Are smoothies healthy and balanced? Rich, fruity, cool, and sweet--can anything like that be healthy? If it is a smoothie, of course. Well, the actual answer is more nuanced. Depending on what you put into it, it can be remarkably nourishing--or not very healthy. Let's focus on the healthy--that's what you're after, right?
The original smoothie stemmed from Brazil. Contents were soft fruits and ice blended into an icy smooth slush. Smooth is the operant word. A lot of smoothies today are made with some kind of milk. This can be plain milk or soy milk along with soft fruits or fruit juices and, traditionally but not needed, sweetener. The milks are more often thicker: yoghurt, frozen yoghurt, ice milk, or ice cream--or their soy surrogates. The healthiness of these additives depends on whether you are seeking their protein and calcium, or needing to avoid their sweeteners.
Making smoothies healthier without losing their taste is not difficult. The fresh fruits are themselves naturally sweet; no additional sweets are actually required--no sugars, milks, or yoghurts. If you utilize one of the Margaritaville frozen concoction makers for your smoothies maker, you get the fabulous smoothness of the completely blended shaved ice mixed with your fruits etc. They are soft without the cream--as smooth as a bistro milkshake--with no calories added for that fabulous texture! As an alternative to a Margaritaville machine, a blender and a separate ice shaver are able to give similar outcomes with a little additional work.
By adding juices you are able to greatly improve the nourishment of a fruit-and-ice smoothie. Hard fruits like apples, pears, the citrus fruits, and often pineapple do not blend especially well. With a juicer--an excellent home model like the Omega VRT300 or the Breville BJE510XL--you can get the juice from those fruits without the lumpy pulp.
Veggies, especially leafy green veggies, can add a great deal of nourishment to your smoothie. Just be a bit mindful. Wheatgrass in particular is an outstanding addition on the nutrient scale, however a whole lot of men and women mention that it upsets their stomachs in too large a quantity or drunk with a meal. Go easy when you begin including vegetable juice. Nonetheless, with any of the vegetables, the nutrient value skyrockets. Without the pulp, your smoothie is ultra-smooth. With the icy slurry, the occasionally marginally harsh taste of the vegetable-fruit juices is smoothed out. These are the very best, most nourishing smoothies you can think up.
The benefits of juicing go beyond simply the nutrients. Those nutrients are concentrated--you have actually spun out the extra pulp and kept the good-for-you-stuff. You even have extra time, even when you produce a smoothie from the juices--juicing and blending take less time than cooking (and preserve specifically the delicate micro-nutrients). Consuming your breakfast or evening pick-me-up is quicker, too, than chewing the equivalent volume of fruit or veggies!
Below is a smoothie worth testing:
The Odd Couple Smoothie. Juice one cut up yam along with a cored Granny Smith apple. Place the juice, and a sprinkle of nutmeg, cinnamon, or both in your Margaritaville frozen concoction maker. Fill the ice hopper, set to "smoothie," and push "GO"! In seconds you will have the yummiest, smoothest smoothie you could ever think of--one full of nutrients, full of taste, but low in calories.
Are smoothies healthy? Yes, if you make them right.
The original smoothie stemmed from Brazil. Contents were soft fruits and ice blended into an icy smooth slush. Smooth is the operant word. A lot of smoothies today are made with some kind of milk. This can be plain milk or soy milk along with soft fruits or fruit juices and, traditionally but not needed, sweetener. The milks are more often thicker: yoghurt, frozen yoghurt, ice milk, or ice cream--or their soy surrogates. The healthiness of these additives depends on whether you are seeking their protein and calcium, or needing to avoid their sweeteners.
Making smoothies healthier without losing their taste is not difficult. The fresh fruits are themselves naturally sweet; no additional sweets are actually required--no sugars, milks, or yoghurts. If you utilize one of the Margaritaville frozen concoction makers for your smoothies maker, you get the fabulous smoothness of the completely blended shaved ice mixed with your fruits etc. They are soft without the cream--as smooth as a bistro milkshake--with no calories added for that fabulous texture! As an alternative to a Margaritaville machine, a blender and a separate ice shaver are able to give similar outcomes with a little additional work.
By adding juices you are able to greatly improve the nourishment of a fruit-and-ice smoothie. Hard fruits like apples, pears, the citrus fruits, and often pineapple do not blend especially well. With a juicer--an excellent home model like the Omega VRT300 or the Breville BJE510XL--you can get the juice from those fruits without the lumpy pulp.
Veggies, especially leafy green veggies, can add a great deal of nourishment to your smoothie. Just be a bit mindful. Wheatgrass in particular is an outstanding addition on the nutrient scale, however a whole lot of men and women mention that it upsets their stomachs in too large a quantity or drunk with a meal. Go easy when you begin including vegetable juice. Nonetheless, with any of the vegetables, the nutrient value skyrockets. Without the pulp, your smoothie is ultra-smooth. With the icy slurry, the occasionally marginally harsh taste of the vegetable-fruit juices is smoothed out. These are the very best, most nourishing smoothies you can think up.
The benefits of juicing go beyond simply the nutrients. Those nutrients are concentrated--you have actually spun out the extra pulp and kept the good-for-you-stuff. You even have extra time, even when you produce a smoothie from the juices--juicing and blending take less time than cooking (and preserve specifically the delicate micro-nutrients). Consuming your breakfast or evening pick-me-up is quicker, too, than chewing the equivalent volume of fruit or veggies!
Below is a smoothie worth testing:
The Odd Couple Smoothie. Juice one cut up yam along with a cored Granny Smith apple. Place the juice, and a sprinkle of nutmeg, cinnamon, or both in your Margaritaville frozen concoction maker. Fill the ice hopper, set to "smoothie," and push "GO"! In seconds you will have the yummiest, smoothest smoothie you could ever think of--one full of nutrients, full of taste, but low in calories.
Are smoothies healthy? Yes, if you make them right.
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