Hello,
My question is about drinking raw, blended vegetables daily:
In an effort to get the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables per the American Heart Association, I’ve been making daily shakes in a blender and then drinking it during meals. It has helped my compliance with those dietary guidelines immensely as I really like drinking the shakes, and had been a way around my poor cooking skills lol.
I am wondering now, however, if drinking raw vegetables is perhaps not such a great idea in terms of nutritional absorption as compared to eating them cooked. I honestly don’t know enough about the subject to feel confident in a valid question, please forgive me if this causes any frustration. Below is how I prepare them:
Typically, I prepare the shake the night before and allow it to sit in the fridge for about 12 hours, though sometime I prepare them same-day. I use a variety of greens including kale, spinach, chard, baby mustard greens, etc and other vegetables such as carrots, green beans, cauliflower, and sugar snap peas (sounds gross but it’s not bad). For fruit I’ll use anything from berries to pineapple, apple, banana, water melon, and usually add a serving of orange juice. I then add about 3-4 cups of water and blend completely, most of the time leaving tiny little chunks of fruit and vegetable about a square millimeter in diameter. The shakes yield anywhere from 20-30 grams of fiber.
Is this an ok way to get the daily serving recommendation of fruits and vegetables? Or is there a better way you would recommend? My main concern is micronutrient absorption.
Thanks for your time,
Tim