346/365 Fruit and Veggie Smoothie...Wonder Drug?

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

In my family, my dad is notorious for health fads, specifically fruit/vegetable smoothies.  Every few years since I was young we have welcomed a new blender into our kitchen and the smoothie craze would begin. We drank everything from carrot juice to green juice to mangosteen and back to carrot juice again, and so on. These phases would last a few months then die out. My father has always had an obsession for juicing. This time I think it's here to stay.

My dad showing off the variety in our daily smoothie

After watching a documentary on food and healthy eating, my father made a list of foods that we should eat on a daily basis. These foods include kale, beans, cauliflower, red wine, mushrooms, beets, and so much more. It's a lot to prep and cook these foods. My father is all about working smarter and not harder; enter smoothie phase 2012. He decided to invest in the Ninja Kitchen System 1100. Here he can stuff all the veggies and fruits possible (pears, beets, radishes, an apple, grapes, acai juice, celery, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, kiwi, a banana, berries, and flaxseed since variety is key!) and blend them to a pulp. In about 1 minutes and 30 seconds you have a variety of nutrients blended and several servings and fruits and vegetables gulped down into your body.

We certainly don't do it for the taste. We drink this mad concoction because we know it is a great way to prevent disease and infection. Note the dominance of vegetables in this smoothie. Vegetables have less sugar than fruits and are still packed with antioxidants. I think we can all agree that we get plenty of sugar in the rest of our diet and it's harder to eat lots of vegetables compared to lots of fruits. I don't feel particularly healthier just yet but I'm sure the unseen processes in my body are singing. With all the running and swimming (more later) I'm doing, I'm certain my cells are thankful for the antioxidants to battle the stressors and free radicals floating around inside me. I will say this, my dad's hair is darker and thicker than it's been in a long time. "Pope head," as my parents have lovingly called balding, seems to have been staved off at least for now. Cheers!

In health,
Lauren