It’s Halloween. For most families that means trick or treating and eating way too much sugar. Our family will definitely be ringing doorbells and filling up buckets with junk. The kids love it. It’s a really fun tradition and I don’t want to take that away from my kids when everyone else at school is talking about it. That said, their health still really matters to me and eating too much sugar is just bad. So I have come up with a solution: I make green smoothies. I do this when I know we will be going to an event where the kids will be eating way too much junk food. The kids are used to this by now, but I tell them we do not leave the house until they are done with their smoothie. They choose: “drink your smoothie and go out (trick or treating in this case), or don’t drink and stay home.” We’ve never stayed home 🙂
On Halloween night it should be even easier to get your kids to drink this:” It’s monster juice!”; Â “It’ll help keep al the scary things away when we go to haunted houses!” Get creative!
The reason for a green smoothie is simple: they fill up on a really nutritious meal so that their bodies can handle what they are about to throw at it with more ease.
Fiber is huge in helping keep blood glucose levels from going out the roof. Fiber traps sugar as it passes through the intestines, therefor slowing down the rate at which your body digests it which helps reduce the amount of insulin your body needs to handle it. So eating lots of fiber before eating sugar, is one of the best things you can do if you are committed to eating sugar. This is one of the reasons why eating whole fruit is so different than just drinking the juice, which is void of fiber, therefore is just sugar. Protein has a similar effect.
I add fat to the smoothie in order to help feel full longer, in order to feel satiated. Fat triggers the pyloric valve between your stomach and small intestine. That valve is what slows down digestion and allows you to feel fuller longer as well as reduce sugar spikes.
When making a smoothie for good nutrition keep these things in mind. Does it have fiber? Does it have healthy fats? Does it have protein?
I don’t do this every time I make a smoothie. I do this when I make a smoothie before going to an event where I know we will be eating foods that I do not believe to contribute greatly to my health.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups packed of greens. I used all kale here. Make sure to use fresh greens, not frozen.
- 2 1/2 cups almond milk (or any milk you prefer)
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 small apple with skin, cored
- 1 avocado
- 2 dates
- 1 small chunk ginger (optional)
- 8 ice cubes (optional, I just wanted the smoothie cold)
Steps:
- Put everything in blender and blend on high until super smooth
- Drink up!
This made about 40 oz. Enough for my little family of 5.
Pamplemousse 