Green smoothie or salad?

Comments

• pianissima Raw Newbie

  salads are awesome and you should feel great about eating them, but here’s why GSs are recommended as well:

  1) OPTIMUM nutrient availability—our jaws have developed poorly due to decades of malnutrition from cooked and innapropriate foods. so, we don’t break down all the cellulose in greens when we just chew them. the nutrients are packed in the cellulose. you want to unleash them!

  2) substituting fruit for fat. you end up getting all the greens without having to resort to a heavy salad dressing. personally, i’d eat a head of lettuce by itself, but i guess i see the point for all the ranch dressing lovers out there.

  here’s a suggestion for cheap blenders that you could try before giving up entirely: do your fruit and water first. this creates a smooth base that you can slowly add your greens into and they will break down. (i’ve used a cheap osterizer with this method and it worked perfectly)
• vegagitator

  So even my cheap blender breaks down the cellulose in plants better than my jaws. That answers my question. I’ll try your method of blending it next time.
• bitt Raw Newbie

  I have a pretty cheap blender and I find I have to give it time. I blend for a few minutes, then let it rest. I blend for up to 5 min. It does the job ok, no chunks. You also need to CHEW your smoothie, since the enzymes released in your saliva help break down the veggies.
• Chicagoan

  Mine was $40. It does almost half gallon of green smoothie daily. I’m planning to get a Vita-Mix when I burn this one :lol: It works great though. I can be proud of it. If I add too much kale. it comes chunky though, but not with spinach. It can even smash non soaked goji berries (most of the times)
• vegagitator

  Thank you all for your good advice. I just made a green smoothie with romaine lettuce, apples, celery, fresh lemon juice and a little stevia powder, not bad. I think I’ll get better at this with practice. I added a little bit at a time, blending in between, starting with the apples and lemon juice, then celery, then lettuce and sweetener. Then I let it run for a little while.

  Next time I will be sure to cut the apple into chunks, not just wedges and not add too much water at first. It’s all a bit tricky because my blender blades have a tendency to spin without actually blending anything, but so far, so good. Bottoms up!
• pianissima Raw Newbie

  apples are generally hard to “cream up.” something softer like a pear, banana or mango might be easier on your blender. glad it’s working better!
• jenergy Raw Newbie

  I like to freeze banana chunks to add to my smoothies… makes ‘em creamy and cold, yum. And it’s a good way to rescue an entire bunch of bananas that’s gone super ripe all at once. :o)

  I have a cheapo blender, too, and I do like pianissima suggested… blend up everything but the greens, then add them gradually. And I tend to stick with spinach for my green smoothies, since it’s milder and softer (blends better) and make salads with the heartier greens.

  Good luck with your combinations! Oh, and I like to add fresh grated ginger to mine, too. Adds a kick!