Fat Loss 4 Idiots Secret

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Don't accept immitations - Try a Real Smoothie

By Nick Jaggs

Do you know what is going into that smoothie you are drinking? Such drinks have become big business today, and words like "healthy" and "natural" have been used in order to describe them. Yet the smoothies you purchase in your local supermarket may not be all that they seem. These products often have labels either depicting a blender full of fruit or a sunny outdoor scene to convey the image that they contain vital living ingredients. But in many cases these smoothies have been prepared on a very large scale using large industrial machines as well as vats of fruit purees that to help extend their life have been pasteurized.

Not every juice and smoothie bar set up offers completely natural products to you either. In some cases they use frozen fruit purees high in sugar that have been supplied to them by the company that supplies the juice and smoothie making equipment. Certainly these types of professional blenders are very expensive to purchase and juice bars will often be provided them for free as long as they use the companies frozen fruit portions to create their smoothies.

However, there are now a few juice bars where to simplify their operations and save money actually make their own frozen fruit products. Again some will produce good drinks, but a few others load theirs with sugar. Don't think that for one minute the company that create these are trying to prevent us from getting natural ingredients, they just use this as a way to help streamline their business to ensure that they make a profit. Although there may be times when we as the consumer lose out because of this.

The original idea of a smoothie was simple; it was a blended health drink. It was made popular in the USA; although today there is still no specific definition to describe this drink. However, most of us know them as a thick, smooth drink that is fruit based and will be created using either frozen fruit or frozen fruit and ice. A large number of the independent juice bars around today are health focused and will offer a high quality of freshly prepared natural products. Also for the health enthusiasts they will provide super foods and boosters to further enhance their smoothies.

If you are lucky enough to have such a great juice bar close to you then you should really be using it. However, if your only real contact with smoothies is the bottled variety, you are missing out on some great flavours and goodness from the freshly prepared kind.

The best way for you to try a smoothie is actually make it yourself at home. But first let us clear up the confusion caused by some blender manufacturers. When we talk about smoothie makers we are actually talking about blenders. For years the kitchen appliance we know as a blender was always called this until someone somewhere in a marketing department decided to call them smoothie markets so that the company producing them could target those people wanting to make their own smoothies. Whilst a lot of companies have profited from the demand in people wanting to make their own smoothies it is this reason which has resulted in us thinking that these are two different machines, when in fact they aren't.

Making smoothies at home is very simple you just need to put some ingredients into the jug and then press the button. It only takes a matter of seconds to pulp a full jug of fresh fruit and juice, and at a lot less than you would pay for the high street ones. As well as the drink being delicious it is full of vital nutrients your body needs. Some people will use frozen fruit chunks that they have prepared earlier or add ice to the fresh fruit. To give the smoothie a much creamier tangier taste adding yoghurt is recommended. But you could experiment as well using different healthy ingredients in order to get the health benefits from them as well.

For making such drinks you need a blender or smoothie maker. It is important that you go for one which will do everything you require and is able to deal with frozen ingredients. The cheaper models may save you money but are as effective and blending ice in such machines can be very demanding on them. So it is better to go for a more expensive model. Ideally go for one that allows you to mill dry ingredients as well such as the Mill Blender by the American company L'Equip. This is a machine that not only allows you to create smoothies but allows you to grind up flax which is full of essential fatty acids and which can be added to the drink.

Many health enthusiasts demand much out of their kitchen equipment and some will spend several hundred pounds on purchasing commercial blenders like the Blendtec Total Blender. But you don't need to although you will get many years of good service out of such a model spending more than 60 on yours will be sufficient, especially if you intend to use ice in your smoothies. If you are looking for a good quality smoothie maker there are plenty of online sites such as www.ukjuicers.com who have available what you may need. - 17274

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