It’s Earth Month! Here Are My Three Easy Ways to Green Your Body and The Environment

April is Earth Month which reminds us of the importance of preserving and protecting our environment. It’s a great time to not only assess how well we’re taking care of the environment, but our own health. Not surprisingly, the choices we make about the food we eat can not only have a massive impact on our health, but the environment as well.

This week, I talked with Susan Hay from Global News about the best ways to ‘green our bodies’ while ‘greening our environment’ in honour of Earth Month. Click HERE to check out the full segment.

So if you’re curious about some simple easy ways you can green and detoxify your body, while doing more to support our environment, keep reading for my three top tips you can start today! And if you loved the “Green Your Body” Smoothie that I made during my segment with Susan, and want a quick easy way to load your body up with great nutrients, even on your busiest days – check out the recipe below!

1. Increase fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Adding more fruits and veggies to your diet is an easy and simple way to help your body increase the vitamins and nutrients it needs to perform optimally, while naturally flushing out toxins.

Canada’s most recent Food Guide recommended, ‘making half of your plate vegetables and fruits’ and choosing different textures and colours that will suit your preferences and help you get a variety of all those healthy nutrients. Earth Month is also a great time make better choices about the food we buy ensure that we’re doing what we can to positively impact the environment, so where possible, consider buying locally grown produce to reduce your carbon footprint.

2. Go Organic

The term “organic” refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. While the regulations vary from country to country, in North America, organic crops are typically grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizers, and sewage sludge-based fertilizers.

How our food is grown or raised impacts our health as well as the environment. Organic foods often have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants and less chemicals and preservatives that we could be putting into our bodies. Organic meat, eggs, and dairy products are produced through ethical means and livestock are provided with access to the outdoors and are given organic feed. They’re also not given antibiotics, growth hormones, or any animal by-products. Organic farming practices reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy. Farming without pesticides is also better for overall environment as it uses less chemicals.

3. Eat A More Plant-Based Diet

You don’t have to go 100% vegan or vegetarian to do your part to support the environment or reap the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle. By simply choosing to incorporate more plant-based foods into your diet (trying committing to one plant-based meal a day) will not only improve your health, but the health of the planet.

Eating less animal products and more plant-based protein like whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, will boost your immunity, increase your energy levels, and improving your heart health.  These foods are not only packed with nutrients but they’re also loaded with dietary fibre that will help keep you feeling fuller, longer.

Animal foods are also the planet’s leading source of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, by incorporating more plant-based protein into our diets, we can reduce those greenhouse gases and help to preserve our environment.

Regardless of your current diet and lifestyle, Earth month is a great time to examine not only the choices that you’re making for your health and well-being, but how those choices are impacting the environment. Making small, easy changes like the ones listed above, will not only improve your diet, but support the environment – which is a win-win for everyone. For more information on how you can do your part, click HERE.

Green Your Body Smoothie Recipe

• 2 cups of kale
• 2 cups of spinach
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1-2, 1″ pieces of fresh peeled ginger
• 1 apple
• 1/2 lemon
• 2-3 cups water

Place everything in a blender and blend on ‘juice setting’ or on ‘high’ for 2-3 minutes. Pour into an air-tight container or mason jars to store in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can  pour a little bit each morning either as is, or add water or coconut water to dilute it.

To give your green smoothie more of a boost, you can also add chia seeds to support your gut health as well as a plant-based protein to keep you feeling fuller, longer. Try any number of excellent options at Healthyplanetcanada.com

With love a nut butter,

Lindsey Xx