Over the last few months, countless parents across the globe have been sending me pictures of their children drinking green drinks. Every single time I receive one of these photos, my heart leaps out of my chest and melts onto the floor. I am deeply inspired by children enjoying foods that are good for them and packed with nutrition.
When I was little, I don’t remember ever eating vegetables (sorry Mom! I know you tried!). As a result, I went years without some of the best nutrients life has to offer. My old eating habits created havoc in my body. I had stomach issues, eczema, asthma, and my allergies were atrocious – I was constantly in and out of doctor’s offices looking for a solution.
In my 20’s, as soon as I started to investigate my food, I replaced all the chemical-laden processed and fast food with real, whole and organic foods. My health did a 180 from when I was younger! I went from a kid always going to the doctor to fix something to now enjoying a life without prescription drugs and feeling more energy than I did when I was younger. Every time I look into the mirror, it’s a huge reminder how far I’ve come and there’s no going back.
When I started learning about the power of green vegetables and how they can protect us from disease, I began drinking a green drink every single day. Sometimes it’s as small as a wheatgrass shot. And sometimes it is a green smoothie with kale or a green juice.
I can only imagine all the pain I would have eliminated if I had supplied my growing body with the nutrients it needed. These extraordinary children are our future. Hope they have inspired you like they have me. So without further delay, I want to share 6 tips on how you can get your children drinking green drinks too. As you probably know, I’m not a Mom (yet!), so I gathered these tips from my favorite green drink loving #FoodBabeArmy parents who have successfully convinced their little ones that greens do a body good!
6 Tricks To Get Your Children Hooked On Green Juice or Green Smoothies:
1. Involve them every step of the way.
Take your child to the grocery store or farmer’s market with you to pick out the ingredients, and let them hold, smell and pick out the produce that they’d like to use. If you have a garden, ask them to help you plant seeds and water the greens and veggies that you are growing. Tell them that you’ll be using these to make some yummy drinks. Older kids will like helping you pick out the recipes. When you make a juice or smoothie, they can help wash the ingredients and place the prepared veggies into a bowl or unplugged blender.
2. Tell them how cool it is to drink a green juice. (Show them this post and these kids!)
Share with them why it’s good for them. Explain the energy-boosting benefits that they could get from drinking green juice. Liken these benefits to their favorite superhero, cartoon character or sports star. If you have a friend or relative that they look up to, ask them to also tell your child how cool drinking green juice is, because sometimes hearing it from someone they look up to is all a kid needs to try something new (this happened with my nephews!!!). Tell older kids about the benefits such as clearer skin, a natural glow and longer nails that they could have. Every time you make a drink ask them to give it a funny name like “Green Man Super Juice” to keep it fun and exciting. For young kids, you can make a game out of it and after they drink their juice or smoothie, dress them up like a superhero to play around the house with their newfound “superpowers” from drinking superfoods!
3. Let them pick up a fun cup and straw at the store.
Tell them that this is their special cup or straw, that they’ll only use to drink green juices and smoothies. Stick to it, and only let them use this cup or straw when you make your green drinks. Pretty soon they might be begging you to make a juice, just so they get to drink out of their favorite utensil.
4. Lead consistently by example and don’t sweat it.
Don’t make a big deal out of drinking it and keep it a positive experience. Adding too much pressure might make some kids feel leery. So, if they refuse to drink it, just say “oh well” and keep trying every day until they finally do. Remember that some kids need to be exposed to new foods 10 times before they will try it. Lead by example and drink the same green juice with them. Show them how much you love drinking yours. Some kids will feel more comfortable just watching you drink it at first, and will take a sip of yours before committing to drinking their own cup. Even after they’ve been drinking green juice for a while, there may be some days that they will refuse to drink it. Don’t sweat it. Change up the recipes so that it’s not the same every time, and just keep offering it to them regularly.
5. Ease into it and sweeten it up.
While I don’t normally recommend using too much fruit in a juice or smoothie, a sweeter drink can help to ease your child into it. At first make the drinks with two or three servings of fruit or sweet veggies (carrot, beet). In smoothies, bananas and berries are great for hiding bitter flavors, and cucumbers and celery have mild flavors that blend well into any juice or smoothie. Blend it well and consider diluting it with a bit of filtered water so the flavor isn’t as strong and it’s easier to drink. Gradually change the ratio to more greens and less fruit, until you eventually get it down to no more than one or two pieces of fruit in the juice or smoothie. Of course, this also depends on your child. If they are especially young or haven’t been exposed to a lot of sugar, they may not have developed a taste for sugar, in which case I’d recommend going ahead and starting without fruit to see how that goes.
6. Try these family approved green drink recipes!
Did you know all the recipes in the Food Babe Eating Guide program are family approved? Not only do you get new green juice and smoothie recipes each month, but you get all the tools necessary to make living in this over-processed world a piece of cake! For a limited time (expires on 9/12), we are offering three incredible bonuses for signing up – one of them includes a Juice guide with several kid-friendly recipes. Check it out here before the offer expires. I created this guide to make organic-living as stress free as possible!
Thank you to all the parents out there who are feeding your precious children good, healthy and real food. You are amazing!
Lots of Love,
Vani
Love seeing healthy parents investing in healthy kids 🙂 In case any parents are interested, I share ways I involve my kiddos in our real food kitchen primarilly on IG as RealFoodwithKids but also at http://realfoodwithkids.com/ <3
Involving them is certainly the best way as soon as they have a sense of ownership over anything they will eat or drink it as they believe it to be good! Have a look at http://juiceandfeast.com for more recipes and tips!
The green juices probably do amazing things for the health because they are bringing alkaline foods and oxygen into the body. Many people have diets that are far too acidic, even healthy diets!
I drink a green smoothie almost every day, but my 4 year old won’t touch them. Thanks for the encouragement and reminders to not give up on her! I need to at least make her try a taste of mine every time. Great tips!
Uh, in no place did I read that Vani recommended making a child try a taste every time. She said if they refuse, don’t sweat it. Enjoy your own, try the ideas she gave to make it fun, and keep asking every day, but I think if you force it it’s gonna backfire.
Jennifer try not to be so judgy. You don’t know if that was meant literally or not. I am sure she doesn’t hog tie her child down and “force” it down her throat. There are way more things to get upset about than this. I keep encouraging my children to try things they may not prefer. Their taste buds change as they grow. They might not like a food prepared one way but like it in another.
Oops, I meant Janet not Jennifer- sorry. Anyhow,bon appétit
You can decrease the green stuff and mask the green with frozen blueberries. It’ll be his/her own purple smoothie. This is what we did at home. Once they love it you can reveal the green. I never pushed food. Just set the example and keep the junk out. Now my teens both prefer healthy food.
Hello, for my kids adding a banana and berries made the trick. Then I start inceasing the greens. It work in my house, I hope this help you.
I try to come up with fun names for my smoothies. ‘Green Monster’ is a hit!
Agreed- my daughters will drink anything that I call a Tinkerbell Smoothie or a Tiana Smoothie!
I agree with the fun names. I started making green smoothies about 5 years ago and started with ‘Green Monster’. My daughter loved it. Now, at age 18, she knows how to go into the kitchen to create her own green smoothies. She has added her recipes to my recipe book.
Now I have my 4 year old granddaughter drinking them. She especially loves them with her princess straws. I also allow her to add the ingredients to the blender.
We love our green smoothies and have dubbed them HULK JUICE! 🙂 In my opinion, the grosser it looks the better it tastes!
I love sharing Purium’s new Kidspower shake with families. Check it out at http://www.mypurium.com/purehealthyfoods 60 day Money back guarantee as well on any whole live food!! I have $50.00 for your first order-just ask me how. The Kids power is Cherryilicious flavor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My naturopathic doctor recommended I drink a green drink every morning with chia seeds and vegetable protein. It’s given me such energy, but no such luck getting the kids drinking it regularly. I think you must start young. What has helped is adding a tbsp of cocoa powder 🙂 Then it’s mud!
Still working on this great adventure of real food and everything diy.
Kelly
http://simplelifemom.com
Kelly,
Yes, and it’s always good to double check the vegetable protein brand to be sure that it does not contain hidden MSG and is low in lead and cadmium. Many, if not most, protein powders have had some quality problems.
Though I’m sure it was the norm in the mid-50’s, my baby bottle’s contents consisted of Carnation evaporated milk and corn syrup. *sad face* Go, go, go young moms. You rock!
My kids, 5 and 3 love their green smoothies! My 5 y.o. just started kindergarten. He asked me the other day if I can start putting green smoothies in his lunch box. 🙂
Their favorite smoothie is banana, cucumber, spinach and homemade almond milk – which I learned to make from your video!
My youngest daughter loves green juice. She likes a combination of spinach, cucumber, carrot, and apple. This is my favorite video of her drinking the green juice in then at the end even the dog licks the cup 🙂 I did have the most luck by getting the kids to drink beet juice first which is naturally sweeter, then we slowly switched to green juices.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=648518761856560&id=486837428024695&_rdr
I use Klean Kanteen’s insulated pint cup with their pint lid and a stainless steel straw. The boys don’t see what’s inside, it stays cold and they drink theirs right up.
lol. thats funny.
Ah, Soylent Green, a house favorite here!
Would love to see you start an investigation into kids vitamins. Have you ever looked at all the different marketing strategies for selling vitamins to kids. They look like superheroes, taste like candy, etc. And they are filled with all the same artificial garbage that is in the rest of our food supply.
raster, you asked about kids vitamins. I started selling Shaklee vitamins to my pregnant clients because they were organic and made in the USA. My granddaughter uses their kids vitamins and I love their Vitalizer Gold because it has vitamins, probiotics and quality fish oil.
I think this is great and totally agree that kids especially need all these amazing nutrients. However, what about the children, and even adults, that cannot tolerate these types of foods- raw, cruciferous greens and such. I am one of these and feel that all too often my favorite health food news sites & blogs do not recognize how diverse humans are and that not every single person will be able to tolerate such things. How do we stay healthy naturally and also honor our unique systems?
Daily I mix powdered magnesium and psyllium with Mighty Maca Greens and Mega Nutrition. Together they don’t taste so bad and I get a lot of nutrition from them. Most days I also have a fresh green or fruit drink and a salad or two and some fresh or steamed veggies.
Darling Vani. Thank u again for such great information! U r so needed right now with all that is wrong with “food”today.. People are listening to u!!!The other day, I was watching another incredible health ambassador, Dr Oz. I thought to myself, Vani NeeDs to be on Dr Oz!!! 🙂 He has always tried to push people in the proper direction. I believe he is really trying to educate people now more than ever. Millions of people listen & respect him. I just think you would be amazing for his show . Give it a thought? I know he would love to have the food babe on his show, I really do. 🙂
I agree with you 100%. However the President’s Wife says different and wishes to have the Village take care of my children.
William, I am sorry you do not understand the wisdom and beauty of the our FLOTUS’s words. It takes a village to raise a child means the child who is supported and loved by an extended family will mature and grow into a well adjusted and loving person. I have been hearng this saying all my life and it does not originate in a political party.
Some people will use any excuse to attack our ELECTED president and our First Lady. Pathetic really.
I’m now going to the kitchen and make my first ever green smoothie. MY GF& dairy free body thanks you all. If little kids can drink green, then I can, too!!!!
This post moved me and inspired me. Just reading it made me want to have a child so I can give them all the great foods I enjoy.
Great share.
THANKS
Some kids love them & some don’t no matter what you do. My youngest likes them sometimes & my oldest will not even try one.
i want to also email these in addition to likes
i cannot find an easy email link
I just copy and paste the web address into a new email. Love the kids!
Great post. I love green smoothies and so do my boys! I also make green Popsicles! 🙂 I try to mix the greens up and I also will sauté them in coconut oil before blending at times. I share healthy real food inspiration on my IG @naturalwellnestwithjosefa and on my site as well for anyone tht needs help with the kiddos. Thanks Vani for helping us change the world for out children. Hugs!
This made my day!
Thanks for the share! Do not despair Moms who’s kids don’t like green smoothies! When I met my step-kids 3 years ago, they were no vegetable/green stuff extremely picky eating kids. I remember the first “Shamrock milkshake” we gave them. And it was very milk shakey. It took a while but now they love their smoothies. Now my son, who was always way pickier than his sister, loves smoothies, asks for them and always has seconds. Even when I make kinda weird tasting ones that I don’t even like, he enjoys them. At 9, he’s still a picky eater with veggies, but now that he’s drinking his green smoothies I don’t stress out as much about which veggies he eats at dinner.
I started giving my nephew green smoothies and green juice ( with his mom’s okay) when he was 1.5 yrs old. He never turned up his nose to any green drinks offered to him. He even cried one evening because I wouldn’t give him more than 3/4 cup of green juice! He’s 4.5 now and still looks forward to having his green drinks. Currently, my granddaughter (13 months) enjoys sharing my green smoothies with me.
I love the “tricky” ways to give your kids a real treat!
I’ve written a beautiful green smoothie book that parents and children alike are really enjoying. The recipes taste great and the illustrations are whimsical and fun. I invite you to check it out at essentialgreensmoothies.com
Be healthy!
My two and half year old twins love green smoothies. The trick for me is using organic berries, along with fresh grown kale and carrots. Sometimes I add coconut water for an added boost, also using a good blender like vitamix or blendtech makes a big difference because texture is everything with kids, so it needs to be smooth. I find cheap blenders make them chunky or slimy. Anyway just my thoughts.
I see a “Got Milk” “Got Smoothie” ad right here, Vani!
My boys love green drinks and fresh veggies. I think the key as you mentioned is involving them in the process. They get crazy excited about growing food, harvesting it, then eating it. They are 2 and 4 and they save every veggie seed they can get to plant. They love helping make smoothies. I hardly have to do anything with the garden now they love tending it so much and keep bringing in produce to eat.
I make one for my 13 year old daughter every morning before school. I add a tablespoon of organic peanut butter to the mix and she kills them.
My boys drink green smoothies like they are going out of style! I think the trick to having them love veggies and fruits was making their baby foods from all natural and organic ingredients and not getting them hooked on processed foods from the beginning. I wasn’t this great with my older son, but I had much more knowledge the second time around with my twins!
I was just thinking about getting my grandkids to drink healthy green drinks. I was thinking to put sweet delicious fruit into the mix and that would make it more paletable.
It was so cute to see little kids enjoying healthy smoohies instead of garbage.
Great tips.
I would add, start as early as possible! My youngest LOVES it!!
Kudos to the Moms whose kids are drinking out of glass jars & mugs!
I wish all the Food Babe readers would start paying attention to the amount of disposable plastic we are putting into our children’s lives, the chemical contaminants added to their world because of it, and the impact on climate change to both produce and get rid of it as garbage or recycled.
Ditch the straws and plastic cups and use refillable coffee mugs. Bring one with you daily so you always have an option when out.
Thank you for this comment. I didn’t see it before. Yes plastic does leach so it would be kind of a waste to buy healthy organic vegetables and then put the drink in a plastic cup and I think straws might not be good for the teeth. Yes I think organic companies need to start manufacturing their packaging differently and not use plastic or even cardboard because because of the contaminants in cardboard. I wonder about bioplastic could be an option but of course if the plants are sprayed with pesticides than it could leach into the food as well and it could increase price of vegetables but could use plants that we don’t eat but are still safe but not sure if the processing of this type of plastic is safe. I watched a documentary and it looked safe. No option is perfect but it is a start.
Thanks so much for the help! I don’t have kids but my sister definitely could use the help. I can’t wait to share green juices with my sister 🙂
http://mindfullyaudrina.blogspot.com/
We LOVE seeing our little GEMs come in for green juice and smoothies (one of those cuties is featured above). Often moms “sneak” in spinach into their children’s smoothies made with raw goodness like bananas, berries, hemp and chia seeds. One child replied, “This is WAY better than what they sell at the mall!”
Great juice and smoothies CAN taste good AND be healthy! May we suggest a great juice our littlest customers love? Try apple, cucumber, kale and lemon. Kids love it!
Peace. Happy. Juice! Love from The GEM Girls
It’s a good idea to have a qualified nutritionist test for food allergies (or get the IGg food test done) to uncover your child’s food allergies prior to giving them green drinks. If the little one is allergic to grasses (like wheat grass, barley grass etc), they may not respond well to the drink if it contains those. That goes for big people too! I used to drink tons of wheat grass but I’m highly allergic to all grasses, so it created problems for me – like eczema and psoriasis. It’s fine tuning – the allergy testing.
ooh
another country parents love them child~~
I wish that my country child drinking healthy smoothie.
baby in the picture, so cute.~
Thank you for the encouragement and all the great tips and ideas. it reminds me not to ever give up to offer these green juices for my kid!
My 15 month old loves green shakes! 🙂
Juicing is a great way to make sure your kids get all the vitamins and nutrients they need from fruits and vegetables packed in a delicious and fresh drink! My kids always start the day with a serving of fresh juice!
Great article but I feel sorry for the child in the picture that is drinking from the University of Michigan glass. That is child abuse. Go Buckeyes!
Does anyone know if Vani (or anyone else) knows anything about juice plus capsules? Are they good or bad? I know fresh is best, but people are pushing this as very healthy.
MY PARTNER AND I LOVE GREEN JUICE! BUT…
I drank it while I was pregnant and drink it now while I breastfeed, but I will not give it to my 4 month old yet as the Pediatrician told me:
INFANTS SHOULD NOT HAVE RAW VEGETABLES DUE TO THE RISK OF BOTULISM!
I was shocked, as I planned on using raw carrots for teething and introducing green juice early, but it definitely makes sense. 🙁 She said they should be washed, peeled and cooked to ensure safe eating.
So for now, I drink it and pass it along to my little one. 🙂
Being healthy and embracing our greens is FANTASTIC, but we must do so safely and make sure we don’t jump on a bandwagon, uneducated.
See your PEDIATRICIAN FIRST! 🙂
Just want to say that even if your kids are not eating /drinking green juices if you do …..eventually as adults they probably. My carnivous son(what he said when he was young). Now drinks a green smoothie every day! Also, kids don’t need much a 1/2 cup or less is plenty especially if you use lots of fruits and veggies. I also see nothing wrong with all fruit smoothies with almond milk or greek yogurt with a couple of green things. They never know. Plus, much better than 100%juices.
Vani, What are your thoughts regarding powder super food supplements. Many of us lead very busy lives and it is hard to keep a lot of fresh produce on hand to juice. Plus when we travel it is always a hardship. There seems to be some really good products out there. I have been considering Total Living Drink Greens by Kylea Health & Energy. What say you?
This is wonderful but please it’s important to not drink from plastic. Just listened to Edward Group on this and so now try really hard to buy drink from glass bottles. I’m not perfect though. But try. It’s especially important to avoid for young children because BPA can accumulate over time. So if you are making a healthy drink make sure the child drinks out of glass. Glass is not perfect but I think better than BPA and other chemicals in plastic. Otherwise the child is drinking a healthy drink with plastic chemicals.
Hello folks. I am new to the website and reading everything on the website with time. I wanted to know what juicers would you recommend? Or perhaps there are several.
Ather, check out the recommended ones here: https://foodbabe.com/shop/the-best-juicers-and-blenders/
Thank you Pam.