What's the best way to meet your daily vegetable requirement? It seems an impossible question to answer, especially when you absolutely cannot stand the taste of vegetables. But there's no question that they're good for you. In fact, in order to fully protect yourself against diseases like heart and cardiovascular ailments, diabetes and cancer, you need to consume as much as 14 servings of fruits and vegetables per day! If the recommended amount of 2 to 5 servings per day is difficult enough, how can one expect to eat 14?

Fruits aren't much of a problem. They're sweet, succulent and delicious especially when picked fresh and in season. It's really the leafy greens that challenge the taste buds. But there is one proven way of meeting your vegetable requirement: It's to guzzle them down.

By blending fruits and vegetables together, you create green smoothies. A 60:40 fruit and vegetable beverage, green smoothies are packed with all of the wholesome nutrients of vegetables and all the goodness of fruit -- making them perfect for breakfast and a mid-afternoon snack.

Here are the amazing benefits of green smoothies that should encourage you to make them a part of your daily diet:

1. Blending fruits and vegetables together makes their nutrients easily absorbable. As a result, you feel more alive and always full of energy. If exercise was such a chore before, the energy provided by green smoothies makes it a cinch now.

2. The high-chlorophyll content of fruits and veggies makes your immune system stronger and more able to fight off diseases. The dense nutrient content of green smoothies makes you crave for sugar less and less until any craving you have gets satisfied with fruits or green smoothies themselves.

3. Green smoothies stabilize blood sugar levels and is the ideal breakfast and snack alternative for diabetics.

4. Smoothies also correct anemia.

5. Those who drink green smoothies on a regular basis experience fewer mood swings.

6. Their high fiber content aids in the elimination of bodily waste. It also helps the body rid itself of toxins through the process of detoxification. As a result, digestion is easier and more effective while waste elimination becomes regular, preventing the build up of toxins in the body. When the bowels are regularly moved and cleansed, the end result shows in radiant and a more youthful glow of the skin.

7. Their high antioxidant and phytochemical content fights free radicals and thus prevents cancer.

If you can't eat your vegetables, then perhaps it's time you get a good blender and start making them into green smoothies. Those in season definitely taste better and provide optimal amounts of nutrients. Bananas, apples and berries are good for starters. Kale and romaine lettuce are also perfect vegetable picks. On your first green smoothie ventures, have more fruit than vegetable in your blend so that it's easy to guzzle down. You can add more greens as soon as you get used to it and can't let a day pass without a glass of this nutritious beverage.