If you find yourself waking up with a fuzzy head – there’s no need to worry… Our nutritionist has created two smoothies to give you a boost of essential vitamins and minerals – getting you back on form! Both smoothies are made from items from the freezer.

Green Goodness

Ingredients

•  8 floz apple juice
• ½ avocado (vitamins E & B)
• 1 tablespoon frozen blueberries (antioxidants)
• 1 tablespoon frozen spinach (B vitamins and minerals)
• 1 cube frozen parsley
• ½ tsp frozen grated ginger
• 1 tsp of algae*, if available (brainfood, amino acids)
• 1 tablespoon of hemp oil* (Omega 3 – brain food, essential fats)
• A splash of lime

Revitalise!

This is a delicious way to help replenish lost nutrients! The fruit sugars help pick up blood sugar lows and prevent or lessen hangover, headache and low energy levels. The avocado and hemp oil provide good fats and vitamin E to help your skin re-gain its sparkle, while spinach is great for vitamins A and C that are needed for detoxification. Ginger helps relieve nausea and boosts the immune system. Algae is a true super-food as it is packed with a broad range of highly absorbable vitamins and minerals.

RED RELIEF

Ingredients

• 8 floz pomegranate juice (antioxidants)
• 1 tablespoon sliced frozen carrots
• 1 tablespoon frozen redcurrants
• 2 shots of mangosteen*
• 1 tablespoon of ground almonds
• 1 tablespoon of flax oil*

Strengthen!

Rebuild that immune system

The red nutrients in this smoothie – particularly in the mangosteen – help provide antioxidants to support the liver and the immune system, helping you prevent post-party colds and infections. The almonds provide you with protein to help to make this smoothie glycaemically balanced, so it doesn’t just pick you up temporarily, but releases its power slowly…great for people trying to lose weight! So call it a frozen fruit smoothie if you’re a health junkie or call it a frozen dessert if your just love flavours – either way, friends will be impressed with this one!

Dress the smoothies with red fruit (pomegranate or red pepper) or green (kiwi or apple), and feel your energy levels charge.

*Can be purchased from Whole Food retailers nationwide

A few more tips from Yvonne

If you’re going to have a drink or two…

Make sure you have protein-rich foods, like nuts, before and during your drinks. Nuts help to slow the release of alcohol into your blood, helping your liver to deal with it better. As a rule of thumb, try to match each alcoholic drink with a glass of water, or mix things up by alternating alcoholic drinks with some non-alcoholic cocktails during the day.

If you are drinking wine, choose red. Red wine has some useful antioxidants, just like any other alcoholic drink it has its health risks and is likely to lead to a hangover if you drink more than your body can tolerate. For instance, it takes a healthy liver approximately one hour to detoxify just one unit of alcohol. And do remember, the stronger the drink, the smaller the unit is – so drink sensibly.

Organic wine may be a better choice as it has little or no added sulphur-dioxide, an ingredient that has been linked to headaches. Another benefit of organic wine is the lack of chemical pesticides and fertilisers (we don’t yet know the full risk these artificial agents may pose to our body).

If you tend to wake up during the night after a few drinks, it may be due to a dip in your blood sugar level. If this happens, have some fruit juice – or, better still, some vegetable juice – next to your bed. That way you can easily top up on natural sugars, lost water, vitamins and minerals. This should help you get back to sleep and may also reduce day-after nausea, headaches and energy slumps.