Benefits Of Vegetable Smoothies?

[Scarlett]

A doctor told me I should try having a glass of green gunk every morning and I'm willing to give anything a try. I just wondered whether anyone here had tried making veg juices and if so, what is a good recipe? I gather you can add apple etc to make it a bit less bitter. I know there are recipes online but I'd love to know any first hand, and any benefits you experienced?

[ummmm]

Far too much hassle. Much easier just to eat fruit and veg.

Also it's a very expensive way of doing it.

[ummmm]

To add...my mum has a juicer and the amount needed to make a glass is quite shocking.

[Scarlett]

I think it's the rawness that helps? I eat loads of veg anyway but probably am guilty of too much steaming/boiling!

[EcclesCake]

Why can't you eat a balanced diet incorporating fruit and veg?

Why has 'a' Dr suggested this?

What has this Dr said you are lacking in your diet?

[dannyk13]

I have a veggie drink four times a week.If you have a juice maker I find the following very good. 1 apple,1 stick of celery, half a carrot, 1 small raw beetroot,slice of lemon and a small piece of ginger root.This makes enough juice for one large glass.

[ChillDoubt]

I don't make vegetable smoothies but fruit ones, sometimes with some beetroot juice added.
You get all the nutrients/nitrates but your body doesn't have to work as hard to digest the food.
100 ml of beet juice, 2 bananas and 2 tangerines and a few strawberries.
A good pre and post exercise drink.

[boxtops]

I've never made them but I've bought them readymade - I threw away my smoothie maker because it needed taking apart and cleaning so often, and the cost of the veg was no saving on buying readymade. Tesco's beetroot and apple juice is delicious, as is their big bottle of banana and apple geen gunk.

[Scarlett]

Well she has a husband and son with auto-immune diseases, which is what I have (ulcerative colitis, arthritis, asthma, eczema etc) and she said that the raw veg stuff has really helped their asthma/psoriasis etc. She also struggled with acid reflux (like I do) for 12 years and said that veg juices completely stopped her problem and she's been fine ever since. She is a friend of a friend but also works as an anaesthetist, so is a doctor by trade. I will give anything a go and would rather try something natural than yet another drug with side effects.

[ChillDoubt]

Just to add, I don't have a juicer, I place it all in a Tupperware type cylinder and use a hand blender, cheap as chips from Argos.

[Old_Geezer]

Be fair, beetroot & apple juice is bearable, just, which is about as much as one can hope for, for something with beetroot in. In fact raw veg just isn't pleasant generally, although I'd hope incuding fruit might help things. I've looked at those 'bullet' things advertised on the shopping channels, but user reviews complain of leakage, and they aren't cheap. I can only advise to put in lots of nice things to disguise the taste of the stuff you believe you need.

[ChillDoubt]

I agree OG, beet juice does taste very earthy, hence all the nice flavours I add to it.
Knowing it's beneficial helps it taste a bit better too!

[jomifl]

The beetroot juice helps you monitor the acidity of your urine, should this be an obsession of your's.

[woofgang]

with great respect to her, she is an anaesthetist. and therefore may not know factually much about nutrition, any more than a doctor who deals in infections will know much about anaesthetics. I have a juicer and use it a lot in the summer but for tasty cooling drinks rather than for health reasons and can honestly say I have seen no health benefit.
I am willing to bet that her reflux reduction was due to what she took out of her diet when she started juicing rather than the juice itself!
Before you spend out on a juicer, ask her for the research evidence, i bet she can't show you any!

[EcclesCake]

As one with an AID and willing to try anything I understand where you are coming from.

If you wish to pursue this path I suggest you investigate which Vitamins and Minerals are suggested as being beneficial for you and experimenting with juices that meet those requirements.

The scientific world is very divided on the matter but there is no harm in trying.

[Sqad]

I confess that i am not the "brightest bulb" in the box, but could someone explain to me, in simple terms" how "whizzed up vegetables" differ in content to cooked vegetables.

Apart from maybe the loos of Vitamin C......cooking appears to increase certain contents, particularly oxidants.

[EcclesCake]

I think I covered that in my third paragraph Sqad. There is a whole load of botox circulating and as far as I'm concerned a healthy balanced diet is all any of us need.

It is all to easy to get tied up in knots trying to follow a diet targeted to a particular condition/disease etc. A decent, well balanced diet is the way ahead.

[Sqad]

Eccles....LOL..."botox".......;-)

[Wak]

Scarlett, You didn't say if you already have a smoothie maker or not but I borrowed my daughter's smoothie maker and it only produced a small amount of juice and left a whole lot of mush to throw away and clean up.
I then bought myself a basic Blender (£13 from Tesco's with two speeds and pulse) which chops everything up small enough to drink and the jug just needs a swill under the tap to clean.
I haven't tried veggies yet but half a banana and a cup of milk makes a nice glass of smoothie with no excessive cleaning to do.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

Bleuugggh