Smoothies and veggie juices. Get em intaya!

image from Pinterest via redbookmag.com

Smoothies and juices. I flippin LOVE em. They have completely revolutionised the way I approach my health and wellbeing. 

I used to be an avid juice lover, but in the last year I've jumped on the smoothie bandwagon and wont go back. In fact, the cheapo blender Grant and I got when we were first married almost two years ago has copped such a thrashing in the past year that the bottom of it has disintegrated, and yesterday we made our last smoothie in it (with liquid pouring out the sides during the blending process!). Now we have a brand spanker. Unfortunately I couldn't afford the Vitamix, but our new Breville is better than our last piece of junk we had. Yay!

 Mind you, I still love my veggie juices as well, and drink them regularly. But for breakky, its a power packed smoothie 5 out of 7 days. Incorporating both juices and smoothies into your routine is the perfect way to pack shiploads of amazing nutrients into your day. If you use the right ingredients, you'll notice that over time you'll have significantly more energy, your immune system will be boosted, your skin will glow, your pimples or wounds will heal faster, you'll be more resilient to the effects of stress, you'll sleep better, and your digestion will improve. These are some of the things that I personally noticed when I swapped my regular gluten filled, heavy breakfast with a superfood packed smoothie, as well as drinking fresh veggie juices throughout the afternoon whenever I have the chance.

So whats the difference between juices and smoothies?

Raw juicing

Raw juicing is incredibly important to me to maintain optimum health. It's something that pretty much saved me during a time when my body was so completely depleted of nutrients and exhausted during my years working late nights in bars, pushing myself at uni and dealing with insomnia and anxiety.

Juicing veggies is wonderful because it removes the fibre, and allows you to consume the goodness of huge amounts of veg in seconds. Some people hate on this 'fibre removing' truth of juicing, because fibre is good, right? Yes. fibre is brilliant! But it also blocks the potential for the maximum amount of vitamins to be absorbed from the veggies. When you juice, the indigestible fibre is removed, allowing the body to recieve a potent hit of nutrients, with very little digestive effort. The amount of bio available nutrients is significantly increased compared to eating the veggies whole. Drinking a glass of green juice will give you a potent, quickly absorbed hit of goodness. It's natures perfect energy drink; quickly making its way into the bloodstream. 

image from Pinterest via http://www.staceyspaleokitchen.com

I love the way a juice can make me feel instantly uplifted. I volunteer as a youth leader every Friday night. I'm also a high school teacher. After a big long day teaching teenagers, sometimes making my way to a 5 hour stint at youth is hard, to say the least. When I'm feeling especially tired, I'll smash a big veggie juice, and it gives me instant energy. Juicing helps my physical energy levels and improves my mood, and I find my capacity to do those weekly volunteer hours is much easier when I fill my body with goodness through juicing.

When I juice; because the nutrients are so available to the body through the removal of fibre, unfortunately pesticide residues are also made more available to your bloodstream. If pesticides are designed to kill and deter bugs, I figure they aren't doing my body much good either, so I make sure to invest into fresh, chemical free farmers market produce, or certified organic produce wherever possible. I never juice non organic supermarket veg. My fave juice combinations are either kale, celery, cucumber, Swiss chard, parsley, coriander, lemon and ginger for a green juice (green juices are great at the end of the day and are very calming on the nervous system); or beetroot, carrot, celery, ginger and lemon. If the flavour is too intense for you, add more lemon, or add a little organic apple to take the edge off.

Smoothies

Smoothies, on the other hand, are a fab way to get a 'meal in a glass'. Depending on the type of smoothie you make, it can be packed full of quality protein, fats, fibre, carbs and nutrients to fill you up, boost your energy and get you through your morning. Blending allows bulky ingredients like nuts to be liquefied; making the whole thing easier on your digestive system. When I started consuming smoothies, I found I could go for a run or a swim very soon after, whereas eating my normal giant porridge with nuts would require more digestion time. The result of having smoothies instead of toast and eggs, or porridge every day has meant that I have less bloating, less of that 'sluggish' or tired feeling that comes with eating gluten-y meals, and I just feel much more pepped up. 

The mistake people often make with smoothies is that they fill them with 'energy sapping' ingredients. To me, 'energy sappers' include anything that is processed (hello protein powders), high in sugar (too much fruit), or anything that is labelled as 'low fat'; because from what I've observed; 'low fat' foods are often nutritionally void and are often loaded with additives, cheap salt and sugar to make up for the removal of the fat. Instead, I like to fill my smoothies with good saturated fats for energy; like cold pressed organic coconut oil which is high in lauric acid, is anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-bacterial and although it's a 'saturated fat', it's plant based, and high in unique medium-chain triglycerides which supply the body with a powerful, well utilised source of energy. 

I also love to include different superfoods in my smoothies, to maximise and supercharge my breakfast. These foods and powders contain significant quantities of vital nutrients that aren't otherwise found in the standard Aussie diet. Here's the smoothie my husband and I have every morning at the moment:

Grant and Jess's superfood smoothie!

Ingredients (always opt for organic and local ingredients wherever possible):

- 1 large handful of cashew nuts
- 3 dessert spoons of chia seeds soaked in triple the amount of water for 5-10 mins ( I do this in a cup and make sure i stir them regularly to stop them clumping)
- 1 big dessert spoon of virgin cold pressed coconut oil (get a good quality one without the yucky rancid aftertaste. My fave brands are Indah and Absolute Organic).
- 1 Tsp Camu Camu powder
- 2 Tsp Bee Pollen
- 2 Tsp Maca
- 2 big dessert spoons of raw organic Cacao powder
- 1 big dessert spoon of raw unpasteurised organic honey (you can find this at farmers markets, and is more expensive in organic shops. My parents ship it to me from Crescent Head, as its the honey I've been eating since I was a kid and we get it straight from the bee keeper for $6 a kilo)
- 1- 1.5 cups of purified water or homemade almond/ nut milk
- 2 good hand fulls of frozen mixed berries
- half a tray of ice cubes.

Method:

add all ingredients minus the ice and berries to the blender. blend until completely liquefied. Then add your berries and blend until liquefied. Last, add your ice and blend until crushed. Add more liquid if needed, or to your desired consistency.


Keep in mind, we have worked our way up to accumulating all these superfoods. They are a little expensive, but I consider them an investment into my health; particularly while I'm pregnant as my body is in need of many more nutrients than normal. For me, buying high quality foods such as these is a form of health insurance. However you can just base your smoothies on the cacao and berries, and add some extras in. Acai Berry is another of my favourites and tastes delicious!

Another way I pack nutrients into my day is to consume a mixture of 1tsp raw organic green powder, 1tsp colloidal minerals and 1tsp whole food sourced probiotic powder in a big  glass of filtered water. I do this every single day instead of taking a multi vitamin; as it all comes from real food sources. I buy these products from Cyndi O'Meara's website 'changing habits' as I trust her standards for creating health 'supplements' and have noticed an amazing increase in energy, as well as an improvement in my digestive health since taking them. You can also use these to increase the nutrition of your smoothies or juices.

Are you into juices, smoothies or superfoods? How do you cram nutrients into your day?