Sunday, January 18, 2009

Green Smothies

I have been eating less amount of raw food lately and probably more cooked food. I don't think this is the best way to eat healthy so I decided to get out the blender and try out green smoothie, which I can get 4 servings from and lasts me 2 days. I have one in the morning and one in the evening. When I cosume I chew it rather than just drinking because chewing gets the saliva going. My second one contained;

Bananas 200g
Apples 180g
Kale 250g
Spinach 250g
Blueberries 100g
Pineapple 150g
Water 350ml (upto 500ml water is good and might be better for some, just adjust serving size).

Very simple, very delicious and packed full of good nutrition.

I'm still working out the exact ingredients as I want to get all nutrients a bit higher. I think lower amount of bananas is perferable because of less sugar (but using more bananas does taste a bit better). In saying that 100g of banana a day isn't really a lot and the the 2nd smoothie was 146k/cal per serving (370g) which is great. It's an excellent way to start of the day I find, and if eating a big salad isn't your thing in the morning then you're getting lots of greens and some fruit right away. Enzymes, vitamins and minerals, fatty acids, fibres, Energy! It makes you feel wonderful and light. Some people are put off by the colour (I actually like it) but it tastes amazing! If you have any recommendation or would like to share you smoothie recipe please comment below ;)

You can find plenty of green smoothie demonstration on youtube. Enjoy.

Now all I need to start saving for is a Vita-Mix Blender! :D

PER SERVING;

General (8%)
===========================================
Energy | 146.5 kcal 6%
Protein | 4.9 g 3%
Carbs | 34.7 g 13%
Fiber | 6.1 g 16%
Fat | 1.1 g 1%
Water | 326.6 g 9%

Vitamins (37%)
===========================================
Vitamin A | 15562.2 IU 519%
Folate | 159.0 µg 40%
B1 (Thiamine) | 0.2 mg 15%
B2 (Riboflavin) | 0.3 mg 21%
B3 (Niacin) | 1.7 mg 11%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)| 0.4 mg 8%
B6 (Pyridoxine) | 0.5 mg 42%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) | 0.0 µg 0%
Vitamin C | 119.3 mg 133%
Vitamin D | 0.0 IU 0%
Vitamin E | 1.5 mg 10%
Vitamin K | 818.8 µg 682%

Minerals (24%)
===========================================
Calcium | 160.4 mg 16%
Copper | 0.4 mg 42%
Iron | 3.1 mg 39%
Magnesium | 93.3 mg 23%
Manganese | 1.6 mg 71%
Phosphorus | 87.6 mg 13%
Potassium | 915.4 mg 19%
Selenium | 1.8 µg 3%
Sodium | 81.3 mg 5%
Zinc | 0.8 mg 7%

Lipids (4%)
===========================================
Saturated | 0.2 g 1%
Omega-3 | 0.2 g 15%
Omega-6 | 0.2 g 1%
Cholesterol | 0.0 mg 0%

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds quite good. Here's my recipe of a smoothie I usually have twice per day:

1 medium banana
100 g strawberries
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1.5 dL water

Many people say that bananas are high in total sugar and fructose compared to other fruits, and on a weight basis, that's certainly true. However, most of the extra weight of other fruits is water anyway. If you compare fruits on a sugar-per-calorie basis, you'll find that bananas are actually quite low (13.7 g/100 kcal) compared to other common fruits like apples (20.0 g/100 kcal), oranges (19.9 g/100 kcal) and pears (16.9 g/100 kcal). Additionally, I did some research on the fructose content of fruits and berries, and this is what I found out:

FRUCTOSE CONTENT OF FRUITS & BERRIES
------------------------------------------------
Fruit /100 g /100 kcal
------------------------------------------------
Apples 5,90 g 11,35 g
Bananas 4,85 g 5,45 g
Blackberries 2,40 g 5,58 g
Blueberries 4,97 g 8,72 g
Cantaloupe 1,87 g 5,50 g
Grapes 8,13 g 11,78 g
Honeydew melon 2,96 g 8,22 g
Kiwi fruit 4,35 g 7,13 g
Pears 6,23 g 10,74 g
Pineapple 2,12 g 4,24 g
Raspberries 2,35 g 4,52 g
Strawberries 2,44 g 7,63 g
Tangerines 2,40 g 4,53 g
Watermelon 3,36 g 11,20 g

The first number after the fruit's name is fructose per 100 g of fruit, and the second number is fructose per 100 kcal.

Ron Tomlinson said...

How much does one's *mental interpretation* of the food one is eating alter the aging effect, if at all?

For example, could it be that pleasure itself ages the body?

Arturo said...

hi Matt, it sure looks yummy.
i have found i'm eating more fruit lately. my problem is sometimes i rebel from CR and eat cookies. gak. but sometimes i will have 3 good CR days in a row.
cheers,
Arturo

Anonymous said...

Matt, I'm so glad you posted this - it never occurred to me that I could make a green smoothie with a regular old blender. I modified your recipe just a bit by adding some almond meal and pea protein powder if it's a meal replacement, and even a half cup of fresh cranberries. To my absolute surprise and pleasure the drink doesn't even make my blood sugar go crazy -- a paltry spike to only 114 then it drops rapidly. And the nutrition in this is just incredible. Thanks so much, and as well for your wonderful and always informative CR blog - I always check it for new videos.

Yours,

Elsie (a fellow CRONie)

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