Green Smoothies versus Juicing 
Speaking of green smoothies . . .Last summer it occurred to me one day, that for all the juicing I was doing, I really wasn’t getting much fiber. This wasn’t based on anything I had read, it was just gut instinct.
Then I stumbled across this article Is blending fruits and vegetables better than juicing for detox?
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After reading this I began doing smoothies more than juicing. And it was hard to get used to. I’m a big texture person and the texture to smoothies wasn’t pleasant.
My blender died a month into doing this and I bought a new one: the
Oster Fusion Blender – BRLY07B
. It was more than I would have spent on a blender normally ($80) but with six blades, it was worth it!My smoothies became much nicer in texture. And I could tell I was getting much more fiber from drinking them from trips to the bathroom that increased – which, without giving TMI, was a big deal as I ruined my digestive tract during bulimia-abuse-laxatives years and struggle to use the bathroom without fiber or laxatives of some sort. As long as I am doing smoothies, I have no need of aids for this part of my life and no longer need IBS meds either!
I actually got to a point during the summer that I began enjoying the smoothies and would use that as my lunch. Hard to imagine now, as I am re-learning to like them, but during the summer, I was easily drinking a quart of them and feeling quite satiated.
What goes into a green smoothie? I have two different combinations I use. One is the yogurt smoothie (my favorite) and the other is straight fruit and greens. For example, this morning I had:
1 cup of kale
1 cup of spinach
2 cups of fresh pineapple
3 squeezed oranges
I blend the greens with 1-1/2 cups of water first until smooth. Then I add the fruit in.
Green yogurt smoothie
For the yogurt blend I will often do:1/2 quart of homemade kefir (article coming soon on kefir)
1 cup of yogurt
1 tbsp of ground flax seed
1 cup of blueberries
1 cup of spinach
a banana
some protein powder
Since the straight fruit/vegetables ones aren’t my favorite I do those in the morning to “get them out of the way”. By afternoon, when I’m tired and craving sweet, I’ll do the yogurt one.
It varies day to day, based on what I have on hand. Sometimes I may add avocado to one of them for more caloric intake. Some days it’s apples. I may use coconut yogurt other days for new taste and leave out the banana. Pretty much anything goes when making smoothies. It’s up to you to find your favorite combination.
My dream some day is to own one of these:
Vita-Mix 1700 Turbo Blend 4500 Countertop Blender with 2+ HP Motor
I’ve heard they blend fruits and veggies into a dream smoothie mix with hardly any pulp whatsoever, which would help a big texture person like me! In the meantime my Oster Fusion Blender works great for the budget I have.
