[LadyRose]

I've always been interested in Green Smoothies - but never took the plunge.

I was thinking that after surgery, would be a great time to to add a green smoothie or two every day as a meal once I heal enough. I would toss in unflavored when protein too to be sure I was getting enough protein

Has any one else tried Green Smoothies?

[DeMarie]

I've never heard that before - what is a 'green smoothie'? Green tea?

[LadyRose]

Green Smoothies - the book Green for Life is the one I think that really made the idea very popular. A green smoothie is a smoothie that is made with combinations of greens and fruit and other veggies. The greens make the smoothie green in color.

You need a very very very good blender (i.e. Blendtac or Vitamix) in order to truly crush and blend the greens in (i.e. kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, beet greens, etc.) so that the smoothie tastes good (and not chunky green bits left in it if made if a regular cheap blender).

They are very healthy, lots of nutrition and help detox the body - the theory behind it is, the body needs a lot of greens for optimum health and it's impossible to eat enough raw greens, also by using them in smoothies the membranes of the fiber in the greens has been broken down so that the nutrients are released and are easily available to be digested.

A quick search on the web and you can find out a lot about them
This one is a good one - Green Smoothie Revolution - Home

[judijo]

At first perusal, I am not finding calorie/carb/protein/fat content of the products.

Food is not intended to be drunk. Those are called drinks. Caloried drinks, except to specifically supplement needed nutrients, should be avoided. One is better off eating the steamed (early out) or raw (later) vegetables and fruit.

That being said, I have been known to take a wheatgrass shot (alone--no juice with it--it tastes like freshly mowed lawn) when I am getting kids smoothies.

My two cents...your mileage may vary.

[LadyRose]

Judijo - green smoothies are not a product, they are made fresh at home daily (usually using a very good blender such as the Blendtec, that can handle the fresh greens).
Recipes vary - but usually contain 1 to 2 fruits, a large bunch of fresh greens (baby spinach, or kale, or beet greens or other green), plus 2 cups of water

Some recipes call for a "blended salad" type recipes - such as tomatoes, spinach or kale or other green, a spalsh of lemon, and few other veggies and spices to taste.

So for 2 quarts - the calories would be under 300 (100 for each fruit and less then 100 for fresh greens). For specific nutrient content, each fresh ingredient can be looked up and determined for each combination - but fresh, organic veggies and fruits are considered healthy usually.

Consistancy is that of pudding (or lighter if add more water).

Optional - add protein powder to the smoothie. However, those who go completely raw don't add the protein. Can also add yogurt.

There is a lot written about the enormous health benefits of green smoothies, by having the greens blender it breaks the cells walls and release more vitamins and nutrients. By having them in a smoothie you retrain the fiber (vs juicing which eliminates the fiber).

I'm going to ask my gastric bypass consultant at my next visit about them.

[not quite Barbie]

Sounds like a great thing to have right after the surgery while you are in the liquid and puree stage. Especially if you put protein powder in it. My only concern is that you might have problems when it hits the intestines, might be too much at once, but you won't know til you try.

Once you get to the solid food stage you might want to skip these for awile. Part of the solid food stage is teaching your new pouch (& intestines) how to deal with solid foods again, and how to recognize "fullness" so you know when to stop eating. These smoothies would slide right through and go into the intestines so you would never get the full feeling, and many people who stay on the protien supplements instead of eating foods seem to have problems farther out eating solids.

Once you've got your new pouch trained you could go back to them I would think.

[Imlosinit]

My boss that I used to work for in Atlanta made one EVERY SINGLE MORNING!!!! I don't remember everything she put in it, but I remember a cut up banana, strawberries, egg, some green herbs and stuff like that. I don't remember all the ingredients. The finished product looked disgusting (definitely green) but she drank it every morning and said it tasted good.