Does anyone else get really excited for summer fruits season? I think out of everything just a simple strawberry smoothie is my favourite. Jazzed up with a bit of my raw lemon crunch granola 😍🍓🍋
Can’t wait for the stone fruits…..peaches…nectarines….plums…roll on summer! What’s your favourite season for food?
It’s here! The IBS & Food Intolerance 14 Days to Freedom e-course! Sign up here for exciting launch news! This is THE list to be on to grab your exclusive discount.
“Thanks so much for including me in your IBS e-course! It is a really wonderful course and great way to discover what works and doesn’t work for your body”
“After taking the IBS e-course and figuring out some foods that don’t work, I am feeling so much healthier and symptom free”
“I can honestly say that I have never felt so in control of my body and symptoms in as long as I can remember so yes I would definitely say it’s worked for me. I’m feeling great, so thank you Lynsey”
Click the banner and sign up for news here! >>>>
Snack time for two hungry boys after school! But this would make a great snack for anyone. A few pieces of dried apricot, some banana chips and a handful of pistachios.
But wait….DRIED FRUIT IS FULL OF SUGAR!!!
Let’s have a chat about to that shall we?
Per piece of fruit, dried fruit does not have more sugar than fresh. It has more sugar per VOLUME. Let me explain.
To get dried fruit you need to dehydrate it, which removes the liquid making each piece considerably smaller than when it started. Think about the size of a grape and the size of a raisin.
Counting calories is NOT what I encourage, but this is just an example to explain what I mean:
One cup of grapes has around 106 calories.
One cup of raisins has over 430.
This doesn’t mean raisins have more sugar, it means they’re smaller so you can fit much more in the cup.
What’s more interesting is that actually, raisins – per piece – are lower in calories than grapes.
10 grapes is 34 calories but 10 raisins is only 16.
So, dried fruit is smaller so you eat more therefore you take on more sugar.
When you’re eating dried fruit, think about how much of the whole fruit you’d probably eat, and that should be your portion size.
With banana chips, general store bought ones can have added sugars so check the quality of the products you’re buying.
NUTRITION:
The drying process does degrade the fruit’s content of water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C, but other nutrients actually become more concentrated. So, dried apricots provide higher levels of most nutrients, gram for gram, than fresh. These include iron, potassium and antioxidants.
This was lunch yesterday. I’ll post more later but this is a great smoothie option for those of you not keen on bananas – strawberry, fresh ginger and apple. I had it at the airport on the way back from Copenhagen and I’ve been addicted ever since. The only difficulty is strawberries are out of season in the UK so might not have that super sweet taste, but it was still good.
Ginger has been used for centuries – certainly as long as 2000 years ago in China- throughout the world as a traditional treatment for loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting after surgery, nausea, flatulence, stomach, upset, colic, morning sickness and motion sickness.
Its also a key plant in Ayurvedic medicine, a system of traditional medicine native to the Indian subcontinent.
More recent scientific research has found that compounds in fresh ginger can reduce inflammation markers in the colon in as little as 4 weeks, so reducing the risk of colon cancer. For long term health I’d always recommend looking at your diet as a whole though, but ginger is a great addition to it for its therapeutic benefits.
Also, a study at University of Rochester Medical Center found that ginger supplements administered alongside anti vomiting medications in chemotherapy patients reduced nausea by 40%. The healing power of plants.
1 inch square piece of fresh ginger blended at high speed with 2 apples and 1 cup ice cubes.
Add in fresh strawberries to blend at the end. I used about 12.
ZING!
If you’re new to Tonic Nutrition and associated awesome groups you’ll soon see that we’re smoothie cray-cray here! There is no better addition to your diet to immediately give you a massive and useful boost of fibre (essential for keeping blood sugar and cravings in check), vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Your health will improve, energy levels increase and your skin will glow.
Want to make positive changes?
Step 1. Smoothie time. Here are a few of my favourites. Give them a try!
From top left, clockwise:
✔ Tropical banana, mango and papaya. Blend 1 papaya, 2 ripe bananas and 1 mango with water and a little almond milk (or any dairy free milk). The amount of liquid you use will depend on how thick or thin you prefer your smoothies.
✔ Chocolate Madness.
2 large ripe bananas, 3 teaspoons organic dark chocolate powder (I use Green & Blacks), or you can use raw cacao too. Blend with soy milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and water.
✔ Pop Art Berries. 1 avocado, 1 cup frozen cherries, 1 teaspoon camu camu, 1 cup strawberries. Blend with water.
✔ Pitaya Perfection. Pitaya is another name for dragon fruit. This smoothie is 1 dragon fruit, 1 cup of frozen raspberries and one banana. Blend with 2 tbsp soy yogurt and a little water.
A smoothie a day….keeps you awesome. Enjoy!
Topical dragon fruit, pineapple and tangerine smoothie to brighten this COLD day! I love dragon fruit. I think it’s one of my favourites. It’s highly nutritious as well as being just beautiful looking! It’s like a sweet, smooth kiwi (kinda) and the flesh comes in white, pink and purple. The pink and purple flesh has a higher vitamin A (beta carotene) content. Great for healthy cell regeneration, especially the skin
Dragon fruit has a high amount of vitamin C. Because the dragon fruit is a natural, whole food it also provides you with a rich balance of nutrients to go along with that. This means you absorb the Vitamin C in dragon fruit efficiently.
This fruit is a natural source of anti-oxidants which help to prevent the dangers of free radicals which can cause chronic illness, tissue damage, cancers and other undesirable health detriments.The number, quantity, and variety of antioxidants in real foods like dragon fruit is completely unmatched by any food supplement or pills – even those claiming to have ‘antioxidant’ health benefits. Nothing compares to the rich array of nutrients and antioxidants in natural whole foods.
Dragon fruit does have a small amount of gorgeous essential fats because there are so many seeds in the edible part of the fruit. There can be literally thousands of the small black edible seeds in any dragon fruit. Seeds, like nuts, are a rich source of omega fatty acids and proteins. Fruit really is a pretty perfect food source.
If you’ve got a high speed blender it’ll cope really well with tangerines so throw a few in your smoothies. 2 tangerines will give you 20% vitamin A, 66% vitamin C, 6% calcium and 2% iron.
Tangerines actually have more antioxidants than oranges – which is great because I always find oranges such a pain to prepare!
Vitamin C is the big player here. It has essential roles like collagen synthesis, wound healing, anti-viral, anti-cancer activity, helps prevent neuro-degenerative diseases, arthritis, and cold/fever…etc. By removing oxidant-free radicals from the body, Vitamin C helps absorb iron from food too.
Not all fruit needs to be smooshed up into a smoothie. Fruit is the perfect convenience food, just eat.
Many people tell me how busy they are and they just don’t have time to prepare meals….so its a good job many fruits and veggies are ready for action, no prep required!
Your body doesn’t want belly fillers, it wants nutrients. Food is simply a package in which to deliver those nutrients – when you feel hunger that’s your body asking for vitamins, minerals, fibre and energy.
If you eat something that falls short of these requirements, your body will ask you for more very soon – regardless of how much you just ate. If it didn’t tick all nutritional boxes, you’ll be hungry again pretty quick, or be presented with cravings to fill the gaps.
Smoothies are a great, nutritious meal or snack and certainly should be included in the diet of anyone with diabetes. There are a few points to consider so let’s take a look at how to make diabetic appropriate smoothies:
References:
“Prescription for Nutritional Healing” Phyllis A. Bach. CNC. 2010.
Diabetes Care: Dietary Pectin & Glycemic Control in Diabetes.
Bit of a Piná Colada going on this morning. Half a pineapple, 1 large kiwi, 1 large passion fruit, 1 tbsp coconut cream, 1 tbsp Lacuma powder. 🍍🍹🎉 topped with chia and coconut sprinkles.
Not everyone is up for bananas, I get that. So here’s an option without. There won’t be many of these featured, I have to be honest! I’m a little monkey when it comes to bananas. So are my boys. But I gave endured a bananaless smoothie just for you x
tonicnutrition 