Smoothie success

As we have been tending towards a more vegetarian and vegan diet I have been a little concerned about our nutrition levels. Having said that, however, I have to admit that in the past we haven’t always followed an entirely balanced diet and have never been adverse to takeaway food, ready meals and the odd MacDonald’s. Still it’s never too late to turn over a new leaf, so I decided to do a little research, first on the optimum nutrition levels and diet, and then more specifically how this relates to both a vegetarian and a vegan diet.

My first stop was the British Nutrition Foundation website where I confirmed what I already knew: the basic energy requirements for women are 2,000 calories a day and for men 2,500. This was broken down into a recommendation of 20% intake for breakfast, 30% for lunch, 30% for dinner and 20% for snacks, plus eight to ten glasses of fluid a day. In addition, there were eight healthy eating tips, including the five portions of fruit and vegetables per day mantra, cutting down on salt and don’t skip breakfast. I was looking for something more specific.

The Eatwell Plate divides food into five groups: fruit and vegetables; bread, rice, potatoes, pasta (starch); meat, fish, eggs, and beans (non-dairy protein); milk and dairy; and other fat and sugars. The plate essentially divides the overall food intake into one-third fruit and vegetables, one-third starch, preferably high-fibre or wholegrain, one-sixth (15%) milk and dairy, but excluding butter and fat, 12% protein, and 7% food containing high fat and sugar, although it can be difficult to determine the exact figures.

I was well aware of the five-a-day rule for fruit and vegetables. This is one area where I’m concerned that, even as virtual vegetarians, we are failing. These are the recommended portions sizes:

1 medium-size banana, apple, pear

2 small plums, kiwis

A handful of grapes or berries

A heaped tablespoon of raisin or cranberries

A cereal-bowl size portion of salad

Three heaped tablespoons of vegetables or pulses

150ml glass of 100% juice or smoothie

 

I reckon that on a good day we probably have four portions, but often I only have half a banana and then, on checking, I discovered that my breakfast cranberry juice has only 75% fruit content and the glass contains only 100ml. With only one or at best two portions being covered by the vegetables in our evening meal I’m probably nowhere near the daily five recommended.

Armed with my basic research I realised that more careful meal planning is required and we must really try to pay attention to increasing our fruit and vegetable intake. It is difficult here, even in summer, as the quality of the fruit and vegetables in the local supermarkets are very poor. It’s not unusual for a bag of tomatoes to conceal several over-ripe or even rotting fruits that you don’t discover until you get home. Recently, I literally watched half a dozen fresh apricots rot before my eyes. However, fruit and vegetables do not have to be fresh to count. The nutritional gurus are quite happy with frozen, tinned and bottled fruit and vegetables, and dried fruit like raisins and apricots.

Nutrition is all about balance. I’m not looking for a faddy diet – there are plenty of those about: paleo, 5:2, low carb, RAW, no-carb. I just want to improve our overall nutrition level and make sure that our move towards vegetarian has not caused any deficit in essential nutrients. The key seems to be portion size. There’s no doubt in my  mind that our portions of bad things are too big and we don’t eat enough good things, like fruit and vegetables.

The first change was to the morning regime with the introduction of smoothies. We used to drink a glass of blueberry smoothie regularly in the days when you could pick up two litre boxes for £3 in Tesco. I’ve noticed Intermarche have started to stock Innocent smoothies, and not a bad price at €2.48 for a litre, however, I decided initially to buy the ingredients and make my own. This may not be cost-effective in the long-term as a bag of frozen berries was €5.33 and a litre of coconut milk €3.34. It tastes good, but I will be looking for cheaper alternatives, perhaps plain soya yoghurt or even the ready-made version. This basic recipe comes from the Alpro website where there is a great app to create your own smoothie using foodpairing.

 

 

Ingredients

·         200ml coconut (or other) milk or yoghurt

·         120–130g fruit

·         Tbsp herb of choice e.g mint

Method

·          Peel and chop fruit if necessary

·         Place fruit and herbs into blender

·         Add milk

·         Whizz until thoroughly mixed

·         Enjoy the virtuous feeling!