Eating raw and cooked vegetables daily is vital to your health and physique. Eating cooked vegetables is perhaps easier than eating raw. Unless you’re going to eat a giant salad every day, the easiest way I know to get raw vegetables into your daily diet is with green smoothies. This tropical smoothie recipe should help.
It’s delicious, refreshing, and loaded with raw vegetables to help your body thrive.
I’ve included a video below.
Why Raw Vegetables Are Included in this Tropical Smoothie Recipe
The term longevity refers to a long lifespan. However, regarding mental and physical health, longevity can also refer to the quality of life and the ability to maintain good health and function well as we age. Vegetables contribute to your longevity.
In terms of physical health, longevity means having a healthy body and maintaining physical function as we age:
- This includes maintaining a healthy weight, staying active, and avoiding chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
- In addition, it involves maintaining good organ function, such as a robust heart, lungs, and brain, and avoiding degenerative conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis.
Regarding mental health, longevity means:
- Maintaining cognitive function and emotional well-being.
- This includes maintaining good memory and cognitive ability, feeling fulfilled and having moments of joy, and having adequate social connections.
Raw vegetables offer a range of benefits for your health, especially when it comes to promoting longevity.
Firstly, raw vegetables are typically high in nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which can help to reduce inflammation and protect against chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Raw vegetables are also often high in fiber, which can help to promote healthy digestion, lower cholesterol levels, and regulate blood sugar levels.

In addition, cooking can sometimes destroy or degrade some of the nutrients in vegetables, particularly if they’re boiled or overcooked.
For example, vitamin C, which is abundant in many raw vegetables, can be destroyed by heat. Cooking can also reduce the availability of certain minerals in vegetables, such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
Of course, some vegetables can be more nutritious when cooked. Cooking can break down the cell walls of vegetables, helping nutrients become more available for absorption by the body (for example, cooking tomatoes can increase the availability of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant linked to a reduced risk of certain cancers and heart disease).
Overall, consuming various raw and cooked vegetables daily is essential to ensure you get a range of nutrients.
Green smoothies are nearly perfect for getting your raw veggies. Plus, they’re more social. It’s easier to share a smoothie and a chat with a friend than it is to sit down together with giant salads. I don’t bother ordering salad at a restaurant with friends because I like to chew my salads carefully and enjoy them, and it’s difficult to do that in the middle of a lively conversation.
Try this tropical smoothie recipe and see if you agree it’s a healthy and delicious way to get your veggies.

Tropical Green Smoothie
This tropical smoothie recipe is a delicious and healthy addition to anyone's diet. If you happen to follow an anti-inflammatory protocol, this green smoothie will help you more easily reach your goal of having up to 9 loose cups of multi-colored vegetables daily.
It's zesty, refreshing, and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened plant protein powder
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened whey protein isolate
- 1 cucumber, peeled and diced
- 1 cup (approximately) frozen broccoli
- 2 large stalks celery, chopped
- 100 grams of fresh, loose spinach (about half a bag or bunch)
- .35 grams of fresh kale (about a quarter of a bag or bunch)
- 3/4 cup frozen mango (or pineapple)
- small chunk of frozen banana (about 1/3 of a banana), peeled
- 4 ice cubes
Instructions
- Wash produce as needed.
- Add your liquids and powders to the blender.
- Add your vegetables.
- Blend, starting at low speed. Stop and "burp" your carafe as needed.
- Add your fruit and ice.
- Blend again, for a full 2 minutes.
- Serve in 4 tall glasses or mason jars.
Notes
If you're into advanced nutrition, use less fruit. If you're new to smoothies, add a little more.
Will keep in the refrigerator in sealed glasses for 2 days, easily.
A green smoothie is a blended drink made with various leafy greens, such as spinach or kale, along with other ingredients like frozen fruits and unsweetened nut milk. Combining these ingredients creates a nutrient-dense drink that can provide health benefits.
This Tropical Smoothie Recipe is a Wise Addition to Your Weekly Menu
This tropical smoothie recipe provides a concentrated source of nutrients – vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants all in one shake.
Plus, it supports your healthy digestion: The fiber in fruits and vegetables regular bowel movements. Diets high in fiber have been shown to reduce cancer risk.
A meta-analysis published in the journal The Lancet Oncology analyzed data from 40 observational studies involving over 4 million participants and found that a high dietary fiber intake was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.
The analysis found that for every 10 grams per day increase in fiber intake, there was a 10% reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer.
While this study focused specifically on colorectal cancer, other studies have also found an association between high fiber intake and a reduced risk of other types of cancer.
This tropical smoothie recipe can also boost your energy and reduce inflammation. Many ingredients commonly used in green smoothies, such as leafy greens and fruits, are high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. These nutrients can help to reduce inflammation in the body and may contribute to increased energy levels.
This green shake can also aid in weight management because this tropical smoothie recipe is high in fiber, which can help you feel full and satisfied without consuming a lot of calories. In the long run, this can improve both your physical health and your appearance.
Overall, adding a green smoothie to your daily menu can be a great way to boost your nutrient intake and support your overall well-being.
Additional Resources for Smoothie Recipes and Green Shakes:
Benjamin A. R. Canfell, Marie M. Cantwell, Rachel Davey, et al., “Dietary fibre intake and colorectal cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” The Lancet Oncology 19, no. 8 (2018).
Higher Vegetable Intake Often Corresponds with Lower Disease Risk – Vuong, Q.V., Golding, J.B., Stathopoulos, C.E. et al. “Effect of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities” Food Chemistry 218 (2017).