How to make a smoothy

How to make a smoothy with no fuss is our topic for today. What are the possible ingredients that one could use to provide more calcium and help us lose weight?

There are probably hundreds of different smoothies you could shake up; but let's keep it simple and certainly make sure they are nutritious. You should be able to blend these in five minutes.

Basic ingredients

You need a stick-blender; and if you plan to use ice then it must be powerful and robust.

Don't fuss with quantities; just toss in your favourites. Keep it simple; far too much of cooking sets out to make it look complicated and time-consuming. They want you to hunt for a smoothy bar nearby.

If you are planning to use a smoothy to lose weight then don't be afraid of a little fat; it contributes to satiety. It's the sugars and refined starches that we need to avoid; they are the devils that add inches to the abdominal area. But natural honey has a low GI.

Quite deliberately there are few instructions about quantities; how to make a smoothy should not be higher mathematics. Keep it simple; if you add one or two tablespoons of mixed nuts and seeds it makes little difference.

Cleaning up tips

• Add a couple tablespoons of water to the container, slosh the blender-head about and drink the liquid.
• Clean the blender-head immediately.
  

Mixed nuts and seeds

There are a hundred reasons, too complex to discuss here, why we should all be having nuts and seeds on a daily basis.

Once the shell is cracked the oils start to go rancid if exposed to air. Ideally one should blend them up each day but you can probably cheat a little. Do enough for a week and keep the powder in the freezer. Then simply spoon in a bit to thicken up your smoothy.

You will need a small coffee-grinder. Many seeds if not ground will simply go straight through the intestine undigested; and may get stuck in diverticuli.

I typically might use flax, pumpkin and poppy seeds; there are a host of others.

• Grinding flax seeds
  

Chia and sunflower seeds are two other gems; to which I might add almonds, pecans or walnuts.

Pour the powder into a bottle with a wide-throated funnel and store it in the freezer. You will be using it several times a week; or even daily.

Banana

When you start to read up on how to make a smoothy you will find you are entering a minefield of different opinions. Just follow your own instincts and don't get hung up on the many controversies about losing weight. Is it high in carb, what about the fat and should you be adding a protein shake?

Eventually these things will become clear; don't let them deter you just as you are starting out.

A small bit of banana is basic to most smoothies. Keep the carb load down if you are wanting to lose weight.

Honey

I strongly believe one should not pander to the sweet tooth; you may need to pull it, if you are seriously overweight.

Why must everything be sweet? We aren't children any longer.

• Pull the sweet tooth
  

And in any case many smoothies will use berries, carrots or butternut soup; they are all naturally sweet.

Never forget that excessive sugar drives dementia and stroke.

Absolutely avoid supermarket honey; it is likely to have been processed, often adulterated with high-fructose corn syrup and has a very raised glycemic index once heated and filtered of all the pollen.

But interesting research by German scientists found that natural honey from your beekeeper around the corner is low GI^[2]; and astonishingly will actually lower your fasting blood glucose and help you lose weight. Don't use too much; your smoothy really does not have to be sickeningly sweet. Half a teaspoon for each person would do.

Did you know that almost all type-2 diabetics can achieve total remission by using food as medicine without the use of drugs? Natural honey and the pumpkin family are two parts of the solution.

• Food for function or pleasure?
• Pumpkin for diabetes
  

Berries

Interestingly when making the best smoothies to lose weight you'll find that berries are not banned by those who have gone keto; they have a low glycemic index and are extremely good for us. It is all about phytonutrients with strange sounding names like anthocyanins.

Fresh is best but obviously that's only in spring; frozen is fine in my book.

• Nutritious berry smoothies

This purple power smoothy is one of my favourites when the mulberries are in season; you choose your own.

Green smoothies

There is so much research confirming the importance of dark-green leafy vegetables; we should eat them daily.

There's no better place than in a nutritious green smoothy.

I am absolutely against the weighing and measuring of our food; that's the way to ruin our love of eating. Just toss in a leaf of kale, some leftover cooked spinach or a slip of parsley; so easy.

Those who refuse to eat their greens are far more likely to go blind when they get old, especially if they smoke. It's all about a phytonutrient called lutein that is found exclusively in the macula of the eye. Kale is the best source by a long mile but you are unlikely to find it in the shops; you have to grow it. Spinach is good too.

• Everlasting kale
  

Orange smoothies

Your orange smoothies are terrific; they are loaded with beta-carotenes which are provitamin A. You simple cannot be healthy and strong if you are deficient in these nutrients.

A simple way to make orange smoothies is using raw, grated carrot or a little butternut soup; no reason not to toss in a leaf of spinach and get a double-benefit.

• Carrot smoothy
• Perfect butternut smoothy
  

Probiotics

You have probably read about the importance of the microbiome, those friendly bugs in our alimentary canals; and under our armpits, on the skin and in the bladder.

Without them you simply cannot be healthy; period.

Two things are important.

1. The total number of these bugs; a healthy microbiome should weigh an incredible 2kg of friendly bacteria, viruses and yeast cells.
   
2. The diversity of these bugs; in the happy tum there are over a thousand different species.
   

If you swallow them in capsules you will get probably 6 or less species; they will swamp out the diversity. So it's important to culture the probiotics in your own kitchen. We think kefir is the simplest; it takes only five minutes to make. And it is reportedly the single best natural source of calcium.

But kefir is quite sour and many people can't stomach the taste; so put it into your smoothies.

This is our rich breakfast kefir smoothy.

The lactobacillus in unpasteurised yoghurt alas is not nearly as effective as a probiotic; buttermilk may be a better option.

Get your calcium from kefir; it is the richest natural source of the mineral with none of the increased risks of taking very large doses that the kidneys cannot cope with.

• How to make kefir
• Another kefir breakfast smoothy
  

Protein powders

I won't mince my words; protein powders are one of the biggest cons of the century. They are ultra-processed foods that go against every notion about natural living.

If you want to add extra protein rather use some chickpeas, hummus or just boil an egg.

• What are ultra-processed foods?
  

Satiety

The joy of smoothies is the satiety they provide. That extra fat in the cream, the fibre in berries and the protein in the milk all stimulate the secretin hormones that slow gastric emptying; they give these wonderful starters for the day considerable staying power.

Our perfect choice breakfast is one of these smoothies and Eggs Hilton but that does take a little longer to prepare. A tablespoon of homemade hummus is another excellent choice when in a hurry; that too you can make at home in just five minutes once you are in the groove. 

• Eggs Hilton
  

Super smoothies for strong bones

These super smoothies will give you more ideas.

For strong bones get your calcium from kefir in a smoothy, vitamin D from the sunshine and K in dark-green leafy vegetables.

How to make thick smoothies?

How to make a smoothy quickly and simply is not rocket science; one that is good for you. You can thicken them with more coconut cream, a teaspoon of chickpeas and a blend of seeds.

Notice how smoothies can pull together our need for many coloured foods, a probiotic and a breakfast that will stay with us for the whole morning.

How to make a smoothy is super simple.

A smoothy bar near you

One final thought about how to make a smoothy. Whilst looking for the keywords folk are using when searching for more information, I was staggered by the number that contain "near you."

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why anyone would go out to buy a smoothy "near you" that one can make at home in five minutes for a fraction of the price. You know exactly what ingredients have been used and you can tailor it to your own needs.

Personalise your own smoothies; don't let someone else choose what you should be eating.

In short smoothies are extremely good for us; they are only bad when we start to add sugar, artificial sweeteners or some other processed food. Keep them simple and enjoy them daily.

• Gems from a weight loss conference
• Excessive sugar drives dementia and stroke; a report from the German Society of Neurology on World Brain Day.
  

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