Juice n Glo, Jamba Juice, Sip n Go...there are smoothie places on just about every street corner. Smoothies are all the rage. Easy, nutritionally packed-just look at all the ingredients. The more stuff in my drink, the better, right? Wrong, way, way wrong. That doesn't mean that you can't ever have them, but what goes in and how they are consumed is what determines good for you.
Ayurveda says that foods should be cooked, they are that much easier to digest. The fire of cooking makes the job of our digestive fire, Agni, that much easier. Fact-raw foods are harder to digest.
To add to that, smoothies are cold, and a lot are made with ice. Putting ice on our Agni is like throwing cold water on a fire, it smolders and becomes sludge. And, have you noticed at most smoothie bars you put about a gazillion ingredients in-anything you want. Pack it in, supersize it, anything goes! The problem here is that many of the ingredients don't digest well together-ever notice a feeling of heaviness after, or even indigestion? Sour fruits and dairy together is a big belly no-no. In fact, fruit is best consumed alone.
Smoothies can increase Vata, the element of air and ether in our bodies because they are raw, rough, and cold. They are also to dense for Vata's delicate and somewhat irregular digestion. Vata needs to have warm, easily digested, nourishing and cooked food and beverages. On the flip side, they can also be increasing to Kapha (earth & water)because they are often cold and dense, the opposite of what is needed. Unless you have good Pitta digestion and strong Agni, and perhaps actually need to cool down, they are actually counter productive to the result you think you are getting.
Yet you still want the smoothie, right? They look so inviting. If you make your own, they can be done to balance you seasonally according to your constitution. I like the Nutribullet, or whatever version of it you can get your hands on. It gives you control over what goes in.
First rule of thumb-less is more! Avoid ice, it will put out the fire you are trying to light. Add ginger, lemon, and turmeric. Go more vegetable, less fruit. And don't make it your everyday practice, we all need treats, but try to make it that, maybe once or twice a week. Sluuurp!
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Food is Medicine, Medicine is Food.
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