Secrets of the Superhuman Food Pyramid: Pros and Cons of Smoothies With Natural Ingredients

Smoothies with natural ingredients have become quite popular and many now opt for these beverages instead of unhealthy fast food milkshakes. Making smoothies isn’t that complicated, too, so you can easily concoct these beverages at home. Though undoubtedly a healthier option especially if fresh and whole ingredients are used, reasonable intake of these drinks is still advised due to a number of considerations.

Read further and discover more about the pros and cons of smoothies with natural ingredients and why the Superhuman Food Pyramid recommends moderate consumption of these sources of hydration to help in your quest to Become Superhuman.

Smoothies With Natural Ingredients’ Benefits:

Improving overall health while enjoying the flavor of your beverage is perhaps the foremost advantage of consuming smoothies with natural ingredients. Not everyone is used to eating fresh and fruits and vegetables, and some even detest doing so. Having the option to consume the fruits and vegetables you wouldn’t normally eat on their own by adding them to your smoothies is a great way to maximize the wealth of nutrients fresh produce offer.

Another advantage of smoothies with natural ingredients is that they are relatively easy to make in the comfort of your own kitchen. All you’ll need are your trusty blender and your choice of ingredients, which are fresh whole fruits and vegetables, raw, grass-fed cow or goat’s milk or organic full-fat yogurt, and your choice of healthy sweetener such as stevia. Once you’ve included smoothies into your diet, you’ll have more incentive to freeze fruits like berries, apples, and pears as well. When you do so, not only will you maximize the array of nutrients that out-of-season fruits offer, but this practice will certainly help you to save money in the long run.

Smoothies With Natural Ingredients’ Risks:

Commercially prepared smoothies with natural ingredients, though certainly healthier compared to milk shakes filled with synthetic ingredients, may contain ingredients that you wouldn’t want to ingest on a regular basis, or at all for that matter. Examples of these are unhealthy sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and processed sugar, which are notorious for their negative health effects.

Store-bought smoothies may have been added with fruits in syrup or canned fruits as well. Not only are the latter practically devoid of healthful goodness due to the heavy processing they have been subjected to, but these types of preserved fruits have been sweetened heavily as well. Add to that the dangers of Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure. As you probably already know, BPA is used to line the insides of cans to prevent corrosion. BPA seeps into the canned food, with higher BPA concentrations in oily or acidic food product, the latter which is the case with canned fruits. BPA exposure has been linked to a host of scary health conditions like abnormal early onset puberty, obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, and hormone-dependent cancers such as prostate and breast cancers.

Commercially prepared smoothies are mostly made with the use of non-organic pasteurized milk or regular yogurt as well. Because these have been harvested from cows in concentrated animal feeding operations, the resulting dairy products then contain a slew of antibiotics and growth hormones. Buying prepared smoothies with natural ingredients increases your risk of exposure to foodborne illnesses as well. This is particularly true for smoothies that feature poorly washed fresh leafy greens as ingredients.

To ensure you get to truly take advantage of the healthful goodness of smoothies with natural ingredients, opt to make these beverages at home whenever you can. That way, you get to choose wholesome ingredients every time. You’ll also have control over the handling and preparation of the fresh produce, thus reducing your chances of contracting foodborne illnesses.

In the next post, I’ll tell you the pros and cons of Arabica coffee regular and decaf and why you should drink them moderately to help in your quest to Become Superhuman.

In the meantime, if you care to jump ahead, here is a complete listing of drinks to avoid as well as consume regularly and moderately on the Superhuman Food Pyramid:

Drink:

• Filtered Water
• Soda Water
• Coconut Water
• Kombucha
• Greens Drinks or Powders

Moderate:

• Non-Caffeinated Teas
• Coconut Milk
• Raw, Grass-Fed Cow or Goat’s Milk
• Kefir
• Sports Drinks
• Smoothies (With Natural Ingredients)
• Arabica Coffee Regular and Decaf
• Caffeinated Tea (includes Green Tea)
• Anti-Oxidant Drinks or Powders
• Rice Milk

Avoid:

• Almond Milk
• Red Wine
• Energy Drinks
• Flavored Waters
• Soda
• Soy Milk
• Regular Cow’s Milk
• Instant Coffee
• Blended Coffee
• Lattes
• Mochas
• Beer
• Mixed Drinks
• Hard Alcohol

If you have questions, comments or feedback about the pros and cons of smoothies with natural ingredients, the Superhuman Food Pyramid, this website, or other aspects of Becoming Superhuman, then leave your thoughts below, as well as any tips you have on the pros and cons of smoothies with natural ingredients.