In the 1990s, Victoria Boutenko and her family found themselves in deteriorating health. Victoria was coping with the same heart arrhythmia which had killed her father, as well as severely swollen legs and mounting obesity. Igor, her husband, was suffering from progressive hyperthyroidism, chronic rheumatoid arthritis, and facing down a prognosis that he would die within a matter of months if his thyroid gland was not removed. Their children, Valya and Sergai, were respectively born with asthma and juvenile type 1 diabetes.
“After crying through an entire night, I decided that we had to take different action if we wanted get different results,” to Victoria explains on her website. “That was when we started to try various healing modalities and eventually arrived at the idea of becoming raw foodists… 
[B]y turning off the pilot in our stove and discontinuing all cooking, we were able to heal all our incurable, life-threatening diseases. Our health was improving so quickly that in three and a half months all four of us ran the Bolder Boulder 10k road race with 40,000 other runners.”
A foundational aspect of the Boutenko family’s approach to healthy eating came down to the consumption of one major food group: greens. Drawing inspiration from the shared gene link between humans and chimpanzees, she began informally researching the eating habits of the average American and comparing that diet to that of chimps. This analysis led her to one conclusion: that people desperately need to be consuming more greens if they wish to rid themselves of illness and operate at peak health.
“The more I read about the nutritional content of greens, the more I became convinced that greens are the most important food for humans,” she writes. “If I could only find a way to enjoy them enough to consume the optimal quantity needed to become healthier! This desire led me to discover what is now known as a green smoothie.”
Victoria is now the proud author of many books on the subject of eating raw and holistic nutrition! Her titles include The Green Smoothie Prescription: A Complete Guide to Total Health, Green for Life, Green Smoothie Revolution, Raw Family: A True Story of Awakening, and many more. To try introducing green smoothies into your diet, consider checking out one of her useful guides, or simply read on…
Green Smoothies…
Three Easy Ways!
You’ll find that the following raw recipes—which come from writer and “lifestyle pioneer” Abel Evans’ cookbook Whole Food—all share some common green ingredients, like spinach and avocado. At the same time, the minor differences in add-ins, like coconut milk or cinnamon, which vary from recipe to recipe provide each drink with a distinctive flavor. This just goes to show that not only are green smoothies a breeze to make, they’re also wonderfully versatile! Try sipping on one for a delightful afternoon snack, or even consider jump starting your day with a little green in your cup instead of your usual coffee!
Minty Green Smoothie
1 avocado
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
Handful of fresh mint
1 cup ice
- Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Additional almond milk may be needed to achieve desired consistency.
- Pour into two glasses and enjoy!
Super Green Breakfast Smoothie
1 cup canned coconut milk
½ banana, frozen
1 cup of fresh spinach
½ avocado, pitted
4 pitted medjool dates
½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Place all ingredients into a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth.
- Serve right away. You can enjoy this as a smoothie through a straw, or even as a smoothie bowl.
Coconut Green Smoothie
1 cup coconut milk
½ banana, frozen
Handful of baby spinach
½ avocado, pitted
Coconut water to thin to desired consistency
- Place the ingredients, in order listed, in a high-speed blender.
- Blend until smooth and creamy. Add coconut water to thin if needed.
