Smoothies: Good for You?
Most Certainly! But… that depends on the ingredients, of course. The healthiest smoothies will be the ones you make yourself in your own kitchen.
If you have a favorite place you stop on the way to work or like to pick one up at the mall while out shopping. You’re subjecting yourself to lots of sugar, artificial flavors and mixers, which are loaded with additives. So the health value becomes questionable.
Make Smoothies at Home
You know exactly what you are putting in that blender. You decide on the sweetener, and if you even need one. The ingredients are fresh. You are in control.
Are Smoothies Necessary?
Shouldn’t we just be eating the foods that go into a smoothie? Why blend them altogether? It has to do with the partnering of the enzymes and vitamins and minerals. Vitamins activate enzymes and the enzymes help digest the vitamins.
The real problem here is that people just don’t slow down and chew their food long enough before they swallow. This is where that partnering relationship begins. We’re supposed to be chewing our foods at least 30 times before we let it proceed down our throats. The practice of slow lingering meals in this country has been long gone for decades.
Just telling people to slow down while they are eating isn’t going to make it happen. That’s not the society we live in today. Food is an on-the-go thing for us. Smoothies are the ideal way to make the best vitamin and mineral foods portable.
Loading Your Smoothie
The number one ingredient for smoothies is the banana. And rightfully so! Banana milk, like soymilk, is a complete protein. It contains all the eight essential amino acids in the most live form that we can get. (You put these together in a smoothie and you have a real protein powerhouse.)
Bananas are a prime example of a food people eat too fast. Since it’s a soft food, a couple chews and down it goes. But then many people suffer a stomach ache because the digestion process that should have begun in the mouth is trying to happen in the stomach. This problem is totally eliminated with smoothies.
Another perfect food for the smoothie is the tiny but mighty sesame seed. It’s mostly used for decoration sprinkled on top of other foods. But these tiny little seeds are loaded, absolutely loaded with calcium. Grinding them to a powder and adding that to smoothies is ideal.
Individual Likes
The most wonderful thing about smoothies is the availability to cater to individual tastes. Every member of the family can get all the vitamins and minerals needed and do it with variety. Virtually any fruit or vegetable can be thrown into a smoothie.
So if you’re going to do smoothies, do it right. Make them a part of your nutritional diet. Make them at home, take them with you. Use healthy ingredients.
November 25th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I like the idea of sesame seeds in the smoothie! I wonder, will they digest the same if not ground, but add additional fibre to the smoothie or is it more beneficial to grind them first?
November 25th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I really like the idea with the sesame seeds! I have to try that soon.