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I've been doing this about 4 days a week as a quick lunch replacement and wondered if anyone else does the same. I have been making smoothies with a little kale, blueberries, strawberries, a banana, pomegranete extract, 1 tbsp raw almond butter, protein powder, greens powder and almond milk. It winds up being around 400-450 calories. Anyone think this is enough for a lunch replacement if it makes me feel full until dinner?
I've been doing this about 4 days a week as a quick lunch replacement and wondered if anyone else does the same. I have been making smoothies with a little kale, blueberries, strawberries, a banana, pomegranete extract, 1 tbsp raw almond butter, protein powder, greens powder and almond milk. It winds up being around 400-450 calories. Anyone think this is enough for a lunch replacement if it makes me feel full until dinner?
We have a green smoothie for dinner every night - we don't use as much fruit as you do because we have to watch our sugar intake. We alternate our greens nightly (organic kale, chard, spinach, baby salad greens, collard greens or bok choy each night and add a big handful of cilantro (it is very mild and delicious in a smoothie) or parsley, 2 whole lemons, skin and seeds (lemons give smoothies such a bright taste), cut up and sometimes celery, cucumber, purple cabbage (mild and sweet when liquified) and sometimes things like dandelion or radish greens (organic), colored bell peppers....we use splenda to give it a bit of sweetness...sometimes we add a pear or an apple or kiwi - and other times we add no fruit - hydrated chia seeds and hemp powder for protein (we use these 2 things in every smoothie). Since this is all we eat, we try to pack the smoothies with lots of good-for-you foods.
We have a green smoothie for dinner every night - we don't use as much fruit as you do because we have to watch our sugar intake. We alternate our greens nightly (organic kale, chard, spinach, baby salad greens, collard greens or bok choy each night and add a big handful of cilantro (it is very mild and delicious in a smoothie) or parsley, 2 whole lemons, skin and seeds (lemons give smoothies such a bright taste), cut up and sometimes celery, cucumber, purple cabbage (mild and sweet when liquified) and sometimes things like dandelion or radish greens (organic), colored bell peppers....we use splenda to give it a bit of sweetness...sometimes we add a pear or an apple or kiwi - and other times we add no fruit - hydrated chia seeds and hemp powder for protein (we use these 2 things in every smoothie). Since this is all we eat, we try to pack the smoothies with lots of good-for-you foods.
It's funny because when I've read other recipes for smoothies they call for way much more fruits than I use. Maybe theirs was for fruit smoothies more than green. I like to combine them both. I actually added the banana in there because the protein powder has kind of a bad taste and blueberries didn't seem to be enough to disguise it. I usually eat the banana for breakfast along with my oatmeal, but decided to put in my lunch smoothie instead so it would taste better.
You are doing a good job figuring out good nutrition for yourself...keep up the good work. Hemp powder has very little taste and it is a complete protein....maybe give it a try....there is hemp fiber powder and hemp protein powder...bananas are nutritious but they are higher on the glycemic index than other fruits...when you liquify fruit you are making that fruit sugar almost instantly available....so it can be a bit of a sugar rush....which I cant handle but maybe you can....I love oatmeal for breakfast....put some walnuts and raw sunflower seeds on top....maybe a spoon of flaxseed meal.
If it keeps you full then sure, I would say that's enough.
I like to a make a similar one with green apple or pear, purslane (grows wild all over the back yard) or other greens, Thai basil or spearmint, honey, ginger, lemongrass, chia seeds, and coconut or almond milk. Sometimes I'll add avocado, cardamom, parsley, or fenugreek leaves.
Last edited by EugeneOnegin; 04-30-2013 at 08:01 PM..
Smoothies are fine for a treat, but we have teeth for a reason. Fruits and vegetables should be eaten whole not pureed into liquid...that changes the structure of the food.
The only people that should be consuming protein powder are body builders, if one isn't getting enough protein from whole foods in a vegetarian/vegan diet they are doing something wrong.
Lots of things change the structure of food. Mashing, drying, freezing, fermenting, chopping, blending, pureeing, boiling, sauteing, baking, aging, grinding, grating, etc. Do you take issue with these as well? Should we not eat mashed potatoes, pesto, pureed soups, chile pastes, prepared horseradish? Not to mention that the act of chewing changes the structure of a food anyway.
The only significant difference with blending is that the food is probably digested by the body a little more quickly (can be an advantage or disadvantage) because the surface area is larger, and is probably digested more completely.
People usually drink smoothies as way to conveniently get nutrition when they're away from the house or lacking in time. I also use them as way to use up extra ingredients that would otherwise go to waste.
Lots of things change the structure of food. Mashing, drying, freezing, fermenting, chopping, blending, pureeing, boiling, sauteing, baking, aging, grinding, grating, etc. Do you take issue with these as well?
Yes, lots of things do and they vary in their positive or negative impact. Chopping, grinding, grating, etc don't process food any more than our teeth. On the other hand cooking can create carcinogens and refining can create foods that are overall problematic.
Blending fruits and vegetables into a fine puree destroys most of the plant fibers and makes the nutrients highly digestible, I suppose in some cases that can be beneficial (e.g., when you're very active) but that doesn't apply to most. We know that refined grains and sugars react differently than whole grains and whole sugars, blending fruits and vegetables into a pure is not much different than refining grains or sugar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EugeneOnegin
People usually drink smoothies as way to conveniently get nutrition when they're away from the house or lacking in time.
How is making and drinking a smoothie more convenient than eating a piece of fruit? Regardless, as I said, as a treat here and there a smoothie is just fine so I'm not suggesting that one should avoid smoothies. But the OP is asking about smoothies as a meal replacement which is a different animal.
Yes, lots of things do and they vary in their positive or negative impact. Chopping, grinding, grating, etc don't process food any more than our teeth. On the other hand cooking can create carcinogens and refining can create foods that are overall problematic.
Cooking also makes some things more bio-available e.g. lycopene and carotenoids. It's probably best to consume a mixture of raw and cooked. Carcinogens such as heterocyclic amines are mostly a concern with certain types of protein e.g. beef that is overcooked and/or cooked at high temperatures. That's more of a concern with burnt food than cooking in general.
Quote:
Originally Posted by user_id
Blending fruits and vegetables into a fine puree destroys most of the plant fibers and makes the nutrients highly digestible, I suppose in some cases that can be beneficial (e.g., when you're very active) but that doesn't apply to most. We know that refined grains and sugars react differently than whole grains and whole sugars, blending fruits and vegetables into a pure is not much different than refining grains or sugar.
I've heard this argument before but I find it more than a little dubious. I'm not aware of any studies showing that blending destroys fiber and it seems highly unlikely. If mastication, gastric acid, going through the intestines, and bacteria (for the most part) can't break down cellulose I doubt that a blender will. They are extremely tiny molecules. That's why you can buy metamucil that comes in a very fine powder form and it passes through your system without being broken down into glucose.
Refined grains have the bran and germ removed. That's a different animal. That's why I don't like juicing, you're removing important things from the fruit or vegetable. You don't have the fiber there to slow down the absorption of all the sugars.
With blending nothing is removed, everything is just broken down into smaller pieces. Blending is just taking some of the work away from your jaws and stomach. I do think that with blending there is a possibility that the body won't register the same level of satiety as if the food were chewed and eaten though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by user_id
How is making and drinking a smoothie more convenient than eating a piece of fruit? Regardless, as I said, as a treat here and there a smoothie is just fine so I'm not suggesting that one should avoid smoothies. But the OP is asking about smoothies as a meal replacement which is a different animal.
I take fruit with me all the time, both fresh and dried. But a piece of fruit is not that satiating really. When I'm at work for 9 hours fruit only goes so far. After lifting heavy weights for an hour fruit only goes so far.
As a meal replacement I don't think a smoothie is a problem if you're eating two quality meals for the rest of the day. If it fills someone up and keeps them from eating junk food, or gets them to eat something they normally wouldn't (such as kale, which many don't like), I don't think it's a bad thing.
Cooking also makes some things more bio-available e.g. lycopene and carotenoids.
I meant to say "and other carotenoids." That's a little redundant since lycopene is a carotenoid.
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