ALL ABOUT VITAMIN DRINKS AND SMOOTHIES
The best blenders and juicers   for Making vitamin drinks and smoothies.		The best recipes   for Making vitamin drinks and smoothies
	We keep hearing about the benefits of smoothie drinking, but what are they really? Why are smoothies, those liquid meals, so healthy and why should we incorporate them in our daily lives? 1. For starters, if you are not keen on eating fruits or veggies, drinking a smoothie might help you trick your body into eating those "five a day" while actually enjoying the taste! 2. Additionally, if you keep forgetting to drink at least eight glasses of water per day (yes, so many numbers to keep in mind!); you could at least keep your body hydrated by drinking a homemade smoothie. During summer, do not forget to add some ice cubes before blending for some extra water intake. 3. Smoothies are much healthier than juices. While drinking juice, you get vitamins and minerals, but almost zero fiber. Smoothies, however, are made out of the whole fruit or vegetable, so nothing gets wasted. 4. Smoothies are so easy to make! If you do not have much time in the morning, you just throw whatever fruit or vegetable you have at home, mix it with something liquid and blend it! And there you have it, your breakfast is ready! Moreover, if you are really tight on time, you can make packs of cut fruit or vegetables and freeze them. Like that, you will always have time for a healthy start of the day. 5. Smoothies are also cheap! Forget about the ones you buy in a supermarket, you can make yours for a few cents! You can also stop buying (expensive) multivitamins and food supplements, as drinking a glass of smoothie every day will provide you with all the vitamins you need. 6. If you are trying to lose some weight, smoothies, especially the green ones, are a perfect choice! They are low in calories, but fill you up very well. As they contain a lot of water and fiber, they will make you feel as if you just ate the whole meal. Moreover, they will also help you fight cravings and hunger while consuming something healthy. 7. Smoothies boost your metabolism. As they are already blended, they are easy to digest and therefore, your body does not to work that hard to process it. If you are suffering from constipation, drinking a smoothie might be a good idea to get your digestion going! Incorporating smoothies into your diet not only gives your body all the vitamins, minerals and fiber it needs, but it also helps your digestion, as the foods are blended and therefore easier for your body to process. Additionally, blending a smoothie means that you use the whole fruit or vegetable and can therefore keep all the important nutrients it offers you. Unfortunately, this does not mean that all smoothies deserve to be tagged as healthy. Do not believe the marketing hype and keep in mind that just because something is called a smoothie, it does not necessarily mean that it is good for you and your body. But what exactly makes a smoothie unhealthy? Why should you be cautious and read the ingredients before buying a smoothie, or even better, stick with homemade smoothies, made under your supervision. For starts, most of the smoothies you can buy in a supermarket are loaded with sugar, fat, calories and other unhealthy ingredients that you just do not want to put in your body! But this does not mean that you cannot make unhealthy mistakes while making a smoothie at home. What are some unhealthy ingredient choices you could make when blending? Firstly, do not add any sugar laden fruit juices into your smoothie. They are usually just flavored sugar water and will not do you any good. Why add a store-bought fruit juice to your fruits anyway? Which brings us to our second big no no,  sugar. And the question stays the same: Why add additional sugar to your fruits, loaded with natural sugars, anyway?
	We have all been there, especially after holidays, before summer or just whenever we feel that we have been neglecting our body and therefore need to start treating it better. At that point, we usually think of starting a detox diet to clean our body from the inside out. Detoxing, when done right, means eliminating toxins and then feeding our body healthy nutrients, which helps us to renew our ability to keep optimum health. Especially if you are not familiar with detoxing, changing your food regime can be quite a terrifying thing to do. However, one of the best ways to combat this is a smoothie detox. Preparing healthy smoothies makes you more at ease with your detox diet, as blending is, let us face it, fun! But what do you need to know before starting a smoothie detox? Firstly and most importantly, you should choose the right ingredients, especially the ones containing antioxidants. They are known to have many health benefits, among which are cancer and heart disease prevention. So keep your eye on those mighty antioxidants and add some strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, mangoes or kale to your smoothies! Let us have a look at some of the easiest and the best recipes you can incorporate in your detox diet. Morning Kale Smoothie Kale is a superfood and, as we already know, rich in antioxidants. Additionally, it is also full of fiber and vitamin A. For a creamy texture, soak kale leaves in water for a few hours before blending. As kale can get easily rotten, freeze the leaves you do not need for later or make some healthy kale chips. Ingredients: 4 to 5 leaves of fresh or frozen kale 1 whole banana 1 cup of frozen blueberries 1/2 of diced avocado 1 cup of cold oat milk Blend all the ingredients and serve with a sprinkle of oat flakes. Antioxidant Tomato Smoothie We are undoubtedly all familiar with the health properties of tomatoes. They are packed with all sorts of vitamins, especially vitamins A, C and K. They also improve our skin, improve blood sugar regulation, improve vision and even fight cancer! You might not be too keen on drinking tomatoes in a smoothie, but do not worry, you can easily camouflage its taste with some other fruits and veggies! Ingredients: 2 cups of fresh tomatoes 1/4 cup of natural homemade apple juice (without sugar!) 1/2 cup of diced carrots 1/4 cup of celery 2 cups of ice Blend all the ingredients and decorate with celery. Summer Mango Papaya Smoothie The National Institutes of Health lists mangoes as great sources of vitamin A. Additionally; they are rich in iron and antioxidants and also help with indigestion. Like mangoes, papayas also contain enzymes that boost digestion, while also being a good source of fiber. Ingredients: 1 mango 1 papaya 2 cups of plain yogurt, low fat 2 tbsp. of fresh lime juice 2 to 3 tbsp. of honey (to taste) 1/4 tsp. of almond extract (or a bit of almond milk) Do not forget to peel and pit the mango and papaya. Simply blend all the ingredients together and enjoy!   The Best Blenders & Juicers for Making Vitamin Drinks & Smoothies.   Smoothie making is no rocket science and there are so many benefits you get from drinking it, such as improved digestion, hydration, eating more fruits and vegetables, easier weight loss, more energy and many others. However, there are some basic things you need to know before you start blending. First, you should decide what recipe will suit your purpose, are you trying to lose weight or just want to add more greens into your diet? If you do not know which recipe to use, search the Internet where you will find a plethora of different ones that will suit your every need. Secondly, keep in mind that the first thing you add into your blender is the liquid you want to use. Do not forget that you should stick to your recipe and should not add more water than recommended (usually not more than 2 cups per person); otherwise your smoothie will be too watery. Keep in mind that smoothie is not a milkshake and therefore not a sugary dessert but, when done right, actually a meal replacement. The base of a milkshake is dairy, usually ice cream or milk with added flavor. They can be topped with whipped cream and candy. We definitely do not want that in smoothies, so make sure you use a healthy liquid base, which certainly does not include sugary drinks and other liquids filled with sugar. You should rather use filtered water, almond/coconut/hazelnut/oat milk, organic fruit juiced or kefir. You can then add your base, which will make the smoothie creamy. The most basic base is a banana, followed by avocado, peach, apple, chia seed gel or nut butters. Yoghurt, frozen fruit or pears will also do the trick. Now it is time to add the fruits or vegetables your smoothie recipe requires. You can also get creative and add whatever you think goes together and then learn from your mistakes. Opt for fresh fruits or the frozen ones. You can also prepare packs of cut fruits beforehand and freeze them; that way you will also save time. At the end, you can also add some additional foods to your smoothie, such as dates or maple syrup to make it sweeter (even though most smoothie recipes already include enough sweet fruit), a pinch of quality salt that will increase the minerals (such as pink Himalayan salt), spices, quality protein powder, superfoods, such as chia, flax, hemp seeds or goji berries. The possibilities are endless! After adding all your ingredients, it is time to start blending! Follow the instructions of your blender and do not worry, after a few times, smoothie making will become second nature for you and you will get it right every time. THE MOST COMMON SMOOTHIE MISTAKES Everyone says making smoothies is so easy, so what could actually go wrong? However, they are still some things that could go wrong. If your smoothie is too watery, simply add more fruit (the best option would be bananas or frozen fruit), nut butter or oats. If it lacks creaminess, you can add some nut butter, oatmeal, avocado or banana. On the other hand, if your smoothie is too thick, add some non-dairy milk, such as oatmeal, coconut, hazelnut or almond. Remember that this might change its flavor, so always add the liquids in small amounts. In case you accidentally made your green smoothie taste almost too healthy, you should add more milk, such as for example hazelnut, a frozen banana or some maple syrup. Even if your smoothie is too tasteless, you can still save it by adding a splash of natural fruit juice for acid taste, Greek yoghurt for tangy taste, or dates or maple syrup for sweetness. You can also add spices or grated ginger to add more flavor. If the smoothie is not blended enough, you might not be adding the ingredients to your blender in the correct order. You should add your liquids first, which will get the blade turning smoothly. Start blending on slow speed and then gradually increasing the speed. Do not forget to peel and pit the mango and papaya. Simply blend all the ingredients together and enjoy! health properties of tomatoes. They are packed with all sorts of vitamins, especially vitamins A, C and K. They also improve our skin, improve blood sugar regulation, improve vision and even fight cancer! You might not be too keen on drinking tomatoes in a smoothie, but do not worry, you can easily camouflage its taste with some other fruits and veggies! Ingredients: 2 cups of fresh tomatoes 1/4 cup of natural homemade apple juice (without sugar!)
	We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But there are still more than 31 million Americans who skip it every single day. Why? Most of them say they are just too busy to make something to eat. But eating (or drinking) your breakfast can be super simple and it can only take you 5 minutes. How? Simple. With smoothies. Let us take a look why a smoothie can be your perfect breakfast choice. Firstly, if you combine the ingredients in the right way, a smoothie can be a powerful nutritional bomb. Make sure you add enough protein and good fat and it will provide you with satiety and enough energy for the next few hours. Great protein and healthy fat sources to include in your recipe are: coconut oil or milk, natural yoghurt, cottage cheese, avocado, natural nut butters (not store-bought!), natural protein powders (hemp, peas). Also, make sure you measure all the ingredients. Many people forget about this and throw everything they can find in the blender. Remember, it does not matter that you drink a smoothie, calories are still calories, so make sure they come from the right source. Do not add sugar, pop drinks and processed foods to your mixture, you will ruin your smoothie and fill your body with extra calories it does not need. If you do not feel full after your smoothie or you are just worried you will get hungry really fast, try this little trick: add some rolled oats to your blender. The result will be a thicker smoothie because starch from oatmeal absorbs some of the liquid and forms a body Satiety guaranteed! Secondly, a morning smoothie is a great way to add liquid to your body. Do you often wake up very tired and not rested at all? Sometimes the reason for this is because your body is dehydrated. Over the night, your body can lose for as much as one liter of sweat and you have to replace it somehow. So make sure you add quality liquid to your smoothie. You can use: cold water, freshly squeezed fruit juices, coconut, almond or soy milk, nonfat Greek yoghurt or kefir. Make sure you do not add store-bought juices as they are usually filled with extra sugar and additives you do not need. Moreover, your breakfast smoothie can be a great way to add greens to your daily diet. Adding greens, such as spinach, kale, parsley or cucumbers will add nutritional value to your smoothie and make sure you get your daily dose of minerals and vitamins. Just one warning, if you are new to the smoothie world, make sure you gradually add greens to the smoothie. Kale, for example, can be bitter and adding it too much too quick will ruin your flavor. So make sure you take one step at a time. If you still believe you do not have enough time to make your morning smoothie, give it a try. You will see that it is super easy. All you need is a good blender, the right and quality ingredients and a few minutes of your morning time. 1/2 cup of diced carrots.