This document provides information about green smoothies and buying green leafy vegetables from GC Permaculture. It discusses the health benefits of green smoothies and reasons to purchase vegetables from GC Permaculture, including their freshness, organic farming practices, lower prices, and variety. Nutritional information is given for several greens available, such as Malabar spinach, Scotch kale, sweet potato leaves, amaranth leaves, moringa leaves, and kangkong. These greens provide vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients essential for health.

1. Green Smoothie
Veggies – why
buy from GC
Permaculture?
This flyer is made by Ka In Katy Lau
MSc Nutrition & Dietetics, Griffith University
Public Health Nutrition Placement Student
What is Green Smoothie?
It is a popular drink that is generally made by blending
raw dark green leafy vegetables with different types
of herbs and fruits to give an amazing fresh taste.
Benefits of Green Smoothies:
 The green leafy vegetables used for making
green smoothies are the excellent source of vari-
ous vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are
essential for good health.
 They are also a good source of fibre which helps
to maintain your bowel health and helps main-
tain a healthy body weight.
Reasons to buy green leafy
veggies from GC Permaculture:
 More nutritious - Long distance transport can
reduce the quality of food and result in nutrient
losses. Nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin B2
(riboflavin), vitamin C and vitamin E can deterio-
rate even with excellent storage conditions over
time. We offer a freshly picked service, simply
hand-pick the greens that you want in the farm,
pay and off you go to enjoy these fresh, nutri-
tious vegetables.
 Organic farming - We are growing food
through organic farming which builds healthier
soil to nurture a better quality of vegetables.
This also helps to support a sustainable environ-
ment and minimize the “carbon footprint”.
 Cheaper - Our price is cheaper than the others
because no transportation cost and tax sur-
charges are added on the price tag.
 More variety - We grow more variety of vege-
tables which preserves the biodiversity and sus-
tains the long-term food security. You can find
many different types of green in our site!
Something to bear in mind….
 It is important to know that green smoothies can
be used as a way of increasing daily fruits and
vegetables intake and should be consumed as
PART of a healthy balanced diet.
 You still need to consume a wide variety of foods
from the Five Food Groups everyday in order to
give sufficient nutrition that your body needs, as
solely consuming a green smoothie won’t supply
enough vitamin D and vitamin B12.
 Some leafy vegetables contain high amount of
oxalate, vitamin K or sodium which may interact
with some medications, so it is advised to check
with your doctor, dietitian or pharmacist before
consumption.
Example Recipe
Malabar Spinach & Scotch Kale Green Smoothie
Serving: 5 people
Preparation time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 cup Malabar
Spinach, 1 cup Scotch Kale, 1 1/2
cups water, 1 cup parsley, 2
chopped pears, 1 frozen banana, 1
cup ice, 1/2 avocado
Methods: First blend water, Malabar Spinach, Scotch
Kale and parsley for 15s to 1 min. Then add pears,
banana, ice and avocado to blend.
Our address is:
270 Ferry Rd, Southport
Please come and visit us!
www.goldcoastpermaculture.org.au

2. Nutritional Facts of the Greens
available in GC Permaculture:
Malabar Spinach
(aka Ceylon Spinach)
 A rich source of folate.
 It contains 114µg folate
per 100g (approx. 3 cups
volume).
 One cup volume provides 13% RDI
(Recommended Dietary Intake) of folate that a
healthy adult needs.
 Folate is essential for normal maturation of red
blood cells, lowering the level of homocysteine
in blood to reduce the risk of developing
cardiovascular disease and preventing neural
tube defects in pregnancy.
Scotch Kale
 It is the best vitamin C
booster.
 One cup volume can
supply 193% vitamin C
RDI that a healthy adult needs.
 Its vitamin C content of a cup volume is same
as 1 medium sized orange, or one and a half
kiwifruit.
 Vitamin C is responsible for: strengthening our
immune system, aiding wound healing,
collagen production for joint health and has
antioxidant properties which helps neutralising
free radicals and preventing cell damage.
 Also a good source of calcium and iron.
 Calcium is best known for bone and teeth
health, and iron is needed for the formation of
red blood cells, which carries oxygen from the
lungs to the body cells.
Sweet Potato Leaves
 It contains high amount of
dietary fibre.
 One cup volume contrib-
utes to 7% of dietary fibre
AI (Adequate Intake—
average daily nutrient intake level based on ob-
servation) of a healthy adult.
 Dietary fibre is necessary for bowel regularity,
preventing constipation, maintaining a healthy
weight, reducing the risk of developing diabetes
and helping to lower the “bad” cholesterol level
in our body.
 One cup of it can also supply 4-6% RDI of thia-
mine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and
potassium, which are essential for energy me-
tabolism and nervous system activities.
 It is also an excellent source of vitamin K, pro-
vides 150-175% AI of a healthy adult, in which
vitamin K is predominantly for blood coagulation
and bone remodelling.
Amaranth Leaves
(aka China Spinach)
 It is a fantastic source of
calcium, potassium and
vitamin K.
 One cup volume can contribute to approx. 6%
RDI of calcium and potassium, and 460-530% AI
of vitamin K, of a healthy adult needs.
 Calcium is an essential mineral for bone and
teeth health, while potassium is vital for main-
taining body fluid balance and good nervous sys-
tem. Vitamin K, mainly for blood clotting.
 It holds all essential amino acids, in particular, it
contains lysine, which plays an important role in
the synthesis of collagen and connective tissues
in our body.
Moringa Leaves
 It has a “superfood”
status.
 It contains 10% protein
per cup volume, which is
3-4% of a healthy adult’s
protein RDI.
 Like amaranth, it holds all the essential amino
acids which known to have a complete protein.
 Also a rich source of vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B6,
iron and magnesium.
 One cup volume gives approx. 9-11% of vitamin
A, 5% of thiamine (vitamin B1), 11% of
riboflavin (vitamin B2), 3% of niacin (vitamin
B3), 19% of vitamin B6, 5-11% of iron and 7-
10% of magnesium RDI.
 Vitamin A is essential for visual functions and
new cell growth. The B-vitamins are associated
with healthy energy level and overall wellbeing.
 For minerals, iron is important for blood
production and brain cognitive performance,
while magnesium is needed for muscle
movement.
Kangkong (aka water spinach or
swamp cabbage)
 It is a rich source of
sodium, calcium, iron
and vitamin A.
 One cup contains 63mg
sodium which is 7-14%
AI of a healthy adult.
 Sodium is an important electrolyte in helping
fluid maintenance, muscle contraction and
heart performance of our body.
 One cup volume also gives approx. 4.3% of
calcium, 5-12% of iron and 20-25% of vitamin A
RDI of a healthy adult.