I´m a big fan of blending and liquid meals: juices, smoothies and soups. You can´t ignore them, in the media, online, in cafes – Smoothies are all the rage and with good reason! They are an awesome way to add great and vital nutrients to your system: fruit, veggies, supplements filled with enzymes, phytochemicals – all of which are wonderful for you.
So you want to get your smoothies and use them also to detox and/or lose weight. And maybe you have been doing this for a while and enjoying them, but nothing seems to be any different!
You’re not slimmer, you are not feeling better, there’s no burst of energy and vitality and, unsurprisingly, you are rather bemused and frustrated by this lack of reward for doing something so healthy and wholesome! Don’t worry though, it is likely that simple and common mistakes are being made. You may actually be diligently making them with all the very best intentions, yet smoothies makes you fat and even more toxic.
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Too much fruit
Fruit is the food of humans but too much fruit, and especially combined with milk, yoghurt and more sweeteners, are a big no-no. Improperly combined fruit can cause bloating, gas, indigestion and other issues. With this in mind your smoothies should ideally work 2:1 ration: 2 portions of leafy green vegetables to 1 portion of fruit. Because smoothies are in essence pre-digested they should find it easier to travel through your gastro-intestinal track and this ensures they should not cause any fermentation of the fruit.
You add sweeteners
Come on…do you? Seriously? Why?? Fruit is awesome enough without you doing this. And believe me it is sweet enough naturally! All you are doing is ladling processed toxic sugar on something that should be a pure as possible. You are de-railing the whole thing! Stop adding rubbish into your gorgeous body when you are trying to do some good. All you are achieving is more calories and toxins.
Stick to just fruit! If you have craving for sweetness then go with the sweeter fruits such as pineapples and papayas. I am sure your tastebuds will soon evolve in this are and it won’t be long before you are trying other fruits like berries.
Not enough greens
This refers back to the point I made above about ‘over-fruiting’! One of the reasons smoothies are so great is that they enable you to easily and conveniently add more portions of raw fruit and vegetables into your diet. So get adding them but remember my 2:1 ratio in favour of Greens. Ideal Greens for blending are: spinach, mustard greens, collared greens, celery, kale and cucumber.
Too many add ons
I freely admit that I have been as guilty of this as anybody. I would set about hurling walnuts, maca, chia seeds, flax seeds, spirulina and even protein powder into my lovingly prepared concoctions. But let me tell you – it is too much! And actually all you might really achieve is complicating things and adding calorific content.
My advice is to keep it simple: one portion of fruit, 2 of green veggies, a little water, a little alternative “milk”, and a fun warming spices such as cinnamon or cayenne.
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