A pineapple smoothie for better digestion

Pineapple has long been used as digestive aid in folk remedies.
Whilst some folk remedies are questionable, it turns out they were right in this case.
Pineapples are a great source of the enzyme bromelain which helps to break down proteins. This is great news if you have overindulged on meat this weekend.

For this smoothie, I have combined pineapple & lemon since both may boost digestion.
Why should you be bothered about better digestion? Well, you have no other way of absorbing nutrients from food so getting this part right is crucial.

Ingredients for 2:
1/2 small pineapple, skin removed, cubed
1 lemon, peeled
2 dates
a cup of greens (I used spinach)
1 cup of almond milk (or a handful of almonds and a cup of water) 
3 ice cubes

Blend until smooth.
Pour into awesome glasses.
Enjoy.

A raspberry protein smoothie

Ingredients for 1:
1 cup of frozen raspberries
1 cup of water
2 leaves of Swiss chard (in season and currently available from all supermarkets/ veg shops; it looks like giant spinach leaves with colourful stems)
1 tablespoon of flax seeds
2 scoops of vanilla whey protein

Method:
Blend & enjoy

Daily boost

Feeling a bit run down?
Chances are you are in need of an antioxidant boost.
Antioxidants are compounds found in plants the are believed to play a part in reducing inflammation and neutralising potentially harmful chemicals in the body.

So how do you get some? Plants particularly high in antioxidants tend to be highly coloured. In fact most antioxidants are colour pigments: anthocyanins make blueberries blue, carotenoids are the orange in carrots, allicin is the white of garlic and so on.
In a nutshell, eat colourful plants and you will get lots of antioxidants.

Need a quick boost? Scroll down for a turmeric & cashew milk drink recipe to get you started.
Turmeric is especially high in antioxidants with many scientific studies backing its use for multiple ailments. 
The form of turmeric used here, the root, is available in most supermarkets, online or in middle eastern stores. It has a much sweeter flavour in comparison to the powder so it's worth hunting down.
Here is a picture of root turmeric in case you are confused about what to look for:

And now to the recipe:

Ingredients to make one cup:
1/4 cup cashews
1 cup of water
2cm piece of turmeric root
2 slices of ginger
1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup

Method:
Soak the cashews in enough water to cover them for a couple of hours or overnight.
Put all of the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until warm.
In lieu of a high speed blender, you can use a standard blender, strain the liquid and warm it up  in a small pan.