Smoothies At Home: Recipes For Weight Loss And Cleansing The Body, The Beneficial Properties Of The Drink

What is a smoothie, the difference from other drinks

Smoothies occupy one of the leading positions among drinks for healing, cleansing the body and harmony. There are many smoothie recipes out there.

A drink, in terms of its nutritional qualities, when fulfilling the rules of full filling, is a complete meal.

The composition can be completely balanced and include proteins, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals and probiotics.

It is believed that the smoothie drink was invented in the 1930s of the last century. Smoothies are made in California, USA. The popularity of smoothies did not come immediately, but only after 30 years. In the late 1960s, the drink took its place on the health food shelves in California stores, then in stores across America. Smoothie drink began to gradually gain recognition around the world. Even then, the manufacturer had many smoothie recipes, but the cooking rules were different. The drink was purchased and consumed by the consumer not freshly prepared and had a certain expiration date. This, perhaps, was a disadvantage. Already at the beginning of the 2000s, delicious smoothies began to be served freshly prepared in coffee houses, cafes and restaurants around the world. More and more smoothie recipes.

How to make smoothies at home

To make healthy smoothies, we need:

1. Blender.

2. Main Ingredients – Fresh or Frozen*:

   • vegetables (any, except starchy **);
   • greens;
   • berries;
   • fruit.

   *Fresh frozen products:

   • berries, greens - you can add immediately during cooking;
   • fruits, vegetables - it is necessary to remove it from the freezer before cooking, for 10-30 minutes, depending on the natural qualities and size of the frozen product. For example, a peach (freshly frozen in halves) - 20-30 minutes. Freshly frozen, chopped bell pepper - immediately ready for making a drink.

   Recommended

   "The health benefits of various types of rice: contraindications, how to cook" More

   **Starchy vegetables. Why should vegetable smoothies be made with non-starchy vegetables? Why are starchy vegetables advised to avoid ingredients in green smoothies, fruit smoothies, etc.?

   • At high speed, starchy vegetables form a paste. It is recommended to use them separately from fats, fruits, sweet foods and meat, so as not to overload your body, and also not to gain excess weight.
   • When a paste forms, the smoothie takes on an unpleasant taste and texture.

   Starchy vegetables, these are mainly root crops - beets, carrots, radishes, radishes, potatoes, pumpkins (autumn ripening), all legumes (except soybeans), zucchini, squash, celery root, etc.

3. Additional components:

   • seeds - hemp (or flour from them), chia, flax, black sesame;
   • nuts - almonds, cashews, walnuts, pine nuts (or cake from them);
   • dairy products and more.

   A list of example additional components will be presented at the end of the article in the topic "Basic and additional components."

   Thanks to the possible variations with additional ingredients, you can always get balanced, healthy smoothies.

4. Recipes.

   Decide and choose among the smoothie recipes that are right for you.

Prepared, chopped products are sent to a blender and ground to a puree texture. Depending on the ratios of proportions and the nature of the products themselves, smoothies can turn out to be drinkable or thick. A thick smoothie is usually eaten with a spoon. The consistency is easily adjustable, it can be made more liquid or thick.

Smoothie preparation time 5-15 minutes. Making smoothies is easy and simple.

1. A healthy smoothie is made up of all the essential ingredients—fiber, healthy fats, proteins, complex carbohydrates, probiotics, vitamins, and minerals.

2. Smoothie ingredients must be fresh/frozen.

3. Choice of smoothie base. The base affects the composition, taste and consistency. Examples of bases are avocado (makes the texture creamy), pear (gives sweetness), ripe banana (makes the texture creamy and adds sweetness), mango (gives sweetness) and others.

4. Product compatibility - "healthy smoothie". Getting a delicious smoothie at the exit is, of course, important. But, if the goal is to improve the body, one more cooking rule should be followed - this is the compatibility of products. With the systemic use of incompatible products, there is a load on the body (on the digestive organs), as a result, disturbances in the functioning of the intestines occur - food is not absorbed, useful substances are not absorbed, processes of decay and fermentation begin to occur, toxins begin to form, various diseases are provoked and develop.

   For example, cow's milk and non-starchy vegetables do not combine with each other. Cow's milk and banana - also considered a heavy "mismatch" for the digestive system.

   Ripe bananas. Compatible with plant-based milk (from nuts or seeds). An unripe banana contains a lot of starch. Therefore, it is recommended to use ripe bananas.

   Sour and sweet fruits are incompatible with each other.

   Sour + slightly acidic or sweet + slightly acidic - combined with each other.

   Starchy vegetables form a paste at high speed. It is recommended to use them separately from fats, fruits, sweet foods and meat, so as not to overload your body, and also not to gain excess weight.

   Starchy vegetables are best absorbed by the body after heat treatment.

   Incompatibility of starchy and acidic foods. Starches are broken down by amylase, an enzyme secreted by saliva. Acidic foods have the peculiarity of inhibiting the production and release of the enzyme amylase, slowing down the absorption of starch.

   Green goes with everything.

   Products properties:

   Sour fruits, berries

   subacid fruits

   sweet fruits

   Lemon, lime

   Grapes (slightly acid varieties)

   Banana

   Grapefruit, orange, tangerine

   Nectarines

   Persimmon

   Kiwi

   apricots

   Grapes (sweet varieties)

   Plum sour

   Peaches

   Papaya

   Sour berries (lingonberries, currants, cranberries, cherries, gooseberries)

   Apples, pears (slightly acid varieties)

   Dates

   Pomegranate

   Berries (raspberries, strawberries, strawberries, blueberries, blueberries)

   figs

   A pineapple

   Mango

   Apples, pears (sweet varieties)

   Apples, pears (sour varieties)

   Guava

   Starchy vegetables (mainly root vegetables)

   Non-starchy vegetables

   Legumes and cereals (containing starch)

   Beet

   Celery (stalks)

   oats

   Carrot

   Pepper

   Wheat

   Pumpkin (autumn ripening)

   Eggplant

   Millet

   Potato, sweet potato

   Cabbage (leaf and head types)

   Rice

   parsley root, celery

   cucumbers

   erysipelas

   Zucchini

   Asparagus

   Amaranth

   Squash

   Onion

   Quinoa

   Corn

   Pumpkin (summer)

   Legumes

5. Add more green foods, such as spinach, arugula and other greens, because. they contain the most vitamins and minerals. The result is the most vitamin smoothie.

6. The consistency should be similar to yogurt.

7. Sweetness. Avoid processed foods containing refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, and other harmful additives. Sweetness can be imparted by fruits such as banana (ripe), pear, mango, apple, etc. It is allowed to add honey, but in reasonable and optimal doses - no more than a teaspoon.

8. You need to start using fruit, berry, green and vegetable smoothies immediately after their preparation. It's about the reaction between light and oxygen. Under their action, many useful substances lose their properties. But you should not drink a vitamin smoothie in one gulp, it must be “chewed” so that saliva and the enzymes necessary for the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates have time to be produced.

1. Mix. A mixture of products of all categories - greens, vegetables, berries, fruits, additional ingredients. This group is based on the balance of the composition of the drink, taste and harmonious combination of biologically active substances.

2. One product category. For example, a fruit smoothie is made only from fruits. When choosing smoothie recipes, keep in mind that a fruit smoothie is a high amount of fructose in excess of the daily allowance (10-25 grams). Therefore, among smoothie recipes, it is better to choose those where fruits are combined with berries, vegetables and other products. Per smoothie, add one whole fruit or partial portions of two to three fruits (maximum 2 low fructose, low glycemic load fruits).

   Vegetable smoothies - only from vegetables, possibly with the addition of greens. Berry smoothies - only from berries. It is believed that the use of one category of products makes a drink of a certain composition and direction.

3. The combination of colors and composition of products. Products of the same color are used. Products of the same color contain coloring compounds (pigments). It is believed that drinks made from products of green or yellow, blue, red, etc., increase the biological value of this category of substances. For example, green apple, cucumber, cilantro, spinach, and celery (stems) make for a green smoothie that's loaded with chlorophyll.

Smoothie Recipes

There are a lot of smoothie recipes. For example, here are some smoothie recipes.

Products:

• 150 - 200 ml. water
• 50 gr. greens (one type or mix)
• 80 gr. fresh frozen berries
• ½ pear
• 1 cucumber (or 1 celery stick)
• 1 kiwi
• ½ ripe avocado
• 2 tbsp flax/chia seeds (ground before cooking or pre-soaked overnight)
• pinch of cinnamon

Cooking:

Cut the necessary products, combine everything and pierce with a blender to the desired consistency - puree, homogeneous mass.

The consistency of the smoothie can be adjusted by adding more water or additional ground hemp seeds or flour.

Cooking time: 5-10 minutes.

Products:

• 200 gr. yogurt (homemade, coconut, almond, etc.)
• 120 gr. blueberries, fresh or frozen (preferably wild)
• ⅓ orange
• 30 gr. cilantro (or spinach)
• 1 st. a spoonful of seeds (black sesame or chia / flax - crushed before cooking).

Cooking:

Combine all products and punch with a blender until the desired consistency - puree, homogeneous mass.

The consistency of the detox smoothie can be adjusted by adding more yogurt. If the smoothie is runny, you can add more ground seeds.

Cooking time: 10 minutes.

Products:

• 100 ml. iced green tea
• ½ ripe avocado
• 50 gr. cilantro (or other greens)
• 1 cucumber
• 100 - 150 gr. fresh or frozen pineapple
• 1 st. 1 teaspoon seeds (black sesame or chia/flax - ground before cooking)

Cooking:

Cut the necessary products, combine everything and pierce with a blender to the desired consistency - puree, homogeneous mass.

If the smoothie is too thick, you can add more green tea. If liquid, add more ground seeds.

Cooking time: 5-10 minutes.

Products:

• 50 gr. spinach
• 1 pear
• ½ avocado
• 200 ml. kefir
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons hemp seeds (substitutions - 1 tablespoon hemp seed flour or 1 tablespoon pine nut meal, or 1 tablespoon ground flax/chia seeds)

Cooking:

Cut the necessary products, combine everything and pierce with a blender to the desired consistency - puree, homogeneous mass.

If green smoothies are too thick for you, adjust by adding more kefir. If the smoothie turns out to be liquid, you can add more ground seeds or pine nuts cake.

Cooking time: 5-7 minutes.

Thanks to the many variations of smoothie recipes, everyone can choose the right one for themselves.

Useful properties of smoothies, harm and contraindications

1. A complex of macro- and micronutrients.

2. The pulp is used, which contains fiber, which regulates the work of digestion and cleansing of the body.

3. Antioxidant protection.

4. Improving the quality of digestion processes, metabolic processes.

5. Strengthening immunity, maintaining general tone.

6. Fresh and fresh frozen products are used, depending on the season.

7. It is a complete meal and can replace breakfast. Or it can serve as an integral part before breakfast.

    

• Fruit acids destroy enamel, provoking its demineralization, increasing the likelihood of caries. Therefore, smoothies are not recommended to be made 100% from fruits. You should add 1-2 fruits per 1 serving.
• With a long replacement of full-fledged food with liquid and pureed drinks, there is a significant reduction in the load on the teeth and gums. To keep the teeth in a healthy state, they need to be given certain chewing loads - "chew", "bite", stimulating the release of saliva (a natural antiseptic). With a decrease in chewing activity, the secretion of saliva decreases, its amount becomes insufficient. Bacteria multiply, teeth are not fully cleaned, caries and other problems develop.

  Smoothies are not recommended to drink in one gulp, it is necessary to “chew” slowly, measuredly. Smoothies must have time to be processed by secreted saliva, which contains the enzymes necessary for the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates.

• Excessive systemic consumption of fructose (more than 1 smoothie per day) puts a strain on the liver, can cause a sharp increase in blood sugar levels, increases the risk of insulin resistance, fatty liver and type 2 diabetes. We’ll talk more about fructose in the topic “Smoothies for weight loss and cleansing the body.”

1. Smoothies are contraindicated in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract on an empty stomach, in the presence of problems with the kidneys. You need to get advice from a specialist.

2. Smoothies with sourness can cause discomfort and pain.

3. Individual intolerance to components, allergic reactions.

When and how to use smoothies for health benefits?

Doctors and nutritionists recommend drinking smoothies at 1 noon. As the first meal of the day, instead of breakfast or before breakfast. This time of taking the drink is determined as the most favorable for the whole organism. You need to make smoothies with a balanced composition, nutritious.

Drink slowly. This helps not only to enjoy the taste, but also brings the effect of saturation, contributing to good absorption. Smoothies must have time to be processed by secreted saliva, which contains the enzymes necessary for the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates.

1. When choosing smoothie recipes, special attention should be paid to the composition of the main ingredients for people with contraindications. Smoothies are contraindicated in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract on an empty stomach, in the presence of problems with the kidneys. You need to get advice from a specialist.

2. Individual intolerance to any components is possible.

3. If you're not used to eating a lot of fiber, drinking (especially green smoothies) can lead to some issues like bloating, discomfort, and diarrhea. Products should be introduced gradually.

Smoothies for weight loss and body cleansing

A healthy smoothie, in combination with a healthy lifestyle (adequate physical activity, sleep, balanced diet, etc.), can be a means of healing the body and helping to cleanse it, and weight loss will be a pleasant effect.

In order not to harm the body, to get the maximum benefit, you need to adhere to the norms of use and the balance of the composition of the smoothie.

Smoothie time - 1 half a day.

For detoxification processes, as well as for weight loss, green smoothies are most suitable, as they contain the most fiber.

Let's talk more about fructose, shall we? Excessive and prolonged intake of fruit smoothies, due to the high content of fructose in its main composition, can lead to a state of insulin resistance, fatty liver and type 2 diabetes.

Sources of fructose: fruits, honey.

Fructose is a natural sugar in fruits.

The glycemic index is low - 20.

It's about the dosage.

Consumption rate: 10-25 gr. per day (in fruits, this is 2-3 pieces).

The norm for people with metabolic disorders and risk factors: no more than 15 gr. in a day.

Systemic and long-term intake of fructose in the amount of 50 gr. and more (per day) can be the root cause of the onset of metabolic disorders and various other diseases.

There is a study conducted in 2009. The participants were healthy volunteers. The first group of subjects consumed a drink based on fructose for 8 weeks, the second group - on the basis of glucose. The drink had a low glycemic index and therefore did not affect the level of sugar, did not increase it. According to the results of the study, the group that consumed the fructose-based drink began to develop prediabetes. Insulin levels and resistance rates were much higher than in the glucose-based drink group.

It was concluded that excessive consumption of fructose inevitably leads to the development of insulin resistance. Acquired insulin resistance is reversible. To do this, you must adhere to a balanced diet, diet and live a healthy lifestyle. Thanks to this support, the cells will correct their work and become insulin sensitive again.

1. Protein:

   • The main building material for all the cells of our body and the functioning of its systems, involved in the creation and strengthening of muscles, in the creation of tendons, organs and skin.
   • Necessary for the production of enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters and various molecules that perform many important functions.
   • Feeling full.
   • The process of protein synthesis / breakdown occurs constantly and continuously, therefore it is extremely important to replenish its reserves daily, since protein is not deposited in the body.
   • Protein, a successor of amino acids, subdivided into "essential" and "essential". Non-essential amino acids are synthesized in the body. Essential amino acids are not synthesized in the body and are essential for protein synthesis. Their source of income is food.
   • With a protein deficiency, vital processes are disrupted, immunity decreases, anemia develops, weakness appears, metabolism slows down, the condition of hair, nails, and much more deteriorates.

2. Fats:

   • With proper assimilation, they are broken down into components, mainly into fatty acids. From them, new valuable hormones are formed in the liver and intestines, including sex hormones and biomolecules.
   • Absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K).
   • Improve digestion processes, accelerate metabolism.
   • They have a feeling of fullness, are used in the processes of "production" of energy by the body.
   • Omega 3-6-9.

3. Complex carbohydrates:

   • Energy source.
   • Cellulose. Participates in the processes of detoxification, restoration of intestinal microflora.
   • Complex of vitamins and minerals.

4. Dietary fiber (fiber):

   • Improve the work of the gastrointestinal tract, restore the intestinal microflora.
   • They form a protective layer on the intestinal surface and butyrate (a healthy intestinal barrier), which is nutrition for microflora, absorbs toxins, their metabolites and heavy metals.
   • Gently stimulate intestinal motility, its natural cleansing.
   • Prolong the feeling of satiety.
   • A complex of essential vitamins and minerals.
   • antioxidant properties.

1. Vitamins, minerals:

   • Normal functioning and growth.
   • Participation in the synthesis of proteins and fats.
   • Participation in the synthesis of blood cells, mediators of the nervous system, hormones.
   • Resistance to infections.
   • Antioxidants.
   • Assistants in the elimination of foci of inflammation in the body.

2. Probiotics

   • Restoration and maintenance of normal intestinal microflora.
   • Support for a healthy immune status.
   • They contribute to better absorption of nutrients from the body and the proper process of digestion.

There are a large number of smoothie recipes that include these elements in a complex composition. And you can experiment yourself, observing the principles of food compatibility and the balance of the composition of the drink.

Basic and additional components

Consider examples of the main and additional components for smoothie recipes - balanced, nutritious. For your convenience, we have prepared a table that shows the groups that make up the basis for a smoothie and a group of additional ingredients. And also we will select individual ingredients and analyze their composition and influence.

Smoothie is a nutritious and vitamin drink containing a complex of macro- and micronutrients. Additional source of energy. Smoothie recipes are huge, making it easy and fast. Suitable for people without contraindications (no stomach problems). Participates in the processes of restoration, strengthening and support of immunity. Promotes detoxification with the effect of weight loss, under the conditions:

1. Balanced composition.

2. Product compatibility.

3. Norms, measures of use.

4. Work in combination with a healthy lifestyle (adequate physical activity, sleep schedule, balanced diet, etc.).

To support the processes of cleansing the body of toxins and weight loss, green smoothies are most suitable.