Green Smoothies Baby Food?

[Dia Minha]

Because my family and I eat a lot of fresh raw veggies or cooked, but still crispy, I have found it very difficult to make sure my baby, whom still doesn't have enough of his back teeth for crispy veggies, especially greens such as spinach and lettuce. Recently I did a lot of studying and research on fasting (no food) and fruit and veggie fasts (only fruits and veggies for a period of time) and discovered or at least was reminded of (because I know I have heard of them in the past) green smoothies. I immediately started adding spinach, chard, and other dark leafy greens to my smoothies as well and have made some pretty interesting ones for my baby. The baby and all the other kids love them and I love that they are now getting one or two more veggies, including new ones they have never tried before, in their daily diet. Just wanted to share.

On a side note, just in case you are interested, when I do just fruit smoothies I use yogurt and/or milk, but when I am adding vegetables, especially dark greens, I use a 100% juice, usually citrus, for the liquid. This is for two reasons. First, diary can inhibit the absorbtion of the iron from the green leafy vegetables and because I don't eat a lot of meat, I need as much iron as I can get. Second, vitamin C, found in abundance in citrus fruits and citrus juices actually helps the absorption of the iron in those green leafy vegetables. I have found that I miss the creaminess from the dairy and adding a banana helps termendously; not only with the texture, but flavor as well, because it adds so much sweetness, with no processed sugars and helps hide the bitterness of the veggies.

Also, the alienish color can be a little hard to get use to at first, so adding blueberries and less green, greens, like red leaf lettuce, gives it more of a purple color and is easier to get past. Once you get past the color, the taste is amazing and all those leafy greens. Yea!!!

---------- Post added at 12:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

Oh and something else I just tried yesterday in my babies morning smoothing was I added wheat germ. I was headed out for a walk and taking him with me and he hadn't had breakfast. I through in the wheat germ to substitute for the cereal he would have eaten if we had taken the time. It was yummy and just added more iron, as well as a whole grain. I usually use flax seed in mine, because of the extra fiber and healthy oils it contains and is also supposed to help regulate hormones.

[Erudite]

You go, girl!

I too add spinach to my fruit smoothie (and yes DH thinks it's weird), but I use soy milk instead of cow's milk. Do you know if that causes iron absorption problems? I could easily switch to citrus juice, but I wondered if you happened to know.

[Dia Minha]

E, I will have to do a little more research, because . . .

Supposedly it is the calcium in the milk that prevents the body from absorbing the iron in the green leafy veggies. They compete against each other and the body has to pick just one and for some reason calcium wins. However, most green leafy vegtables are also very high in calcium. So that leaves me a little confused. However, I do know that vitamin C does aid in iron absorption, so I am going to continue adding citrus with my spinach. I'll let you know if I learn anything else.

Another thought that just came to me is the whole calcium, iron conflict, might be the reason why vegetarians are usually low in iron. The body absorbs iron from meat, especially red meats, better than those found in vegetables. Maybe it is because of the calcium.

Any one else know?

[Big_Sissy]

I do not know the answer to your question, but I suggest to anyone reading this to watch the following documentaries:

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (2010): Focusing on two men whose bodies have been trashed by steroids, obesity and illness, this documentary chronicles the rigorous healing path -- including a two-month diet of fruits and vegetables -- that both attempt in a bid to rescue their health.

AND

Forks Over Knives (2011): Focusing on the research of two food scientists, this earnest documentary reveals that despite broad advances in medical technology, the popularity of modern processed foods has led to epidemic rates of obesity, diabetes and other diseases.

Both are excellent and have changed what and how I feel about foods. I can't remember the answer to the question, but in the 2nd documentary it actually talks a lot about the Calcium problem -- I just can't remember what it says.

To those netflix users, they are both available to stream or DVD.

[Dia Minha]

BS both of those are now in my Netflix Queue. Thanks for that information. I'm really excited to see what they have to say because . . . . I pretty much quit Weight Watchers a few months ago when I joined Curves. I just couldn't justify the money, when I wasn't really following the plan and I just felt like I needed the gym membership more. One of the main reasons I quit WW was the fact they changed the program and all the sudden counting points became a lot harder. It was easier to choose processed prepackaged foods, with all the nutritional information on the label than to make something from scratch, where there was some major algebra going on to figure it all out. I just got plain frustrated with it. However, recently I have been back on the WW message boards (one of the blessings of quiting Facebook) and was reminded of their Simply Filling Technique which concentrates on eating whole fresh foods. There is a list of foods including fruits, veggies, lean meats, fat free dairy, eggs, whole grains etc. that you eat from until satisfied. The idea is to cut down all the processed foods, sugar and saturated fats. You can still have these, just in limited amounts, not that that really matters here. I followed their past program that was like this and loved the way I felt on it. I didn't lose a lot of weight, but maintained easily and just felt strong, healthy, and light. Their new program is even better, because they removed everything from the list that is not a whole food. Before you could have things like sugar free fat free pudding, which is pretty much the furthest you can get from whole or natural. I have been considering, pondering, planning, how and when to get moving back along those lines. Heres hoping these two "movies" will help me with the desire part. I do pretty good, but there are times it is matter of getting something on the table or eating out and the convenience of prepackaged foods wins too many times. Thus the need to plan and prepare.

[Big_Sissy]

Cool. I think you will like both quite a bit. Even if you only gather new information.

I enjoyed both movies a lot and didn't have a hard time watching either.

[Erudite]

I've watched both those documentaries, though I need a refresher on Forks over Knives to remember it. And they're both VERY interesting! My sister tried the techniques of F,S,ND and lost some weight, but couldn't stay on the diet because of hunger and finding most of the juices icky tasting, but she still does some juicing because she finds it makes her feel so much better. It is a very interesting documentary to watch because of Phil. I hope you enjoy it, Dia!

[natickgirl]

I don't know if you've tried this, but you can add an avocado to the smoothie to make it, well, smoother! It will add some healthy fats, too. Give it a try. I also like to throw in oat bran, nuts, powdered milk (although you'll have the same issue with calcium, I guess), and even plain instant oats for a little texture. The beauty of smoothies is that you can hide lots of good stuff in it!

[Dia Minha]

Natick, I have tried avacado. However, I like avacados too much to always put them in my smoothies. I also add healthy fats with my flax seed. I use flax seed oil for the kids, because it is not recommended to give small children the whole seed, but the oil is an excellent source of healthy fatty acids and vitamin E.

We have discovered our favorite green add ins are watercress, baby spinach (full grown spinach is a little too bitter), and broccoli sprouts. I so want to try sprouting on my own. I've heard about it and did quite a bit of research several years ago, but just never did anything about it, but after trying them in my smoothies I really love them and they can be so expensive. From what I understand sprouts have all the nutrional property as the vegetable, but take less time to grow and mature and also taste a whole lot sweeter. Maybe some bean sprouts would be nice too add some more protein since I tend to struggle getting enough.