Hi friends,
Im considering on buying a vitamix, for the sole purpose of making a green smoothie 3-4 times a week.
Before I make this expensive purchase I just wanted to ask for your experiences with “green smoothies”?
Who here consumes green smoothies on a regular basis? Is it worth the effort? Anyone have any information regarding the negative reports of too much consumption of “green smoothies”?
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Hi,
I own a Blendtec. It’s similar to the Vitamix, but it comes with pre-programmed buttons instead of the manual controls on the Vitamix. I’ve heard the jar is easier to clean as well.
Both come with great warranties (8 years for Blendtec, 7 for Vitamix) if you buy them at Costco. I’ll have mine for 8 years and paid $350 for it. That’s less than $50 a year for green smoothies everyday, or 15 cents a day for the duration of the warranty. Mine gets used at least twice a day in my household.
Is it worth the effort? There is no effort. I drop greek yogurt, almond milk, coconut milk, a scoop of protein, blueberries, kale, whatever into it and in 30 seconds I have a smoothie. There are no chunks of fruit of flakes of leafy greens to speak of. I rinse the jar with warm water and it’s good to go.
I’ve made spinach and avocado ice cream with it (it was delicious). If you want to make frozen drinks it’s good to go. Best Pina Coladas ever and without added sugar. Soups, dressings, sauces, baking mixes, whatever you want. The Blendtec comes with a recipe book that is really good. The only thing I would recommend is getting an additional jar if you plan on grinding nuts or rice, as this can cause hazing of the jar.
I’m partial to the Blendtec, but a lot of people swear by their Vitamix. The Blendtec won me over due to the warranty, pre-programmed settings, and ease of cleaning. The Vitamix may require the use of a supplied “plunger”. Both units are loud, so get ready for that. This is expected from an appliance that has a 2HP motor in it.
You can’t go wrong with either one.
I don’t know anything about the negative impact of a green smoothie. I don’t overdo it, but I guess one negative thing could be having to hit the washroom faster than normal since you digest everything pretty quick.
Anyone else that would like to chime in?
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its a super easy way to get fruits and vegetables in. Mix spinach and frozen fruit and a scoop or 2 of protein powder. Doesn’t get any easier than that.
[quote]StevenF wrote:
its a super easy way to get fruits and vegetables in. Mix spinach and frozen fruit and a scoop or 2 of protein powder. Doesn’t get any easier than that. [/quote]
Do you use it yourself??
Chocolate protein powder in a green smoothie?? Im not sure about that.
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I’ve had my eyes on a Breville blender as well as their mixer…
I’ve had mine for over 5 years. Best investment ever.
Protein shake? not a single lump. Doesnt matter what you add.
Vegetable juice? 3 carrots, 1 apple, little parsley, add water for desired consistency, and voila. (thousand and one recipe on line)
Soup? Add ingredients, blend until hot put 1/4 of usual onions, they come out strong).
Get one. You will never use a regular blender… Ever…
For every day shakes, I use a Magic Bullet. It’s not strong enough to make a smooth shake if you add fruits (frozen or fresh).
If it is just for blending smaller drinks why not get something like the nutribullet? I use mine everyday.
Favorite recipe: Protein powder, cocao powder, Psyllium Husk, water and ice. It makes soft serve.
I haven’t really read the other post, but since I make smoothies twice a week, I figured I’d chime in. I have the nutribillet and love it. I make my protien shakes with it on a daily basis. My brother (who is a health nut) talked me into it and it was the best decision ever. The ONLY issue Ive had with it is that it’s difficult to crush ice by its self. Other than that, its great. This is how I make my smoothies…
1-2 handfuls of spinach
1 frozen banana
1 scoop of protein powder
about 1/2 cup of oatmeal (grinded in a coffee grinder)
some greek yogurt
Add water to choice of thickness
on the other hans, my sister has a vitamix and uses it all the time. She mostly uses it to make soups.
I’d go with the nutribullet based on price (MUCH cheaper). Sign up to bed, bath and beyond online and get the 20% off coupon, then bring it to the store.
I have a Breville juicer. It’s AWESOME!
I use it 5 times a week. Sunday through Thursday I have a Green juice a chicken breast for dinner. Sometimes I will just have the juice and will add some whey protein.
Dropped 10 pounds in about 2 months doing this.
Green frothy Juice: Tastes great! I was VERY skeptical before trying it. My wife bought it, and I said, what the hell- I’ll give it a shot.
3 apples
3 oranges
3 large celery stalks
1 cucumber
1 bunch spinach
(optional: 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein)
You can easily mix it up by substituting 3 large carrots for the cucumber, and lemons for the oranges. Much more “tangy” juice.
Downside: It’s messy. Clean up is a bitch, and the prep time takes a little bit of time. But it’s worth it. It’s awesome to be able to control your food 100% like these juice. No additives whatsoever!
OP:
Oh, and the “negative reports” on the green smoothies (or in my case juices).
Yes, there may be. For a short period. At least there was for me. The first two weeks, I had to be near the bathroom at all critical times… Basically, I had diarrhea about 5 times a day. Watery stools. It’s due to the excessive sorbitol in the fruit. Your body is not used to consuming that amount of concentrated raw/fresh juices, that water is pulled into your intestines from your body causing the diarrhea. Looking back, I found out you can combat these symptoms by using Pepto or adding fiber to your smoothies.
There will be a short adjustment period since you will be consuming double the serving to fruits and veggies and your body will adjust, and sometimes it might be an uncomfortable adjustment.
Thanks for all the responses friends!
I also have a juicer although I am looking for more of a blender, as I want to take benefit from the “pulp”. I am more interested in making vegetable smoothies as I try and limit my fruit consumption to 2-3 pieces a day, although I can see why fruit is used to sweeten the smoothies.
This morning my girlfriend made a smoothie in her thermomix that consisted of; coconut water, half an apple, one whole kiwi fruit, 2 pieces of celery, a cup of spinach, half a cucumber and some ginger. It was nice and I am thinking the thermo might be able to do the job.
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[quote]theBird wrote:
[quote]StevenF wrote:
its a super easy way to get fruits and vegetables in. Mix spinach and frozen fruit and a scoop or 2 of protein powder. Doesn’t get any easier than that. [/quote]
Do you use it yourself??
Chocolate protein powder in a green smoothie?? Im not sure about that.
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chocolate probably wouldn’t be the best, I use vanilla. Its a lot easier to play with flavors. I just use a scoop of protein, a handful of spinach, some frozen berries (blueberries) maybe a banana or strawberries.
The best purchase I ever made was a Vitamix. I love the thing and use it basically everyday. The smoothies and shakes you make it in at great. However, it’s great for other things too because it mixes so well. So yes, it’s worth it if you plan to use it.
Love the Blentec. Vitamix looks cheap.
My wife actually wanted the blendtec and I thought we didn’t need it. I ended up buying the blendtec and now I’m the one using it all the time. I love making almond butter with it.
LOVE THE BLENDTEC!
Vitamix > Blendtec
Honestly, you probably can’t go wrong with either one.
I’ve owned my vitamix for years and I’m still impressed by it to this day. You can’t buy anything to substitute it really. If you have the money I’d say buy it.
Yes, I recently got into making almond butter with it. Stuff comes out great…only downside with the vitamix is that the blades don’t come off so it can be trick getting all the stuff out when you make dips, peanut butter, etc.
Birdy,
Did you buy a Vitamix?
I just got a new blender. I wasn’t ready to make the jump up to £300-400 for a Vitamix or Magimix and ended up buying a Kenwood food processor instead for £80. It was the same price as the tier below the Vitamixes and came with all the extra fittings as well as a big glass jug. It also has a 750W motor which is more powerful than the other blenders in the same price range and I can really tell the difference in my shakes. It also has a grinder attachment that is great for grinding nuts and even makes short work of flax seeds.
We have had our Vitamix for 15 years, still going strong! The thing is a certified monster!