Five fruits a day make one Smoothie

   

There are many sayings and sermons on the efficiency and importance of fruit consumption; some advised we take 10 others say more than one fruit would do. Well, whatever it is, taking fruit just got more interesting with the discovery of smoothie.

How early researchers arrived at the name ‘smoothie’ is everyone’s guess. For starters, simply put taking fruits make you smooth.

Olubunmi Balogun, a food microbiologist, defined smoothie as a thick beverage made from blended raw fruit and/or vegetables, with other ingredients, which includes water or crushed ice, sweeteners (sugar, honey, syrup), dairy products ( milk, yogurt, cheese), chocolate and herbal supplements.

“Smoothies have been popular worldwide since 90s, some people take it for breakfast some for refreshment in the afternoon (trust me it is really refreshing when cold) and it could also serve as a great dinner,” she added.

One general fact about fruits is that when it comes to nutrients, one would be spoilt for choice. Experts revealed that taking a glass of smoothie means taking loads of nutrients into your body at a time without being scared of refined sugars, colourings, additives or some other dangerous chemicals added to drinks we take.

The road to smoothness and healthy lifestyle isn’t without its distractions. The task of gathering fruits and preparing them for blending (If you’re lucky with power supply though) could expose one to not-too-healthy options like processed juice.

Unlike smoothie, which in most cases isn’t premade, juice is always up for pick on the shelf but may not have all the nutritional presence of smoothie.

Balogun explained that processed fruit juice would have lost majority of its nutrients in the processing, thereby replacing it with sweeteners and other additives.

”Unlike processed juices, smoothies consist of the entire fruits or vegetables, skin and other parts and contain all of the fibre from the vegetables. However, the blending process breaks the fibre apart (which makes the fruit and vegetables easier to digest), but also help create a slow, even release of nutrients into the blood stream and avoid blood sugar spikes. 

“Smoothies tend to be more filling, because of the fibre, and generally faster to make than juice, so, they can be great to drink first thing in the morning as your breakfast, or for snacks throughout the day. By including the fibre in your smoothie, the volume will increase,” she explained.

Some of the nutritional benefits of smoothie, according to Balogun include “vitamins, minerals and enzymes that raw food contains, if we don’t get enough of these in our body our reserves become low, leaving us more susceptible to illness and disease. Smoothies have several benefits over their solid forms; our body can absorb the nutrients in smoothies more easily because blending helps break down hard to digest plant cell walls.

“Vitamin A is essential for immunity and bone development, high level of it could reduce the risk of several chronic diseases, it’s also good for vision (Apple smoothies).”

Protein and Magnesium works in muscle contraction, as the relaxer, it is also good for the heart (carrot smoothies) other nutrients include vitamin C, B iron.”

Other benefits include weight loss, build muscle and helps maintain a healthy athletic performance, serves as a detoxifier, encourages deeper sleep, it comes handy and can be consumed anytime of the day, reduces carvings for junks and sweeteners, maintains cognitive balance, affords one the pleasure of eating more than one fruit and vegetable at a go and it is very delicious!

In case you are not sure what fruits to mix together, Balogun recommended the blend of orange, carrot, mango; tangerine, pineapple, apple; grape, banana, strawberry; lemon, papaya (paw paw) and water melon (mixing some of these combinations with ginger would be just great too).