It is entirely possible to maintain a raw diet without any fancy food preparation equipment aside from two hands and a good knife. But this morning, as I was whipping up a green smoothie, I felt a surge of love for my Vitamix blender. I noted how a quality, high speed blender can really open up your options to enhance your vegan diet.
Every so often I commit a length of time to strictly juicing or a liquid diet, there are a couple reasons I do this. One of the most simple reasons is it makes maintaining hydration easy. Some literature suggests that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. The adult human body is roughly 60% water, it is the essence of life and when depleted a person can experience a range of bothersome symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and even high blood sugar. A liquid diet can help you meet your nutrient and hydration needs all in one, easily.
Here is a cool link I found; it has a calculator which allows you to individualize an estimate for your body’s hydration needs.
There are two options when considering a liquid diet. Many of you likely know the benefits of juicing; how it super concentrates nutrients to allow your body to absorb an entire salad’s worth of nutrition from just one glass of juice. It eliminates all the excess fiber which allows your gut to rest a bit and just absorb the micro-nutrient goodness. Having a juicer is great and I recommend it, but a juicer does just one thing: juice.
A liquid, or blended, diet can provide a lot of the same benefits. A good blender will still allow you to enhance the nutrient bio-accessibility of your foods by breaking them down, similar to juicing, but without eliminating all the fiber, which provides for a range of textures. You can enjoy a cold smoothie, or a slightly warm pureed soup, as thick or thin and watery as you like. The better the blender, the smoother texture you will be able to achieve. I love to play around with different options such as blending certain ingredients to very smooth while keeping some ingredients slightly chunky. This provides a very different experience and the possibilities are endless. Blending fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and spices together will combine their flavors into something totally new, while leaving some ingredients chunky allows you to taste them separately; each in their own splendid uniqueness.
Click here for some free blended recipes, especially my Cotton Candy Pudding!
When I’m not on a strictly liquid diet, I enjoy combining fresh ingredients in the blender to make dressings and sauces for my raw veggies too. Sometimes, especially in the warmer months, fresh vegetables are perfect AS IS with just a sprinkle of sea salt, nothing better. But, during the colder months, slathering them with a spicy curry sauce is delicious! Also, for those of you who have children, you know how it can be tricky to include the bounty of variety necessary in your child’s diet to help them maintain optimal health. Many children are reluctant to try new foods.
Jessica Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, published a book a few years back (Deceptively Delicious) with some great ideas on how to sneak vegetables into your child’s diet, mostly by pureeing them and adding them in, stealth style! Vegetable or fruit purees are great added to baked goods, dressings, soups, whatever, and often reduce or eliminate the need for extra fats or oils while enhancing flavor and texture. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently published a study on this.
So while you don’t NEED a good blender to achieve great health, having one certainly can open up your possibilities and inspire creativity in your cuisine. In my opinion, this is key to averting boredom; helping you succeed in maintaining your new healthy lifestyle.
If you are looking for a good blender recommendation, and are ready for a purchase, here are the only two I recommend. They both include free shipping to:
Keepin’ it raw!
Philip McCluskey
