Naomi's Bonus Days: Exploring Smoothies!

Blueberries are on my mind this week. I've been freezing buckets of those beauties. I ponder as I sort through my trays thinking of the possible ways that we might utilize our little blue treasures.

Blueberries ready for freezer bags!

I like to keep things simple so...we wash, dry, spread out on a cookie sheet, freeze and them place them in freezer bags. Easy Peasy! The thing to remember with frozen blueberries is that, you want to use them from a frozen state. If you thaw them out the skins will become rubbery. Now popped up my dilemma, "How can I create a healthy smoothie with frozen berries? Which is a no-no on several levels!"

Smoothies are all the rage and there are a few rules that if followed will bring you greater health and digestive success! If you have a strong Pitta (fire) digestion enjoy your smoothies with my blessing. Vata (air) and Kapha (earth) need to be a little more mindful about what they throw into the blender.

Due to the cold nature smoothies can be taxing on the digestion. Leafy greens are dry and rough and can be very difficult for Vata to digest. Vata's are naturally cold, dry and rough if we consume those same qualities we are setting ourselves up for an imbalance. If you are dealing with a long term Vata imbalance, you will eventually be faced with a depletion of Ojas.

When someone first starts consuming smoothies there will be a breakdown of tissues and this releases energy and makes us feel great. It also breaks down fat! Yeah...we all want that! Here is the problem, smoothies over a long period of time can begin a slow breakdown of your deeper tissues. If the catabolic actions continues to go deep enough, it will weaken your immune system (Ojas).

Smoothies can be very difficult to digest. What....how can that be? Well...they are hard to digest because, there are so many ingredients in that "Cup of Wonderful" that it becomes very heavy. Blending is fast and furious and it doesn't give the food a chance to marry (melding is a long low slow process). Poor food combing also adds an extra burden to your Agni (digestive fire). When your Vata becomes "Wonky" from low Agni it will generate gas, bloating, cramping, weight gain and increased Ama (toxins).

Ok...great...now what?

Blueberry Chocolate Smoothie!

SMOOTHIE FIXES:

*Add turmeric, ginger and lemon juice to aid digestion

*Keep ingredients at room-temp, let go of your ice-cubes and frozen fruit

Our if using frozen fruit add warm water

*Keep your ingredient list small - you want it to be light

*Add a little coconut oil - it will moisten and remove some of the dry/rough qualities

*Follow food-combining rules - Fruit alone, greens with protein, carbs with protein

*If you want green then leave out the fruit - sweeten with a little maple syrup

If you want fruit then leave out the green

*Consume your nuts and protein about 1 hour after your smoothie

*Don't add a ton of heavy super-foods - to much of a good thing "Isn't"!

*Don't drink them everyday - alternate days

As with everything we need to look within. Your health is dependent on a strong ability to process food. What we consider normal...really needs a little more support. These are just a few tips to help you on the road to health. We all hate change (I'm the first to admit that), but sometimes a little modification can make a world of difference.

I put together a sweet little Blueberry Chocolate Smoothie. It's light, sweet with a hint of spice and a nice place to start for those new to the world of smoothies. For most of us our digestive fire is weak (we don't even realize it). It's time to honor our tummy and give it all the support that it needs. Find the full recipe here

http://naomikenealysbonusdays.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_17.html

Prepping for my Mom's "Sadyes Pickles"! Mikhail returned from Omega just in time to help me gather pickles and dill from the garden.