Green Juice/Smoothie Update: Going Low Sugar
OMG, just one more day to Xmas! I cannot wait… It’s family time that is relaxing but there’s something comforting and happy about tucking into a great homemade feast and opening presents. We’ve just had to put the finishing touches on Xmas presents and running errands and I’m basking in this holiday mood…
It’s also a coincidence that the colour theme in the photo is green and red. I think Xmas is in my subconscious lol!
Today, I’ll like to talk about what juices/smoothies I’ve been drinking. I was so into raw food three years ago and even wrote an e-book about green juices and smoothies, which I coined “Beauty Elixirs”, but I found recently that such a high level of fruit consumption wasn’t doing me any favours.
So I’ve sort of found a new groove again with low sugar green juices and smoothies. What you see above is a green smoothie as I’ve been preferring them over juices. I tend to juice more in warmer weather and I eat more fresh salads, but in winter, I find it hard to consume that much raw vegetables because it’s so cold, so I blend it all together and drink three to four cups of “salad” through the day to get my intake of raw fruit and veggies.
I don’t have several recipes to share because it’s very simple…
Base of green smoothie:
Juice of half a lemon
1 cucumber
1-2 stalks celery
1 tbs chia seeds
3-4 bunches of spinach
2 cups water
I would then add low sugar fruit like strawberries and half a grapefruit, or half an apple and a kiwi, or pear and mandarin orange. I refrain from using blueberries because they turn the green smoothie brown and I prefer to eat them with oatmeal anyway. If I use grapefruit, I might put a drop of stevia into the smoothie because it can be a bit hard to get down if the green smoothie is not sweet.
I might also switch it up with coriander/cilantro or bok choy if I don’t have spinach but I love spinach the most because it creates the smoothest green smoothies. Another tip: I soak the chia seeds with two cups of water in the blender while I chop up everything so the chia seeds can turn into gel which makes the smoothie thicker and not so watery. I might also add in melted coconut oil or an avocado to bulk up my smoothie if it’s going to be my breakfast.
The Blendtec in my kitchen is such a blessing because I can tell you that creating delicious smoothies without banana is not that easy. If you have an ordinary blender, a non-banana veggie smoothie could come across as fairly chunky which is hard to swallow.
I really miss bananas because they are one of my favourite fruit and I used to throw in two to three in a smoothie but what is a gal to do, eh? I drink my green smoothie daily as a light breakfast, or I would have one glass with my oatmeal, and sip on the rest with lunch or as a quick snack in the late afternoon.
Another significant change is that I stopped consuming protein powders. I still think plant-based protein powders are a great way to increase your protein intake but the taste is so terrible with non-banana smoothies that I just stopped. In the fall, I did blend mixed berries, almond milk, and brown rice protein powder together but there’s just something about the taste that is so off-putting. Though it’s one of those things that I might go back to. Maybe it’s just winter and cold drinks are just not as appetizing.
If I feel too cold to drink a green smoothie, I don’t force myself. I try to get warm first and then think about making it.
What are your favourite smoothies or juices that you drink for health and beauty?
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Thanks for this! I’m a big smoothie drinker, but I really need to work on my veggie intake. I’ll have to try this instead of my usual banana + blueberry.
If you ever want to try plant-based protein powders again, I highly recommend the Vega brand (you can order it from iHerb.com). I drink the “Sport” variety every day for breakfast after my morning workout and I love it. The taste is genuinely good, they’re low sugar, and they blend really smoothly.
@Jordan: I have tried Vega but not Vega Sport. Vega has about 2g of sugar which is really good. I look for products that are below 6g of sugar per serving. The funny thing is I used to love Vega (in fact I just finished my last packet of it) but I think the tropical flavour is my least favourite of all which unfortunately turned me off protein powders for now. I should stock up on the chocolate one which I can mix it up with nut milk and I’m cool with it. I should take a look at the sport range…thanks for the recommendation!