Smoothies in the morning are the best part of my dining day. I've always enjoyed them as an option for breakfast but now they're down-right essential. Starting out each day with the right food cocktail is exponentially more important now that I'm on this diet. The beauty of making a smoothie is that you can play around with all the different things that "should" go into it (to make it nutritionally significant), blend it with enough sweetness and voila! Something sweet that goes down really pleasantly.
Before I started the Forks Over Knives diet, my smoothie ingredients included frozen fruit, a banana, yogurt and whatever fruit juice I had on hand (my favorite was orange juice). But look at me now!! Today, my smoothie contained the following: coconut water, avocado, wheat germ, flax seed, chia seeds, frozen edamame, spinach, almond milk, strawberries, agave nectar, some new melon Brody picked-out, toasted almonds and ice. And it was...drum-roll please...really good! You wouldn't think it would be, though, based on the foreign-sounding list of ingredients. Agave nectar? Chia seeds? Frozen edamame? Time to start googling...
Before I started the Forks Over Knives diet, my smoothie ingredients included frozen fruit, a banana, yogurt and whatever fruit juice I had on hand (my favorite was orange juice). But look at me now!! Today, my smoothie contained the following: coconut water, avocado, wheat germ, flax seed, chia seeds, frozen edamame, spinach, almond milk, strawberries, agave nectar, some new melon Brody picked-out, toasted almonds and ice. And it was...drum-roll please...really good! You wouldn't think it would be, though, based on the foreign-sounding list of ingredients. Agave nectar? Chia seeds? Frozen edamame? Time to start googling...
Agave nectar: Never heard of it. I did buy a bottle of it, though, during my first grocery run because I knew I'd need the sugar (since my jumbo-sized bottle of honey is retired). At Trader Joe's they only had one kind but when I went to Whole Foods, they had an entire section dedicated to agave nectar choices. Apparently there's a whole world of agave nectar-loving people out there. Maybe there on this diet too? Nah...doubtful. So what's an agave? I've heard of agape...
This picture is of a blue agave plant. They grow in Mexico and this is where the agave nectar comes from. In Spanish, this plant is called an agave tequilana. Hummmm....more googling....yep, as I suspected. This is ALSO the plant that produces tequila. How's does that happen? The same plant that produces a nutritional product that's approved by the most natural of the naturalists, also produces one of the most toxic drinks that, most likely, strips you of your nutrients...either during the burn going down or during the burn coming back up. Crazy.
This picture is of a blue agave plant. They grow in Mexico and this is where the agave nectar comes from. In Spanish, this plant is called an agave tequilana. Hummmm....more googling....yep, as I suspected. This is ALSO the plant that produces tequila. How's does that happen? The same plant that produces a nutritional product that's approved by the most natural of the naturalists, also produces one of the most toxic drinks that, most likely, strips you of your nutrients...either during the burn going down or during the burn coming back up. Crazy.
Chia seeds: I originally bought these about a year ago. I was strolling through the store and saw this great display. The accolades this little seed gets sold me and I threw a few tablespoons into my smoothie the next day. After that, I moved them to the abyss that is the back of my top shelf. I used way too many of them and they have this gel-like quality (once wet) that makes them stick to each other and all over your glass. Not pleasant.
I pulled them out for the Forks Over Knives diet because 1) they were a nutritional item I actually already had in my pantry and didn't have to buy, 2) I thought they may be OK in smaller quantities, and 3) all my food was sucking anyway, so why should I care if I add another disappointing food to the mix?
Since I am so nutrition-sensitive now, I use chia seeds every day. We've worked it out. And that's a good thing because they're crazy-good for you. According to a February ABC.com article appropriately titled, "Why is Everyone Eating Chia Seeds?" one expert explained, "It's a high source of fiber. Chia will keep you fuller longer and prevent you from overeating. You have that feeling of fullness in your stomach because when you wet chia seeds, they form a gelatinous substance that takes longer to digest." Two tablespoons of chia seeds contains (among other things) 4 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber. That is 1/3 your recommended daily amount!! Cha-cha-cha-chia!!
I pulled them out for the Forks Over Knives diet because 1) they were a nutritional item I actually already had in my pantry and didn't have to buy, 2) I thought they may be OK in smaller quantities, and 3) all my food was sucking anyway, so why should I care if I add another disappointing food to the mix?
Since I am so nutrition-sensitive now, I use chia seeds every day. We've worked it out. And that's a good thing because they're crazy-good for you. According to a February ABC.com article appropriately titled, "Why is Everyone Eating Chia Seeds?" one expert explained, "It's a high source of fiber. Chia will keep you fuller longer and prevent you from overeating. You have that feeling of fullness in your stomach because when you wet chia seeds, they form a gelatinous substance that takes longer to digest." Two tablespoons of chia seeds contains (among other things) 4 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber. That is 1/3 your recommended daily amount!! Cha-cha-cha-chia!!
Edamame: Never been a big fan. I've tried them boiled and salted in the shell before but when it comes right-down to it...they're a bean. And if you've been reading my blog regularly, you know I don't like them much. But when your body is sending you clear signals of what it needs, you can only overlook that for so long. On my last trip to the store, I stopped to read the nutrients on the back of a frozen bag of shelled edamame. Five grams of fiber (20% recommended daily intake) and a whopping 13 grams of protein per 1/2 cup!!! For comparison sake, one egg only has 7 grams of protein. I threw it in my cart and figured I'd find something to do with it. Today was my first test. I put a generous handful into the blender just to see if they would screw-up the good smoothie I had in the works. Just like spinach, you can't even taste it. Wahoo! Score one for Tracy. And, for the first time on this nutritional program, I'm happy to say that my smoothie kept me full all the way to lunch. No snacking necessary. How does that saying go? "It's progress, not perfection."
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