Green smoothies - some nutrition info, please

[WitawatWatawit]

I like to make a large amount of liquefied greens to use as a base for my green smoothies. That is, I throw into the blender big handfuls of water cress, kale, spinach (Ceylon/Malabar spinach from my garden), and any other green leafy stuff I find in the supermarket. I blend it strongly, tossing in coconut oil and fresh lime juice. This I use as the base for my smoothies - taking a cupful and adding various other things like a little bit of carrot (very limited), bit of fruit, frozen veg (whole leaf spinach, brussel sprouts, peas), plain yoghurt, more lime juice and a tablespoon of flax seeds (crushed with chia seeds and wheatgerm). I take that with a big handful of nuts - walnuts, almonds, cashews, watermelon seeds and sunflower seeds (some of the honey sunflower seeds from 7/11 to give a little bit of taste).

That's the background. My first question revolves around the base mixture. Preparing only the greens in advance like that and storing in the fridge to be used for the next 3 days - is there any loss of nutritional value in the greens like there is with fruit? Bit difficult trying to find that kind of info on the net.

Second question is about the flax and chia seeds - crushing up a whole lot to be used over a couple of weeks. Like above, is there any loss of nutritional value if stored in an airtight jar?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Wit.

[Taggart]

I've read some don't like the idea of smoothies. Healthier to chew on your food including leafy greens.

[mayuri]

I make green smoothies everyday and they are nutricious

1. for storing for 3 days - best is to freeze it

2. where do u find kale, i have searched Entire bangkok, but the curly kale that we get in US is simple not availble in bangkok, where do u buy it, let me know, i will buy some for me too

3. there is no need to crush chia seeds
i grind few tablesoon of my flax seeds, use it for a week, then grind again on sunday

Edited August 21, 2014 by mayuri

[Alwyn]

I've read some don't like the idea of smoothies. Healthier to chew on your food including leafy greens.

That's actually not correct - although the roughage is handy. But people who need a lot of plant vitamin just can't get enough by eating. By juicing you can physically take on board more.

[Alwyn]

Mayuri has answered your question pretty well. Nutritional values recede very quickly, in fact after just a couple of hours the values can drop by half. Freezing is better but even better would be to make only what you need. I juice my greens (curly kale, greens etc but not spinach as that needs to be cooked for a short time to get the most from it) and add a whole organic beetroot plus a lemon, apples, carrots and half a cucumber in the morning, I make smoothies from fresh and frozen fruit together with a heaped dessert spoon of ground flax & Chia (just as it comes out of the packet) sometimes I use water and sometimes coconut milk for a change! My blood pressure has reverted to normal and a few other ailments have disappeared!

[maderaroja]

Chewing is part of digestion, metabolism. It adds saliva to the mass that is swallowed and aids in proper digestion. People without teeth do not have proper metobolism and suffer from various ailments, as a result of not chewing.

[WitawatWatawit]

Thanks folks.

Taggart - maybe you're thinking about mastication to get the digestive juices flowing. There may be something to that, which is why i chew a handful of nuts as I drink my smoothies - I need to read up more on that.

Mayuri and Alwyn - good replies, much thanks. I guess when blending you are battering down the cellular walls of the vegetables and exposing the entire plant to the air, so maybe the nutritional value drops in that case. Will look for more info on that. There's no reason not to juice from scratch every day, other than laziness and the fact that I always make too much and refrigerate it, anyway.

Mayuri, I don't know about curly kale (I live inland from Jomtien - buy my kale from Makro). Seems Alwyn might know a bit more - I knew nothing about kale until recent times. But my research tells me watercress is the best green, followed by kale and spinach. Thoughts you guys?

Best,

Wit

PS: forgot to add - I don't normally grind the chia. Only did it this time because I was daydreaming and not watching what I was doing. I also add quinoa to the smoothie when I remember to cook it.

Edited August 21, 2014 by WitawatWatawit

[Eliot Rosewater]

Chewing is part of digestion, metabolism. It adds saliva to the mass that is swallowed and aids in proper digestion. People without teeth do not have proper metobolism and suffer from various ailments, as a result of not chewing.

You should do both; the body loves chlorophyl

[Jaybee2]

I make green smoothies everyday and they are nutricious

1. for storing for 3 days - best is to freeze it

2. where do u find kale, i have searched Entire bangkok, but the curly kale that we get in US is simple not availble in bangkok, where do u buy it, let me know, i will buy some for me too

3. there is no need to crush chia seeds

i grind few tablesoon of my flax seeds, use it for a week, then grind again on sunday

It has always been my understanding that when you grind flax seeds, you must eat them with 20 minutes, or much of their nutritional value is lost. I eat flax seeds every day, always fresh from the grinder.

[Jaybee2]

Chewing is part of digestion, metabolism. It adds saliva to the mass that is swallowed and aids in proper digestion. People without teeth do not have proper metobolism and suffer from various ailments, as a result of not chewing.

You should do both; the body loves chlorophyl

Agree about chlorophyll. I buy spirulina and chlorella, and mix them together with almond milk. Thniking about getting some moringa, also.

I'm in the US. Giving some serious thought to moving to Thailand. But I am concerned about getting health food there. Organic food, herbs, supplements, and things like spirulina, chlorella, and moringa. Especially the herbs, which were near impossible to find on my last trip, earlier this year. Also wondering how much to worry about pesticides, herbicides, and GMO food in Thailand.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Jaybee2

[troysantos]

Jaybee2 ... how much to worry? No worry at all is best for health

I've read that blending foods destroys nutrients because the foods have been exposed to the magnetic field. The negative and positive charges of the chemicals in foods (I don't mean agricultural chemicals) are rearranged by the magnetic field. I read this years ago and wouldn't have any idea where to find it. And I haven't ever searched the internet since. I don't care much either. People have been using juices and smoothies for years and I do believe it's an aid to health, so, I'm not worried.

Also, my understanding about seeds is that if we don't chew or break them up in some other way (blending / grinding) then we don't get the nutrients out of them. Chia seeds are so darned small that only a scant few are likely to get chopped up by the blades in a blender, or by our teeth if you chew them as they're in the smoothie. If you put them into the blender at the beginning with just a few other ingredients, then I suppose you'll get more of them ground up. Or, let me ask you ... do you ever notice little black specs in your poop? If not, maybe I'm wrong somewhere.

As far as chewing vs. blending, my understanding is that few of us are chewing nearly well enough to get even most of the nutrients from foods. Of course there's the chemical and physical digestion in the stomach and intestines, but my understanding is that we get much more out of the foods if they're blended. You might chew on something while preparing your smoothies.

Would you dare spit (or gently and lovingly put ) that into the blender? Apparently there's a teaching by Buddha that says if one wants to get over food cravings, chew your food, spit it out, then put that stuff back into your mouth! Doesn't work for me as I have no qualms about doing it )

I usually put a ton of fruit into my green smoothies, along with a ton of vegetables. I eat mostly raw foods. Nothing works nearly as well, for me, as ripe bananas in a green smoothie.

[Lumbini]

Otto makes Vitamix copy the is brilliant !

[Lumbini]

PS

This thing is a monster tool for good health!

[troysantos]

I bought the BE 127 some weeks ago and I like it. I compared the Vitamix and the Greentec and the only thing that this Otto didn't match up to is the warranty. Only 1 year as opposed to 7? or so years, depending on the make and model of the others. So, I suppose that means that Otto's not so sure that the quality of the parts and electronics, and the whole workmanship is on par with the others. I'm hoping though that if I use it smartly it'll last as long as the others. So far, I like the thing. Got it on sale for 2100 baht at Lotus. I forget what the original price was but I think it was at least 1000 baht discount. That's another thing, several shops and some online places had Ottos on sale. Why??

The Vitamix and Greentec can be used to make nut butters and other heavy things, right? I love peanut butter and someday will try making it.

[Lumbini]

Otto 1.5 hp and spins at 30,000 ) if you use Otto you never use anything else except Vitamix but basically the same . At Lotus you can buy one return it in few days then try another one . Do this with many things and did it with Otto and Teful . Otto made by same company that makes the HomePro Vitamix copy model that is 14,000 . Easy to replace main part that sometimes goes and one is in Otto box with manual like Vitamix ( this part that wears with heave use ..

[BeyondME]

Fresh every time. Greens. Flax. Whatever. Greens will lose their nutrients. Seeds will go bad quickly after crushed.

Not a lot of work to blend some fresh greens. Don't even need the seeds, but if you want them, use a pestle and mortar with whole seeds and then toss them in.

[Lumbini]

Some great videos here

http://www.rawblend.com.au/video-demonstrations-tommy.html

You can do all he is doing with Vitamix copies available here . The cooking in blender and but butters and milks bring new meaning to what a blender can be . The other side of this coin is having a top cold pressed vertical auger juicer like new slow speed Hurom that spins at only 40rpms for leafy greens and pure juice blender can not really get . Having both is possibly best health insurance one can have if they use .

The guy/link below taught me the most about how to juice and blend he has hundreds of video tutorials

Juicer Product Demonstrations at you tube

http://www.discountjuicers.com/demo.html

The next issue is making sure you do not get high levels of pesticides living in Thailand . Want to start a thread just for that when I find hospital that can do urine or blood work to test for this ? Any ideas ?

Edited August 22, 2014 by Lumbini

[Kitsune]

1/ The all point of green smoothy is to get the best nutriments in RAW conditions.

Using high fat density processed products (oil, yogurt ) is rendering the all thing moot.

Sorry this is not a green smoothy, it's a green oily shake.

Here are some recipes to help you

http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes

2/ Yes the nutriments have short life, they say 3 days, I try to drink it in 2 days, but still better than cooked veggies if just for the laxative effect.

3/ Crushed seed (flax, chia) need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, then they last for ever (2/3 months) but you should have eat them all by then.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Kitsune

[h90]

1/ The all point of green smoothy is to get the best nutriments in RAW conditions.

Using high fat density processed products (oil, yogurt ) is rendering the all thing moot.

Sorry this is not a green smoothy, it's a green oily shake.

Here are some recipes to help you

http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes

2/ Yes the nutriments have short life, they say 3 days, I try to drink it in 2 days, but still better than cooked veggies if just for the laxative effect.

3/ Crushed seed (flax, chia) need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, then they last for ever (2/3 months) but you should have eat them all by then.

2) Vitamins can last complete different: in some old style apples Vitamin C can last 8 months. While in some fashionable apples it is gone in days.

In Salad it is supposed to be only hours.

As more the fruit/vegetable keeps together as better it is. As well cooler as better.

[WitawatWatawit]

Thanks for your input. I hope other people gained something from this as well.

At the moment I shall proceed on the basis of making enough green base for two days only. I'm still not convinced that a lot of nutrtion is lost by preparing the base ahead of time - part of the reason for that is that I feel no change in energy levels doing it this way.

I will also continue to crush the flax seeds in bulk and store in an airtight jar in the fridge. That is, until I am completely convinced this is not a good idea.

Regards,

Wit

[Kitsune]

Energy depends on many factors (state of your immune system, infection or ailment you may have, sleep pattern, nutrition..), nutrition is the most important true, but it won't change overnight,especially if you just do green smoothies.

Green smoothies are going to bring you the nutriments that would be lost if you'd cooked the veggies, it will bring you vitamins, enzymes and photo-nutriments, that will certainly reinforce your immune system /protect you against cancers/ autoimmune diseases/etc, it should also help your transit (if you only use low density food), but it depends of what you eat the rest of the day. If you still eat stuff yourself with Mac Donald/food that damages your body, the rest of the day, you won't get the full benefit of raw food.

The only way you are going to have a difference (drop of bad cholesterol, of sugar, better blood flow ) is to go fully raw at least for a week.

But physically the first week you are going to feel crap because your body will be releasing toxins (detox) and you will have the food (sugar/milk/etc) addictions kicking in.

The second week is probably the worse, because you're cold turkeying,you crave for sugar/salt/fat/milk/alcohol/etc

You only going to feel better energy wise at week 3 or 4, and your mind will be clearer.

[bkkgooner]

1/ The all point of green smoothy is to get the best nutriments in RAW conditions.

Using high fat density processed products (oil, yogurt ) is rendering the all thing moot.

Sorry this is not a green smoothy, it's a green oily shake.

Here are some recipes to help you

http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes

2/ Yes the nutriments have short life, they say 3 days, I try to drink it in 2 days, but still better than cooked veggies if just for the laxative effect.

3/ Crushed seed (flax, chia) need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, then they last for ever (2/3 months) but you should have eat them all by then.

Coconut oil is incredibly good for you

[Kitsune]

1/ The all point of green smoothy is to get the best nutriments in RAW conditions.

Using high fat density processed products (oil, yogurt ) is rendering the all thing moot.

Sorry this is not a green smoothy, it's a green oily shake.

Here are some recipes to help you

http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes

2/ Yes the nutriments have short life, they say 3 days, I try to drink it in 2 days, but still better than cooked veggies if just for the laxative effect.

3/ Crushed seed (flax, chia) need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, then they last for ever (2/3 months) but you should have eat them all by then.

Coconut oil is incredibly good for you

[Kitsune]

On long term studies, ANY oil

-promotes coronary disease,

-activates clotting factors just as much as butter

- impairs blood flow mediated dilatation,

- is a risk factor for breast cancer

[Taggart]

1/ The all point of green smoothy is to get the best nutriments in RAW conditions.

Using high fat density processed products (oil, yogurt ) is rendering the all thing moot.

Sorry this is not a green smoothy, it's a green oily shake.

Here are some recipes to help you

http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes

2/ Yes the nutriments have short life, they say 3 days, I try to drink it in 2 days, but still better than cooked veggies if just for the laxative effect.

3/ Crushed seed (flax, chia) need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, then they last for ever (2/3 months) but you should have eat them all by then.

Coconut oil is incredibly good for you

Well if you're going to post a video on Esselstyn's thoughts on oil, you might as well include his website where he gives his thinking on smoothies.

Smoothies – How about smoothies? I love them!

Avoid smoothies. The fiber is so finely pureed and rapidly swallowed without the benefits of mixing with helpful bacteria in the mouth. The sugar is separated from the fiber of the fruit, bypasses salivary digestion and results in a surge of glucose. The fructose enhances inflammation, hypertension and endothelial injury. Chew your food.

[Kitsune]

Dr Esselstyn and you are right.

We SHOULD all chew our food

But properly chewing means 20/25 chomps or each mouthful.

Unfortunately we/ I don't do that anymore, because it means actually spending loads of time eating, although it would be much better for our digestion.

No one is perfect

It's a work in progress, and for the moment I have my juicer and blender to do what I should be doing once I reeducate myself to eat properly.

Thank you for remind me

Edited September 7, 2014 by Kitsune

[amse]

Master Esu (Jesus)said you should chew every spoonful of food 40 times before swallowing, and Master Buddha taught his students to chew 100 times. Now the secret here is the consistency of the food before swallowing, if you just concentrate on the taste of the food as your chewing, your mind has been automatically programmed as to when to swallow at the correct consistency. You must have the enzymes in the raw food prepared correctly for digestion and that's where saliva is the answer, because saliva activates the enzymes in raw food for digestion. As far as blended raw veggies and fruits go, I don't just gulp it down, each mouthful I swish around in my mouth a few seconds to mix with saliva to activate the enzymes. Best book I've ever read is Conscious Eating by Gabriel Cousens and his Rainbow Diet. Met the man at the San Francisco Whole Life Expo years ago and went to his seminar. Also have done intestinal cleansing using Ejuva and Rise & Shine products. three main ingredients are Worm Wood, Black Walnut, Cloves capsules (I make my own)and psyllium (all organic, plus a colema board (to expensive to ship to Thailand so I made my own from plans on the net.

[amse]

So far here in Phuket I find herbs are difficult to find, I've only located Neem, Cloves and Moringa Leaf powder at 2 traditional Chinese medicine shops in Phuket Town, others I have shipped from a organic herb place in Florida.

[amse]

1/ The all point of green smoothy is to get the best nutriments in RAW conditions.

Using high fat density processed products (oil, yogurt ) is rendering the all thing moot.

Sorry this is not a green smoothy, it's a green oily shake.

Here are some recipes to help you

http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes

2/ Yes the nutriments have short life, they say 3 days, I try to drink it in 2 days, but still better than cooked veggies if just for the laxative effect.

3/ Crushed seed (flax, chia) need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, then they last for ever (2/3 months) but you should have eat them all by then.

Coconut oil is incredibly good for you

Well if you're going to post a video on Esselstyn's thoughts on oil, you might as well include his website where he gives his thinking on smoothies.

Smoothies How about smoothies? I love them!

Avoid smoothies. The fiber is so finely pureed and rapidly swallowed without the benefits of mixing with helpful bacteria in the mouth. The sugar is separated from the fiber of the fruit, bypasses salivary digestion and results in a surge of glucose. The fructose enhances inflammation, hypertension and endothelial injury. Chew your food.[/size]

It hasn't been that long ago that medical colleges taught absolutely nothing about nutrition, and I even remember VA hospitals accepting cigarette donations from TV programs sponcered by Philip Morrice. Now because of great pioneers like Ann Wigmore and others in natural raw food healing, conventional medicine has tried to jump on board and is spreading disinformation based on their biased conventional medicine studies. I cured my breast cancer in 1997 using the Rise & Shine 28 day intestinal cleanse, followed by the 10 day Master Cleanse by Stanley Burroughs. I stay totally away from conventional medicine drugs, even aspirin. Most conventional medicine drugs are petro-chemical based. Once in a great awhile I go to a Homeopathic ND.

[amse]

I had a Vitamix years ago when it still had a stainless steel container, and a week ago bought an Otto BE127 blender at Lotus in Chalang on sale for 2090baht, and I'm amazed how well it works, and so far does everything the pricey Vitamix does. As far as chewing your food vs. blending, when I drink a blended drink I don't just gulp it down, I take the time to swish it around in my mouth so the saliva will activate the enzymes, and I'm able to savor the taste much better!