5 Superb Smoothie Recipes and Why You Should Take Them
“Our earliest ancestors built their diets entirely of vegetables, fruits, seeds, grains, legumes, and nuts.”-Encyclopedia of Food
In the world today, it is quite easy for us to put fruits and vegetables away because there are many other edible things aside them. There are biscuits, cakes, cookies, chocolates and other food made from flour of different kinds. Although, some of these foods have fruits or vegetables incorporated into them in one way or the other, fresh fruits and vegetables consumption has become something we can do without even though our bodies need them direly. If our bodies could speak, I guess they would have helped most of us in making better food decisions.
Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, fiber, other antioxidants and phytonutrients required for the proper functioning of our body systems. Let’s dive a bit into some of these compositions and check out why our bodies need them before I give the recipes.
FRUITS AND VEGETABLE COMPOSITIONS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE
1. VITAMINS: Vitamins are organic compounds required in small amounts needed by the body to enable its proper functioning. There are thirteen vitamins needed by the human body and these thirteen are grouped into two categories; the water soluble and the fat soluble vitamins. Irrespective of the vitamin categories, not all of them can be produced in the body and must, therefore, be supplied in the diet (Ball G., 2004). Among the numerous reasons why you need vitamins are; to build tissues in your body, assist healing wounds, maintain and repairing bones. Vitamins help in keeping your nervous system healthy as well as assist in the key metabolic processes of the body.
2. MINERALS: Minerals are elements found in the earth. Like the vitamins, minerals play a multitude of roles in our bodies. Calcium and phosphorus are the main components of our bones and teeth. Sodium, chlorine, potassium, magnesium and calcium function in regulating cell function. The minerals sodium, chloride, and potassium (also referred to as electrolytes) are responsible for maintaining the balance of fluids inside and outside of cells and, along with calcium, controlling the movement of nerve impulses. These and many other functions that bring our bodies to the best shape are the importance of minerals.
Get this chopper to chop fruits and vegetables
3. FIBRE: Fibre is a group of complex carbohydrate present in plant food that is not digested by our bodies into glucose molecules to be used for energy. They are found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and the outer layers of grains. Fibres are grouped into soluble and insoluble categories. Insoluble fiber, also called roughage, includes cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, found in vegetables, nuts, and some cereal grains. Soluble fibers include pectin, found in fruits, and gums, some grains and legumes. One of the important tasks of dietary fibre involves promoting of a good bowel habit. Fiber appears to improve intestinal functions, reduce risk of gastrointestinal infections, probably assist with weight management and overall improves immune system.
All these importance are probably packed in other groups of food asides fruits and vegetables such as we have high amount of fibre in cereals. But, vegetables and fruits tend to be more available. Most cereals lose most of their fibre content during processing. And this is why you should take advantage and get the most out of fruits and vegetables.
With that being addressed, here are the five superb smoothie recipes;
5 SUPERB SMOOTHIE RECIPES
- Lemon Apple Ginger Smoothie
Lemons and apples are good sources of vitamin C and fiber such as pectin. Lemons also contain bioflavonoids (antioxidants) that may help prevent cancer. Apples however, lose most of the vitamin C when cooked or made into juice.
INGREDIENTS
½ cup lemon
1 green apple
½ inch ginger
A handful of crushed ice
Squeeze lemon juice out to fill half a cup, cut apple into considerably small bits. Peel ginger and chop.
Blend apple, ice and lemon juice and add the chopped ginger to blend into the mixture.
- Pineapple and Beetroot Smoothie
Pineapple and strawberries are high in vitamin C. Pineapple also contains phytochemicals that promote health. Cooked beets are a good source of folate. The cooked beet greens are high in vitamin A (beta-carotene) and vitamin C. They are also a good source of riboflavin and magnesium.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup of frozen pineapple
½ cup chopped beets
½ cup strawberry
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth
Serve and drink.
- Spinach Healing Smoothie
Raw spinach is high in vitamin A (betacarotene) and a good source of vitamin C and folate. Although spinach is a good source of iron and calcium, oxalic acid (a chemical that is present in the leaves) inhibits the body’s absorption of these nutrients. Absorption of iron can be increased by eating spinach with a fruit or vegetable that contains vitamin C such as apple.
INGREDIENTS
½ cup spinach
1 chopped green apple
½ cup chilled lemon juice
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth
Serve and drink.
- Watermelon and Cucumber Smoothie
Cucumbers are composed mostly of water and contain small amounts of nutrients with considerable vitamin A. Watermelon is also rich in water. It contains lycopene and a considerable amount of vitamins. You can read up about watermelon here.
INGREDIENTS
5 cups of frozen chopped watermelon
½ cup of cucumber
½ cup coconut water
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth
Serve in a cup, and dip a piece of mint in it.
- Banana and Pineapple Smoothie
Bananas are high in vitamin B6 and are a good source of vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Pineapple is rich in Vitamin C and also contains phytochemicals that promote health.
INGREDIENTS
1 frozen chopped banana
½ cup of pineapple
¾ cup of coconut water (milk)
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth
Serve in a cup, and drink.
I hope you prepare these as you’ve read about them and come back to the blog and feed me back on the yumminess and after effect on your body.
You might also like to read about fruits and vegetables in Nigeria here.
REFERENCES
Ball G.F.M. VITAMINS; Their Role in The Human Body
Mayo Clinic Encyclopedia of foods; A guide to healthy nutrition
Post Comment