I try to make it a point to do a detox protocol at least once every few months. When I say that, I don’t mean buying into those expensive programs found on store shelves that all seem to “guarantee” instant results. Instead, I stick with a tried and true detox formula that actually works — healthy smoothies made with all-natural ingredients. Healthy smoothies just like this cleaning cinnamon apple smoothie that’s a perfect way to detox your morning. It’s made with a selection of whole food ingredients that have proven benefits when it comes to helping your liver with its natural detox process, including lemon juice, fresh ginger, and goji berries.

An Effective Detox Solution

While your body is undergoing a detox, it’s vital that you consume foods that are rich in essential nutrients. This ensures that your liver is getting the support it needs to properly fulfill its role. That’s exactly why this recipe includes a specific mix of fruits and vegetables — one apple, one carrot, and frozen mango chunks. All three of these ingredients are great sources of several key vitamins and minerals, namely vitamins A and C. Vitamin A works wonders when it comes to decreasing the activity of the harmful free radicals that are known to cause DNA damage (1) while vitamin C is well known to be a potent immune system booster that helps to prevent and treat certain types of disease. (2)

This recipe also calls for one teaspoon of lemon juice. Lemons provide quite a few great benefits not just for your liver, but for your overall health as well. They’re another great source of vitamin C and they’re excellent for helping you stay hydrated — lemon water is actually quite a popular detox drink in its own right. The reason lemon juice works so well with a detox is because it helps your liver with two important functions. Lemon juice helps the liver to produce more bile which improves digestion and the citric acid content helps stimulate enzyme function, which directly assist the liver with the detoxification process. (3)

You’ll also be adding two ingredients that end up giving the smoothie a slightly spicy taste in the form of fresh ginger and ground cinnamon. Not only that, but they both also provide some key benefits when it comes to your health as well. Ginger supplementation is known to be rather beneficial when it comes to treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by helping to reduce inflammatory cytokines and other common markers of the disease. (4) Meanwhile, the cinnamon also helps to provide a few great health benefits in the form of its potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The only thing to be aware of is that excess cinnamon consumption can have the opposite intended effect and actually cause liver damage. (5) With the amount of cinnamon used in this smoothie though, that’s not a concern.

To finish off this smoothie recipe, you’ll be throwing in yet another great ingredient that’s widely regarded for its beneficial detox properties. One tablespoon of goji berries is used due to the fact that they’ve demonstrated some remarkable anticancer properties during research. (6) Along with the goji berries, simply add one cup of water into the mix before blending it all together and serving.