Author Topic: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)  (Read 1741 times)

EconDiva

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I've been putting an old blender that's been in the back of my cabinet to use this week making spinach smoothies.  I've been using this recipe:

-1 cup spinach
-1 cup water
-1.5 cups fruit (.5 cup mango, .5 cup pineapple, .5 cup banana)

Works good...tastes great.  My question:  Do the ratios seem "healthy" for a recipe that was advertised online as a "green" smoothie?  Seems like the ratio of greens should be higher for that.  Also, doesn't seem all that healthy considering the amount of sugar in the fruit which there is more fruit than greens.  I tried doing a 1:1:1 ratio yesterday and could tell the difference in that less fruit definitely did lend to a bit more bitter taste since I was tasting the greens a bit more.

Either way, this beats deep fried french toast slathered in butter and maple syrup (mmmmm....French toast....), but I'm just curious the ratio of greens to fruit you smoothie experts typically use.

erutio

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Re: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2018, 12:44:41 PM »
Seems healthy to me.  The sugar from the fruits is not added sugar, so unless you are a diabetic and need to strictly monitor your carbohydrate intake, eating it not "unhealthy." 

Another thing you can add to it is some protein powder.  This will make make it more filling, give a better macro profile, and maybe give it a better taste, if that's what you like.  Vanilla flavored protein powder will give it a milk shake-like consistency and flavor.  Some people like chocolate.   You will need to add a lot more water if you plan to add protein powder to it. 

EconDiva

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Re: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2018, 12:46:54 PM »
^Great tip about the protein part.

I actually meant to mention in my original post that today I was hungry one hour after consuming the smoothie.  I read I should maybe have used like a half an avocado for some healthy fats but wasn't sure about adding that in.

erutio

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Re: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2018, 12:48:04 PM »
Oh, to answer you question about the ratios.  I usually just eyeball everything nowadays.  If your first mix tasted great, go with that for a while, and slowly increase the amount of greens over time.  Eventually, you won't notice the little bitter taste you had noted, even up to 2 cups of raw spinach.

PoutineLover

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Re: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2018, 12:51:15 PM »
It seems healthy enough, although a lot more plain than I would like. If you are trying to make it more complete and filling, you might want to round it out a bit more so it has a healthy balance of macros. My smoothies would typically have some combination of yogurt, kefir, milk or almond milk, berries, bananas, frozen fruits, spinach, protein powder, flaxseed, etc. Be creative and use what you like/what's in season/what's on sale. If there's some fat and protein in there too it'll keep you full longer. One smoothie in isolation will not determine if you are eating enough or too many fruits or veggies, the rest of your meals matter too, so I wouldn't worry too much as long as you get enough veggies the rest of the day.

honeybbq

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Re: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2018, 01:00:55 PM »
I also add plain yogurt and ground flax or chia seeds to add some bulk.
I also use the mixed greens power pack from Costco instead of plain spinach.
Sometimes add a splash of yogurt or soy milk if it's too thick.
If you cut down the fruit, you might want a tbsp of honey to keep it sweet.

zygote

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Re: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2018, 01:14:50 PM »
The fruits may have sugar, but they also have more complex carbs, fiber, etc to balance out the sugar release during digestion. So I wouldn't call it inherently unhealthy.

On top of what everyone else has suggested, I tend to add oats in to make the smoothie thicker and more filling.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: For all you smoothie drinkers (and maybe those of you who juice as well)
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2018, 03:31:43 PM »
Yay smoothies!  I drink a smoothie every morning.  For what you're starting with, I would replace the water with whole milk, which will add substance and protein (I don't use protein powders).  If you want more, oats are a good addition as zygote suggested.  You'll want to play around with the ratio, as a lot of oats can make it pretty thick.  If you want more fats, peanut butter is a good addition, or just olive oil.  I also recently started adding a couple raw eggs to mine (which replaced the olive oil), for more protein, and can't tell the difference.

For a reference, here's my current smoothie recipe, but note it is primarily for calories (works out to about 1000 cal and, IIRC, 37g protein):

1cup milk
1/2 cup rolled or quick oats (not steel cut, they don't blend as well)
1 banana
2 heaping cups frozen berries, and/or mango, and/or pineapple, but trending towards blueberries and strawberries recently, as they've been fairly cheap
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2 eggs
Handful of spinach, just because I never eat enough greens.

Fills a quart jar just about to the rim.