Good health
A smooth way to good health
Naini Setalvad advises adding smoothies to our diet as an easy way of boosting our immunity
Just the other day, sitting in Mumbai, I was observing the low immunity levels of people. I was enjoying my morning smoothie and thinking that I really need to make people understand that smoothies can boost your overall health. I love my go-to green smoothie at any time of the day. My tongue hangs out when I think of my energy-boosting smoothies; some actually taste like chocolate milkshake but are vegan, and free of refined sugar and fat.
You really must think of adding them to your diet as a lot of you have moved away from natural, regional, and seasonal foods that are laden with chemicals, pesticides, and artificial colours. What’s more, being full of white sugar and white flour, they bomb our brains and blast our bodies.
It is no wonder that our bodies are working overtime to release this pile-up of accumulated toxins. Late nights, pollution, smoke, alcohol, caffeine, and processed foods add to the stress that the mind and body undergo.
Who doesn’t want to live a disease-free life! But how are you going to manage it without good food? The simplest way to begin is by increasing food intake from the plant kingdom. The thumb rule is that at every meal (be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner), fifty per cent of the plate has to be filled with vegetables. Additionally, good fat, herbs, and spices boost your overall immunity. The easiest way to do so is to add smoothies to your daily diet.
Raw foods have healing properties, so let’s blend them and have some fun. Let’s not forget that one of the many advantages of smoothies is that the body absorbs nutrients more easily, breaking down hard-to-digest plant cell walls. Most of us have forgotten that we need to chew each bite till it takes a liquid form.
Luckily, a smoothie is pulpy and easy to consume, but that does not stop you from chewing a smoothie. Yup, even though this meal is liquid, you have to chew it like you are eating solid food. The biggest mistake you are making is gulping down the smoothie, as it will slow the digestive process and your stomach will have a hard time assimilating and eliminating all the ingredients. If you don’t chew, the enzymes in your saliva will be unable to break down the sugars in the drink which will lead to more sugars entering your bloodstream.
Please don’t mistake a smoothie for a juice. The huge difference is that the juice lacks fibre, while smoothies don’t.
A smoothie can comprise vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, rock salt, or sea salt. All you need is a blender. If you go the smoothie way, make sure you do it the right way by picking the right combinations. I do not advocate mixing any fruit—with the exception of pineapple or pomegranate—with a vegetable smoothie as it may hamper digestion. You can rotate vegetable or fruit smoothies.
A smoothie permeates the body with easily digestible nourishment to help reboot it and recharge your energy and health parameters. Remember to blend those fruits and vegetables; do not juice them. So, let me run you through a couple of smoothies which can be added to your daily diet. To start with, make your smoothies simple and very basic.
1) Mood-uplifter smoothie
Ingredients:
½ banana
1 medium-size chikoo
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3–4 cubes of ice or 50 ml water
Method:
1. Blend the ingredients.
2. Serve as it is.
2) Focus and concentration smoothie
Ingredients:
1 medium-size carrot, peeled and chopped
½ raw beetroot, peeled and chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 tsp sesame seeds
5 almonds
5 pistachios (pista)
1 one-inch coconut, peeled
1½ tsp ginger, chopped
Water to adjust consistency
Rock salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste
Method:
1. Blend all the ingredients together to a smooth consistency.
2. Transfer the contents into a serving glass and serve.
3) Anti-allergy go-to green smoothie
Ingredients:
½ cup coriander leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
1 one-fourth-inch ginger root, peeled
1 one-fourth-inch fresh turmeric root, peeled
Rock salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste
Water to adjust consistency.
Method:
1. Blend all the ingredients together to a smooth consistency.
2. Serve and enjoy.