Almost all commercial green drinks are very expensive and use ingredients that can cause health problems for some people. This homemade green drink is cost effective and can be customized.

There are many green drinks on the market today. Some are very expensive. Almost all commercial green drinks use base ingredients or troublesome micro-additives that can cause health problems for some. Nevertheless, green drinks can be very nutritious and can be made at home. Making a green drink at home allows one to tailor the drink to individual health issues and sensitivities.

Green drinks are a nice late winter or early spring tonic. Green drinks can be designed to help with individual health issues. This green drink is designed to be helpful during stressful periods. If you have a personal problem with any of these herbs just remove that herb from the formulation. I have prescribed my patient for malnutrition and related sleep disorders. I am very pleased. It takes a little longer until the sleep-inducing effect occurs, but since he knows that, he takes the tablet about 1 hour before he wants to sleep. The much-described hunger attacks were completely gone with me. He has zero weight gain on Klonopin!

Collect all the herbs together in one bowl. Check each herb off as you go. I like getting my herbs in a whole form because the herbs last better than powders.

Break up the root slices into smaller pieces before grinding. Grind the hard roots first and sieve.

Sieve out the large pieces and grind a second time with the leaf material. Compost the fibrous materials or give it to your livestock as a tonic.

1tsp licorice root
1tsp astragalus root
1tsp ginger root
1tsp angelica root or echinacea root
1tsp rhodiola root
1tsp schisandri berries
1tsp ginkgo leaf
1tsp nettle leaf
1tsp dulse or other seaweed
1-2T local bee pollen
1tsp kelp (optional)
1tsp probiotic (optional)
1tsp stevia leaf (optional)
Grind all these ingredients together in a coffee grinder or Vitamix blender. After grinding to a fine powder, sieve out any large pieces if necessary. These ingredients will make about 1/4c of herb powder.

Grind the bee pollen and add any powders to the herb powder. Stir the herb powder well before adding the matcha and chlorella.

1 part herb powder
1 part matcha
1 part chlorella
Add the matcha and chlorella to the herb powder and store in a glass container in the fridge. To make a green drink use a glass mason jar with a plastic lid. Add one teaspoon of the mixture to one cup of filtered water. Add crushed ice if desired. Shake very well and drink right away. Use once or twice a day during periods of stress.

For more recipes please see Healthy Household: Staying Clean Safely and Saving Money.

Updated June 5, 2014: I’m not a big fan of stevia but I do like it in this green drink. We do have a local provider of stevia powder or you can grow your own stevia plants. Suede Hills Organic Farm comes to the Kamloops Farmer’s Market.

I’ve just made a double batch of the Adaptogen Greens Drink. I have added some kelp, plantain leaf and Eleuthero root to the this batch. Eleuthero root is also known as Siberian ginseng or poor-man’s ginseng.