(NaturalNews) During the 1960s and after, smoothies were presented as a healthy dairy alternative. They were made with milk, yogurt, or ice cream with some fruits and maybe even chocolate or peanut butter. These became popular as tasty items that offered the illusion of drinking something healthy.
Though healthier than cokes and other sodas, that outmoded type of smoothie can't compare to the health benefits of today's green smoothies. Homemade green smoothies require good water as its liquid base, fresh organic green leafy vegetables, and some organic fruit to create a creamy drink that's full of easily digested fresh food nutrients.
Green smoothies are easier and quicker to make than juicing, but shouldn't replace juicing entirely. They can both be used to complement each other. But for starters, making green smoothies might fit a tight budget since a decent blender is cheaper than an adequate juicer.
Green smoothies are often used as starters for going into a raw vegan diet, which is a diet that's not for everyone. Vegans can easily incorporate green smoothies into their diet. But green smoothies and juicing will improve anyone's health as long as processed foods and pharmaceuticals are avoided.
Making smoothies
You need a decent blender. A few were tested against each other in a
Popular Mechanics video that proved the most expensive blender is not necessarily the best (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FkcgBwbE7nw).
At first, it's recommended to go with an approximately 50/50 by volume blend of green veggies and fruits, or even 40/60 greens to fruits. This helps start out with something tastier (sweeter) at first if you're not used to raw ground up greens. Eventually, one can get bolder with a higher ratio of greens to fruits.
Greens can be chosen from several healthy vegetables: Chard, spinach, kale, cilantro, parsley, cucumber, or wheat grass are all easy to blend. Another difference between
green smoothies and vegetable juice is that usually carrots are the base for juicing.
Not so with green smoothies. No carrots are used, only green leafy vegetables and organic fresh fruits with good water. Why add fruit? Well, besides the added nutrition, it helps make a
green smoothie smooth and less bitter.
Plants contain insoluble fibers, the kind needed for making paper and cloth. Although those fibers are also good for human gastrointestinal purposes, they don't mix well in water with a blender.
Most fruits contain soluble fibers. Soluble fiber fruits create a creamy homogenous mix without particle separation, while offering a more palatable sweet taste for those accustomed to the standard American diet (SAD).
Fruits from which to choose soluble fibers include: Bananas (obviously), pears, kiwi, and berries of all types. Apples don't have soluble fibers. But as with juicing, they add taste, body, and nutrition. Make sure you take out the stem, but leave the seeds.
You need to add just enough fluoride free water to liquefy the
smoothie into a thick, drinkable consistency. Most are surprised by how much they enjoyed the taste of their very first homemade green smoothie. This is typical of even junk food SAD consumers.
So go ahead and experiment. Mix and match different greens and fruits at different times. Some like to add
chlorella powder or other super food powders. But keep it simple, especially at first. Sometimes too many items in one mix can cause some ingredients to cancel each other out.
Sources for this article include:http://greensmoothiesblog.com/health-benefits-green-smoothie/http://greensmoothiesblog.com/how-to-make-a-green-smoothie-tips/http://healthmaven.blogspot.com/2012/02/green-smoothie-original.htmlhttp://gabriellebrick.com/2011/08/blue-green-smoothie/http://healthmaven.blogspot.com/2012/02/reversing-irreversible.htmlhttp://healthmaven.blogspot.com/2012/02/reversing-irreversible.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmoothieAbout the author:Paul Fassa is dedicated to warning others about the current corruption of food and medicine and guiding others toward a direction for better health with no restrictions on health freedom. You can visit his blog at
http://healthmaven.blogspot.com
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