Cannabis Piña Colada style smoothie

*THIS SMOOTHIE WILL NOT GET YOU HIGH.

– Lol – jusssst to clarify before we get into it. It will however, aid in reducing inflammation, help reduce anxiety and fill your belly with a tasty treat.

Happy 4/20 my friends!!

Today, in honor of this glorious holiday, I wanted to share a YUMMY and fun cannabis smoothie with you. It is packed full of antioxidants, healthy fats, protein,  fibre and beneficial cannabinoid acids. It is a great anti- inflammatory drink and is a tasty way to include raw cannabis leaves in your diet. Changing up your leafy greens in smoothies and juicing can prevent alkaloid build up and let’s be real- it’s fun finding new tastes and new ways to get all your superfoods in.

Leafy greens are rich in nutrients like folate, iron, vitamin C, calcium and vitamin K, amongst being a great source of fibre. Raw cannabis contains all of this, plus compounds known as cannabinoid acids. Cannabinoid acids are unique to the cannabis plant and they offer an immense amount of goodness; providing anti inflammatory effect, anti-proliferative effect (stopping tumour growth in certain types of cancers) and can act as an anticonvulsant (to name a few things). 

Cannabinoid Acids occur naturally in the cannabis plant before the plant is cured or heated. Applying heat to cannabis expedites the conversion process known as decarboxylation (which is basically a fancy word describing what happens when you smoke). If you consume raw, unheated cannabis or its leaves, you won’t notice any psychoactivity; however you will be getting the medicinal effects and benefits unique to these cannabinoid acids.

One of many Cannabinoid acids found in cannabis is CBGA- It is primarily known for providing pain relief along with being antibacterial. Another example of Cannabinoid acids is the raw form of cannabidiol (CBD), which is called CBDA. It has shown some promising results for epilepsy and preventing inflammation. Before THC is created in the cannabis plant, it is in the form THCA, and THCA displays anti-inflammatory, anti-emetic, and neuroprotective properties.

It’s SUPER cool and very interesting that cannabis has so many wonderful health benefits in ALL its forms. Raw or dried, smoked in a joint or ingested in a smoothie… there’s always a way to include it in your life and see benefits 🙂

This past year, cannabis was finally legalized in Canada (YAY) and to celebrate, I grew my own plant. When I had to prune, I’d collect the leaves, give em a good wash and use them up in recipes 🙂 Waste not, want not hey?

*You don’t need to use cannabis leaves to make this smoothie if you can’t access them (just exchange them for other dark leafy greens). Please note that if you do omit them, you will miss out on the benefit of the cannabinoid acids, as the hemp hearts in this recipe are GREAT, but do not offer the same benefits or effect as raw cannabis would.

Add these ingredients to your blender:

About 1 cup of ice (you can always add more if you like)

1/2 cup of frozen Pineapple

1 frozen Banana

2 leaves of Tuscan Kale (De stem it obvs.)

Roughly 1 cup of raw cannabis leaves

1/4 cup of Mint

1/2 a Lime + some zest

1/4 cup of shredded Coconut

3 Heaping TBSP of Hemp Hearts

1 Tsp Chia seeds

A pinch of dried Calendula leaves (You can leave this out if you don’t have them, but they offer great health properties)

1/2 teaspoon of Manuka Honey (Or regular… but Manuka offers great health properties)

A few drops of CBD Oil  (I use about half a dropper)

Add equal parts water & coconut water to almost cover the rest of the ingredients in the blender – you can always add less OR more liquid if needed (I get it… smoothie thickness is personal.)

Optional: 1 tsp of bee pollen- I get mine from BeeKeepers Naturals 

BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH.

This made three mason jars of smoothie (or two v. large jars)  🙂

I added a leaf, some coconut chips and calendula petals as a garnish.

Enjoy!

Hope you guys give this a try if you have some cannabis leaves kicking around 🙂

Like I said above, even if you don’t, you can still make an adjusted version of this smoothie that still has plenty of healthy properties.

Do you celebrate 4/20? Comment below!