Oh yeah, eating healthy. Ok, so in theory, everyone should be getting 5 to 9 servings of veggies and fruits a day but can anyone honestly say they are going this? I will be the first to say no. The fact that I am not getting the appropriate amount of green stuff in my diet makes me upset because as a nurse, I should know better. Well, this is where spirulina powder comes in and saves the day.
What is this wondrous spirulina?
Spirulina is a blue-green algae that is ridiculously nutritious. It contains an insane amount of protein in its dry form (lets remember that we are talking about a PLANT here!). One tablespoon of this stuff has 320% of your daily value of beta carotene, 67% B12 and 22% Iron and calorically speaking, its only 25 calories a tablespoon. There are a lot of other nutritional benefits that are too lengthy to mention but google it. This stuff is touted to be a superfood and with these stats, I have got to say I agree.
I have been drinking my spirulina smoothie everyday for about 2 months now and I can honestly say I feel awesome. Recently, the runny nose made its way into my home and while my two sweet men were bogged down with a cold, I was dancing a jig because I was totally snuffle free. I have a crazy amount of energy when I have my smoothie because of the huge boost of B12 from the spirulina. And for all of you who are interested, spirulina is amazing in regulating you, if you know what I mean. You can set your clock to me is all I'm saying!
How does it taste?
Now that I have sung the praises of this stuff, I will give you that bad news. Spirulina taste like death warmed over. Actually, I take that back. Spirulina itself does not taste THAT bad but what kills me is the smell. As a child, I had a turtle name Harvey. Harvey lived off of freeze dried blood worms. Spirulina smells like blood worms. I guess we can thank the iron in spirulina for that. The first time I had spirulina, I had it mixed in a cup of water, no buffer, no chasers, just water. To recall the experience of drinking spirulina for the first time only brings back memories of pain and anger. Pain because I had to physically keep myself from getting sick and anger because I though I had just wasted $22 on a bottle if spirulina.
Some people online have described it as a grass clipping flavor. I would have to disagree. It taste bad and it smells putrid but I keep on truckin' because spiruulin is just that fantastic. I also made a really interesting discovery recently. My 20 month old son, Dadma, LOVES my spirilina smoothie. He chugs the smoothie like a frat boy romancing a beer. He literally starts crying when he finishs his cup because he wants seconds and I cut him off at one serving. Go figure, I guess Dadma doesn't mind the smell of blood worms. Anywho, for all of you who are adventurous enough to try something new and committed to introducing more good stuff into your diet, check out the smoothie below. I lifted it
online from Andy Hili and tweeked it. Its a great recipe and the taste won't kill you. To be honest, I have gotten use to the taste and smell and kind of look forward to pounding my smoothie everyday.
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| Cheers! |
32oz. jar of pineapple juice
2 bannanas
7oz. can of coconut milk (1/2 can, save the rest in the fridge for your next smoothie batch)
Juice of one lemon
4 tablespoons of Spirulina
Blend first four ingredients until everything is incorporated. Keeping the blender ON at low speed, remove the lid, add the Spirulina into the moving smoothie. If you spoon Spirulina powder into still fluid, it will clump and get gross. This recipe yields 4 servings. ***Be sure to also drink plenty of water as well, as it will aid in the absorption of the spirulina into your body.
2 bannanas
7oz. can of coconut milk (1/2 can, save the rest in the fridge for your next smoothie batch)
Juice of one lemon
4 tablespoons of Spirulina
Blend first four ingredients until everything is incorporated. Keeping the blender ON at low speed, remove the lid, add the Spirulina into the moving smoothie. If you spoon Spirulina powder into still fluid, it will clump and get gross. This recipe yields 4 servings. ***Be sure to also drink plenty of water as well, as it will aid in the absorption of the spirulina into your body.
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| All gone. |
Our family went vegan almost two years ago after my wife and I watched Forks Over Knives. We purchased a Vitamix to help us with the amount of veggies we were consuming. I make Kale smoothies every morning and our 8 and 10 year olds love them. This week, I ordered organic Spirulina powder and Chia seeds from Nuts.com (they have really cool packaging) to supercharge our protein. Once I opened the Spirulina, the smell hit me...BAM! My first thought was it was rotten or something and hesitated to ruin 64 ounces of morning kale smoothie. Damn the torpedoes, I added 2 tbl spoons of the wretched smelling powder and 4 tbl spoons chia seed (because it had no smell) and it immediately turned the pitcher dark green just like your glass. Well, they mentioned how it was greener that what the kale and broccoli usually color, but drank it just the same. So yes, the smell is the only offensive part when added with grapes, pineapple, orange, green apple, banana, broccoli, pitted dates, and delicious kale. Now it's time for my long run. I wasn't going to go, but suddenly feel an amazing amount of energy :)
ReplyDeletet's true that Spirulina doesn't smell or taste as appetizing as other supplements, but the great thing about it is that the results are clearly visible in just a relatively short amount of time. And that's what keeps us going through and sticking with it. When you get used to it, the taste and smell won't bother you as much as before.
ReplyDeleteXynergy Products Ltd.
i use this as face mask... holy crap this smells like dried seaweed, even when i add honey or rose water, its just not reducing the smell! well, but i still use it tho, for the sake of my beauty lol
ReplyDelete