How to make the Perfect Smoothie...

What exactly does 'from concentrate' mean? Well, in some circles it is regarded as pure heresy. To others it means increased profits and to most of you it will probably mean the equivalent of PurpleAardvarkWashingmachine. A concentrate is a form of substance which has had the majority of its base component (in the case of a liquid: the solvent) removed. Typically this will be the removal of water from a solution or suspension such as the removal of water from fruit juice. The benefit being that a reduction in weight and volume for transportation is created and the concentrate can be re-constituted at the time of usage by the addition of the solvent.

Seems ok? However just how do they remove the liquid? By Boiling! This kills off most of the goodness straight away and leaves you with sludge comprising of enzymes that have denatured due to the extreme heat and are about as useful to us as a book is to a bat.

Ok, so drinking fruit juice from concentrate is healthier than going for the nasty fizzy drink gang who's sole purpose is to rot your body.

But be aware that the goodness that you think you are getting is in most cases no more than an adulerated empty shell devoid of any life giving power!

The recommended course of action? Avoid concentrates! Or if there are no better options, join the countless others that make their own jubilant juice drinks!

1. Chew your Smoothie!
There is a lot of fruit in a Smoothie and to down it all faster than you can say Grape will probably feel like you've just swallowed an anvil! Drink slowly and move your knashers up and down! This gives your stomach time to prepare.

2. Variety is key
Use as many different types of fruit in your drink; a mix of berries, citrus fruits and exotic fruits and incorporating the wide spectrum of colours of fruits will help you get as many different nutrients and vitamins as possible! If you're feeling adventurous try to use one fruit in your Smoothie for every colour of the rainbow!

3. Prepare fruit en masse and freeze
This one's pretty self explanatory; if you lead a busy lifestyle, it might be a good idea to chop lots of fruit and place in freezer bags for future use. Then, when needed you can just check it in the blender and off you go!

4. Save time
Another good tip that you'll soon learn the value of is to clean the blender as soon as you've poured out the yummy stuff. Even just a quick rinse under the tap before you drink up can save you loads of time that would otherwise be spent scrubbing at notorious dried on fruit.

5. Ice, Ice, Baby
If you're looking for a cooler smoothie experience, instead of just putting ice in your glass, add it in the blender instead! Make sure that your model can handle it though as not all blades are up to the job. To make it easier on your sharp edged associate, put some ice cubes in a tea towel and gently (but not too gently) hit it to break up the cubes. Cool, delicious, and refreshing? You bet.

6. Leave the Pips In!
Apple seeds are chock full of vitamin B17 and for vegetarians and vegans this can be valuable knowledge! Now not everyone likes bits floating in their Smoothies so this won't be for everyone but I recommend you give it a go!

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8. To be Updated V Soon!

9. Don't go Smooverboard!
Many a time has the young and naive Smoother chucked in too much fruit or juice for the blender to handle. You don't want to be filling your blendy friend to the top and for a good reason: for the best results the ingredients should be fully circulating in the blender for at least 8-10 seconds. Too much fruit and this simply won't happen and you'll have chunks that haven't properly blended floating around which won't win you any Smoothie maker medals. All in all, you want the blender to be doing it's thing for around 45-50 seconds in total.

10. Experiment!
Texture preferences vary between people, some like their smoothies real thick and others just love their strawberry surprise to be as free flowing as possible! Generally, and especially if you're new to the Smoothing game; one third to half of the blender (depending on how much fruit you've got inside) should be liquid; either water, fruit juice or for the really zany of you; varieties of green
or herbal tea that have been left to cool!

Many people, once they get the hang of making Smoothies, will often use a combination or their own combination of apples, bananas and oranges to create the 'base' for their Smoothie drink.

Apples Probably the most used fruit in Smoothies and Juices, used as the primary base. Add more of these if you want your Smoothie to be sweeter and more runny. Apples oxidise quick though so be sure not to leave too big a gap between the creation of said Smoothie and its descent down your gullet. In case you didn't read the 'Top 10 Tips' Module, leave the pips in as they contain anti-cancer extraordinaire vitamin B17!

Oranges Now when I say oranges I mean satsumas, mandarins and clementines too but as all are derived from the orange and they all look like oranges (i.e. they are round and orange) I think putting them all under that one title is quite acceptable. Some people prefer to extract the juice and only add that to their Smoothie but I just chuck the lot in (minus peel). Oranges when used in Smoothies can give your drink quite a kick depending on how sour they are and like apples, will sweeten your Smoothie and make it more 'liquidy.' Oh, and all you fussy people out there - don't take it off, leave the piff in! It's good for you and don't worry about icky bits as it will blend well.

Bananas All jokes aside these taste best when with two melons. Ok, all jokes aside, seriously now these yellow lovelies are great and are often used in Smoothies. Full of potassium, B vitamins and a smörgåsbord of other good things they will give you a slow release of carbohydrates throughout the day. They are primarily used as thickeners so add these if you like a slow pouring Smoothie. Word of warning; bananas DO NOT juice so don't even try it.

More To be uploaded soon...

Miscellaneous Ingredients:
*Almond or Vanilla Extract (a few drops)
*Mixed spice (light sprinkling) of your fave spice such as cinnamon or nutmeg
*Green or Herbal Tea, make as usual then cool in fridge, use as base liquid
*Supplement powders, if you use protein or other weight gain or nutritional powders such as Whey Isolate, adding them to your smoothie makes for easy consumption
*Honey, to sweeten the taste! Organic Acacia is best

Seven facts you didn't know about Smoothies...

* The Smoothie (as we know it) was first put in the spotlight back in the 40's when movie stars enjoyed a fruit-rush before going on set. Next time you down some liquid gold feel free to act out your favourite scenes!

* The difference between a Smoothie and a juice is that a Smoothie is created by blending the whole fruit with all its nutrition - whereas a juice is simply the juice extracted from the fruit.

* There is currently no legal definition for a Smoothie, however, if legislation followed juice market guidelines only a few brands would remain true Smoothies; the remainder would be labelled as 'Smoothie drinks' as they are diluted with yoghurt and sugar (Boooo!).

* True Smoothies do not contain dairy products, preservatives, colourings, additives or sugar <-- (evil imitators).

* Smoothies are becoming a recognised form of nutritional fast food, 'food on the go'. The second meaning of this being that, unlike other fast foods i.e. pizza, burgers etc, Smoothies go through your whole system...you guessed it! Fast! Cleaning out your digestive system fast than you can say loganberry.

* Some Smoothies can be suitable for people with gluten intolerance, Coeliac UK has a list of approved brands. Remember, always read the ingredients label.

* Smoothie packaging comes in all different shapes and sizes! Some can even be stocked in vending machines. Yay!

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-Sugar (DO NOT add sugar to your smoothies and juices. These drinks already contain loads of healthy sugar and in my opinion adding refined junk like this is diabolical)

-Garlic (Although Garlic is real good for you don't add it to your drinks, people often try to add this to smoothies containing vegetables but don't as every drink you make with that blender afterwards will honk of the stuff)

-Cheese
-Ice-Cream
-Cream
-Milk

A Quick Note On: Dairy Products
In my opinion, a Smoothie should never comprise of any milk or other dairy product such as cream or ice-cream. There are many good reasons for this and to present them a whole lens is needed. For more information see my lens: Click here!

That's right! Smoothies don't have to consist of fruit, you can veg out as well! Now some of you may not like the idea of consuming what's basically a whole meal from a glass but once you get the hang of it, you can't stop!

Green Smoothie Recipe:
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1 Avocado
3 Carrots
1/2 a Cucumber
1 stick of Celery
1 tsp of Wheatgrass powder

Directions: First prepare the veg: Peel the avocado, remove the stone in the center, wash and peel the carrots, chop the carrots, celery and avocado into blender-friendly small chunks, add water and wheatgrass and you're go!

Luckily for me, someone already made a fantastic lens on Green Smoothies saving me a fair bit of time! See my lensroll! (to the right)