucumber-Grape” Live Green Smoothie

(Definitely on the “Best Daily Smoothie For Athletes” List!)

When preparing the cucumber, peel the skin if it is not organic. Otherwise, keep the skin on! It’s rich in minerals and will provide the “green” to make this a Live Green Smoothie! (The smoothie in the photos here was used with a peeled cucumber.)

Note: The proportion to use in this smoothies is equal parts cucumber and grapes.

• 2 cups cucumber
• 2 cups red grapes
• 2 cups ice
• spring water to 32 oz.

Blend and drink! Have extra ingredients on hand… this one goes so quickly! [/private]