Update: After writing this article, I experimented with different variations of fruits , vegetables and flavors to make green smoothies, and not so green. Keep in mind, eating fruits and vegetables in the whole form is the best way for weight loss and controlling sugar intake. Check out my smoothies recipes here.
First time, when I heard about a green smoothies, I felt nauseated. Who drinks veggies? It sounds unpalatable to me, but I decided to make it myself. To see how it tastes, and how it feels. And of course, how it affects my body. So, I started searching the internet, I got hundreds of recipes. Most of them needs special blenders, and some special super fruits and veggies, that I never heard of, such as goji berries, acai berries, macca powder, and some seeds.
Here was my first cup of green smoothie :
It’s Spinach, Parsley, Kiwi, Strawberry; and enough water to blend the juice.
It felt weird, somewhat delicious, and refreshing! But it altered my digestion, and guess what? I felt hungry just couple of hours afterward!
For anyone who still do not know what a green smoothie is: It’s a blend of vegetables and fruits, and enough water (or other liquids) to blend the juice. Some people add yogurt, or milk to add creaminess.
It sounds healthy, and packed with nutrients, but is it the best way to eat veggies?
The claimed benefits for drinking green smoothies are endless. Starting from weight loss, mental clarity, boosting energy, detox, and cleansing. Some raw food enthusiasts swear it can cure cancer! While I can not deny that fruits, and vegetables are very good for your health, and may reduce risk of cancer, but curing cancer is still unproven.
Here is why I’m not fan of a green smoothies:
- Fibers: Drinking fiber is not like eating them. Drinking it may cause it, to pass the intestine without doing its job (bulking, and aiding the digestion).
- Oxalate: Some green veggies like spinach, kale and Swiss chard, contain high amounts of oxalate. And it may cause a problem for people with high sensitivity to it, and may cause kidney stones.
- Satiety: Even when it has fibers, it makes you hungry after couple of hours. This is because drinking juices pass easily though stomach, and that makes your stomach sending signals to the brain to get more food. Also, because it may has lots of sugar, and rise the sugar level in the blood, so the body will release more insulin, so you feel the urge need to eat.
- Digestion: If you drink liquids most of the time, the intestine will be a bit lazy, and may it become hard when you stopped taking the juices. It may cause constipation, or irregularities in the bowl movement.
- High calorie high sugar: Some people add lots of fruits, coconut oil or cream. Which are high in calories. But this is not the case of all of it. Thankfully to rise of health awareness, now a lot of people aware of this fact.
Some people will argue its good, because of it’s convenience. I do not agree with that, because I see people buy large amounts of greens, and may not be motivated to make smoothies in the next few days, and the green veggies loose its freshness. I think a lot of people love green smoothies, because they want a quick, and easy way to be perfectly healthy.
You don’t have to go to special stores in order to be healthy. You do not have to buy exotic plants coming from Peru, china, and countries you can barley recognize on the map. You can go to a local store, and spend less than 10 $ to assemble a nutritious meal. Being healthy is much simpler than that. It is beyond healthy eating, it is having good relationships, stable mental life, less stress, and much more.
So did you try a green smoothie? What do you think of it?
