Excellent Tips on Making Awesome and Delicious Smoothies
Smoothies are the choice beverage for lots of health-conscious folks. They are great thirst-quenchers, they are often made with the freshest, seasonal ingredients, and they are nutritious and healthy to boot. However, how do you make smoothies in a blender without ruining the mix?
Here are some suggestions on how you can make pitchers of the stuff like a pro.
1. Pick your choice ingredients
If you are after a healthier smoothie, you have to make sure that the ingredients are composed of 50 to 75 percent of vegetables. The majority of vegetables have taste and texture that works beautifully in smoothies.
You can be sure that popular vegetable items are perfect for the beverage—the veggies most often found in kitchens. These vegetables are broccoli, kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, or any veggie of your choice. The greener the color, the more nutrients the veggie contains.
Do not forget fruit or berries, however, do not go overboard on it because fruits do have plenty of natural sugars. Plenty of smoothie recipes are mainly fruit-based instead of having vegetables as the principal ingredients. You certainly want to avoid them; as natural as they sound, the sugar content is usually intolerable. Opt for wild berries instead of fruit, if you can.
Take into account that a glass of orange juice contains 22 grams of sugar and that is only from the fruit itself. Double the size of the glass and you will have double the sugar, too. For a low-calorie, delicious yet healthy smoothie, you have to focus on vegetables instead. Like said, by all means use wild berries instead of fruits, but use them moderately. Cranberries and raspberries are the lowest in sugar.
2. Fortify your smoothie
To maximize healthier content, you can add in other food items on the smoothie recipe like seeds, nuts or probiotics. One of the most popular add-ons is chia seeds. Chia seeds are always included in the superfoods list, and best of all, the ingredient does not impart any flavor, so it will not change the flavor of the smoothie you are planning to make.
Plenty of individuals also adds in Greek yogurt for a supply of probiotics and protein. Some opt for kefir instead of Greek yogurt though since the former contains lots of good bacteria compared to the latter.
Other excellent choices include wheat germ, spirulina, chlorella, different seeds, vitamins and even protein powders. It is up to you—you just provide the flavors and check what you can add while maintaining the tastiness of the smoothie.
Just remember that certain ingredients like chia seeds, psyllium husks, and protein powders can absorb plenty of water so always have extra water available in case your concoction calls for it. Oh yes, and please DO avoid flax, as it contains an ample amount of phytoestrogens. Chia is a safer option, but don’t go overboard as it contains some phytoestrogens, too. Phytoestrogens have been reported to cause amenorrhoea and problems with reproduction. They also have negative effects on libido, especially in men. Moreover, moobs (man boobs) can be due to getting too much phytoestrogens from soy or flax.
3. Put in water
While it is pretty normal for individuals to put coconut milk or soy milk on their smoothies, what you really need there is some water. Milk has lots of benefits obviously, but they can also be filled with additional calories.
Lots of consumers think that milk provides protein, but if you examine the nutrition label, you will notice that milk has less than a gram of protein only. Make sure to inspect the nutritional data provided to make sure that the ingredient is indeed low in calories.
Oh, and DO NOT use soy milk. You just read about phytoestrogens. Soy is full of phytoestrogens and it’s basically the same than popping contraceptive pills.
4. Make smart choices when it comes to sweeteners
White sugar is always accessible thus we often turn to the stuff. However, if you want healthy sweetness to your smoothies, you have to think again. There are smarter ways to sweeten your smoothie, and they come in the form of stevia, monk fruit, and erythritol. Also xylitol is okay. Honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and agave are often told to be healthy, but in reality they are not better than white sugar! Don’t use any syrups (like corn syrup) either; they spike up your blood sugar levels in no time, causing the levels soon drop, making you hangry (hungry & angry).
5. Find out how frosty you want the smoothie to be
For lots of consumers, the smoothie is a cold beverage hence it has to have some ice. You can make your smoothies icier by just freezing the fruit or vegetable that you want to add in the mix. You can also add in ice cubes till the frostiness you prefer is achieved.
Keep in mind though that by putting ice cubes, you are in fact watering the whole thing down. Thus it is recommended that you freeze the fruits, berries, or veggies instead if you want to make a smoothie with the right consistency.
6. Make use of an excellent blender for great smoothies
So how do you make smoothies in a blender with better results? Of course, you have to take advantage of a quality product. If you want smoothies with a velvety, even texture, you have to acquire a blender that has plenty of power. A blender with sufficient power has a maximized rotational speed so you can get the texture you prefer.
A good blender has over 1,000 watts. A faster blade means it will be capable of churning out smoother blends. This factor is crucial when it comes to using seed ingredients, plenty of ice and leafy vegetables. Thus if you want to partake in smoothies every day, make sure that you invest in a quality product.
Smoothies vs. Juicing: Is There a Difference?
Some people tend to think that the beverage is one and the same. However, there is a difference when it comes to juicing and making smoothies. Whenever you blend your favorite ingredients, it often leads to taking in the food in its wholeness even though some are puréed already. So if you blend a few strawberries, the body will still take in the whole fruit.
When it comes to juicing, the fibrous segment of the fruit or vegetable is removed and what is left in the mix are the micronutrients which now come in a liquid form. Juicing involves two procedures.
Individuals might make use of the juice to squeeze the water in an instant, or one can do the process manually. The juice extractor is a necessity for fruits and vegetables that are harder.
Making smoothies often require a standard blender or a high-performing one. As soon as the liquid is administered in a mush in the blender, the result is thick and smooth. Smoothies have a thicker texture and are filling compared to juices because it still contains the pulp and fibrous cellulose which was removed from the juice. In a nutshell: juice makes you hungry when smoothie keeps you satiated for hours!
How do you make smoothies in a blender that will churn out thick, healthy shakes? It’s quite simple—just mix the milk and add more vegetables, go for natural sweeteners and make use of an excellent high-performance blender.
