How to Make a Smoothie in a Vitamix?

Introduction

Health Nutritionists usually recommend the consumption of at least ten different kinds of fruits every day. They say it is a highly effective immune system booster. While some people try to consume this amount of fruit, others shy away from it because that quota is perceived to be unrealistic and difficult to fulfill. However, the consumption of the recommended amount of fruit daily has been made significantly easier with the invention of a smoothie. A smoothie is a beverage made by pureeing fruits and/or vegetables in a blender. Sometimes, it contains a liquid base of fruit juice, milk, cream, or yogurt to achieve some desired flavor. Most times, a smoothie is a combination of several blended fruits, equivalent to the number of fruits that you are required to consume in a day. If you start your day with a veggie and fruit-packed smoothie, you’ve already crammed in 4 or 5 portions of your daily recommended allowance.

In the history of disruptive inventions, the creation of a thing usually leads to the design and contrivance of others. The Invention of a Refrigerator and a Blender has contributed significantly to the creation of various kinds of fruit juice and smoothies. Kitchen Appliances and cooks had been chopping, micing, and dicing stuff before the invention of the blender. However, since Poplawski’s blender, it became easy to grind several fruits at once and make a smoothie. Also, prior to refrigeration in the home, the flavors of most smoothies were limited to the fruit that was in season. Hence, fruits like Bananas, Pineapple, and Strawberries were the most popular and available smoothie flavors out there. However, more exotic flavors like Blueberries, Raspberries, Cranberries, and Pomegranates came later when the fruits could be frozen and stored for use during off-seasons.

About Vitamix

The Vitamix Company was founded by William Grover in 1937.  He was fondly and famously known as Papa Barnard. Papa Barnard did not just become the originator of this monumental business entity that is known throughout the world today. In 1921, he started off his career by selling kitchen Appliances. His passion for Health and Nutrition spurred the publication of a book citing natural foods as a cure for many diseases. Papa Barnard 1937 introduced the Vitamix blender because he saw them as a big potential nutrient in nutrient-rich but delicious meals that could be made easily and quickly.

The Vitamix blender 3600 was first launched in 1969. This blender was equipped with the ability to make hot soup, blend ice cream, grind grain, and knead bread dough. This is a lot of development from conventional Blenders of time. It was indeed a lot of Vitality quality added. Worthy of mention is that, before 1969, Bill Barnard inherited the business from his father and officially changed the name to Vita-Mix Corporation in 1964. Vitamix blenders have been based in Olmsted Township, Ohio, since 1948, and it has since then undertaken several community development programs in Ohio. Notable amongst these community development programs is the employment of at least 700 people, most at its Northeast Ohio headquarters and manufacturing facilities.

The Health benefits of a smoothie

Smoothie is simply an American term for cold mixed drinks made from fruit. By description, it is somewhat similar to fruit juices but also differs in that smoothies are made of whole fruits, including peels sometimes. Hence, it is very possible to encounter pulps and fruit particles in a smoothie as opposed to fruit juices.

If a smoothie is made of several fruits, this means that it contains the nutritional benefits of these respective fruits combined, although, the nutritional value of a smoothie can change drastically based on the specific ingredients used to make it. Smoothies made with whole-milk yogurt, for example, will have more fat than smoothies made with water or non-fat yogurt. Some of the benefits of a smoothie are discussed below

Smoothies increase Nutrition

Because smoothies are made of veggies and fruits, its consumption does not only get more greens into your diet, it also increases your nutritional intake and healthy nutrition of this sort will only improve your immunity, hydration levels, and also energy levels.

It improves skin appearance

Smoothies, especially those made with green vegetables, contain high levels of water plump that leave your body hydrated. When the body is hydrated, the appearance of the skin changes to a glowy one. The texture and the tone of the skin change too. Another top tip to boost hydration levels is to swap plant milk for coconut water in your smoothie. Coconut water is also rich in health-boosting electrolytes like potassium, sodium, and magnesium.

Smoothies help balance food cravings

Smoothies are full of nutrients, so they easily fill you up. Most times, all you need is a cup of smoothie, and you are left full for the whole morning. Smoothies are also full of complex protein molecules that take a longer time to break down for digestion and this is why research studies have found that higher protein intake makes people feel fuller and reduces food cravings later in the day.

Smoothie Alkalises the body

The consumption of processed foods is usually discourged by nutritionists around the world because processed foods contain some acidic content that is harmful to the body. The acidic content found in processed foods is usually a product of some chemicals necessarily used for preservation. The excessive acidic content in the food can sometimes lead to inflammation in the gut, increasing our risk of disease and food intolerances. However, an alkaline diet usually supplied in a smoothie reduces the acid load in the body, thereby helping easy digestion, proper brain function, and hormone balance. Another benefit of drinking alkaline smoothies is they attack free radicals in the body and may help to prevent the growth of cancer cells

Tips to observe About Smoothies

The nutritional value and calorie count of a smoothie significantly depend on its fruit ingredients. As stated above, If a Smoothie is made with whole-milk yogurt, for example, it will have more fat than smoothies made with water or non-fat yogurt. Likewise, smoothies made with milk, yogurt, or water will have less sugar than those made with fruit juice. Hence it is necessary for you to get your smoothie recipe right if it is to help you realize the desired effect.

If your target for smoothie consumption is to shed some weight, then it is advised that you are careful to select ingredients that are low in Sugar, Carbohydrates, and Fat otherwise, you may put on some weight instead of losing it.

It is necessary to know that the amount of a particular ingredient used in a smoothie will determine the quantity of the nutrient that the ingredient supplies to the smoothie. Hence, it is important to measure accurately the amount of a particular ingredient added, to be able to determine the level of a nutrient that is expected

Remember to also balance the Sugar in your smoothie fruits.

Healthy homemade smoothies are best made with nutritional options like one-percent milk, unsweetened soy milk, or unsweetened almond milk; can also use antioxidant-rich green tea or no-calorie water.

Disadvantages of Smoothies.

Smoothies may have a number of health benefits but they can also work in the reverse if it is made in the wrong combinations. Whether it is Green Smoothies or the regular fruity ones. Excessive consumption may have grave health repercussions. As for green Smoothies, you really can not consume too many leafy green vegetables because they contain high amounts of a compound called thiocyanates which can interfere with iodine absorption in the body.

You also stand the risk of consuming too much sugar in your smoothies. This abnormality can occur in one of two ways. One is the combination of many fruits that are rich in sugar while the other situation could result from excessive dependence on a smoothie diet. The latter may even do more damage than adding excessive sugar to the body, it may also add too many Calories, seriously risking weight gain. Hence it is strongly advised that a cut back on food should necessarily be practiced if smoothies are going to be added to your regular diet.

While you cut back on food, to accommodate a smoothie diet, it is also advisable to look out for those nutritious foods. Excessive reliance on smoothies with disregard for nutritious foods may also be catastrophic to your health. Finally, Smoothies should never completely discourage the consumption of fruits. When considering taking a smoothie vs eating whole fruit, whole fruit has undisturbed fiber that slows down the body’s conversion of food sugar into blood sugar. When fruit is pureed, some of the fiber is lost. Whole fruit will keep you feeling full longer.

How to make a Smoothie in a Vitamix

Since a Smoothie is a combination of fresh or frozen fruits blended together, a Vitamix blender or any other blender at all is innevitable to its making. Hence, when we wonder how to make a Smootie in a Vitamix blender, all we need to know is Firstly, how to use a Vitamix blender itself and Secondly, how to make a Smoothie. Under this section, we will try to combine both in order to gain full knowledge on how to make a perfect smoothie, using a Vitamix blender.

Start with a liquid base. 

This is the best way to make smoothie in vitamix blender. Adding a liquid base to your Vitamix blender before you make it chop those fruits is a really necessary first step to having a successful smoothie making experience. This process is important for a number of reasons. First being that the kind of  liquid added goes a long way to determine the flavours your smoothie takes up. Some of these liquids include; Milk, Coconut water, Almond milk, Fruit juice and so on. The second reason why it is crucial to add a liquid base to your Vitamix blender is to provide a solvent that dissolves any powder that you may have added to your fruits.  Moreso, when you turn on the blender,  the liquid will whiz through the blades quickly and easily, drawing down other ingredients to be chopped up. If you’re using a smoothie-specific blender, add enough liquid to go halfway to the fill line.

Pick your fruits

This is the second stage in the making of a smoothie with a Vitamix blender or even any blender at all . Picking your fruits is so crucial first of all because a smoothie is basically food made from the combination of several fruits and secondly because, without these fruits and other ingredients for blending, a blender is amost completely useless. For you to discover your desired flavoured smoothie, it is necessary for you to pick the right fruits. The right combination of fruits will not only get you that tasty smoothie, it may also get you those health benefits you look forward to in a smoothie.

Tip: For smoothies, frozen fruit is best. It blends up thicker than fresh fruit and gives you a really cold smoothie to enjoy after blending. If you don’t have frozen fruit, freeze your fresh fruit for 30 minutes before blending or add about 1 cup of ice and blend until smooth!

NOTE: You may refer to Live and learn to  learn about some of the smoothie fruit combinations out there.

Arrange the ingredients Properly

As inconsequencial as this process may seem, the arrangement of your Smoothie ingredients in your blender may determine how fine it turns out. Therefore, whether you wish to make a simple chocolate milkshake or a denser smoothie frozen fruit, you must load all the ingredients properly. The lighter materials including all kinds of liquid should go to the bottom of the machine while the heavier items follow at the top. This arrangement helps the blade at the base of the blender to effectively make its clockwise turns at top speed, crushing the items sitting on it.

For proper guidance, below is a simple order you can use for the arrangement of your smoothie ingredients.

• Liquids- can be water, milk, yogurt, or juice
• Dry Goods- that’s powders, seasonings, or grains
• Leafy Greens
• Fruits & veggies
• Ice & frozen foods

You risk damaging the motor of a Vitamix blender when you start on low. Hence do not hesitate to start on high except you are scared of waking your neighbours. When Vitamix blenders work on high, they tend to make more noise but it is this pressure that makes blending a lot more effective in a Vitamix blender, especially if what you are blending are frozen fruits.

When a blender runs at a low speed, it means the recipe in the blending container will take longer to complete processing. On the other hand, like any other motorized machine, a motor running beyond its limit risks overheating, which then will cause the Automatic Overload Protection to turn the blender off. In worst case scenarios, the overload fuse might even give up (especially when very old) and blowout. Hence, in as much as it is necessary to start with some intensity, it is also crucial that this pressure is managed.

When a Vitamix blender is on optimum speed level, the cooling fan is automatically maximized and the motor has enough wind to stay cool so that your smoothie can blend way faster and easier. Therefore, do not be afraid to start really fast. However, it is important that you do not leave the blender on high because it is likely that the machine starts at whatever speed you left it last. if this happens after you must have load your blender with your smoothie ingredients, it could aggressively blast its content all over the place or worse still, destroy the motor. 

Use the Vitamix Tamper.

The Vitamix team has envisaged the need to give your smoothie a nice mix and push some lumped ingredients down your blender blades, hence they have added a tool for this purpose and it is called a tamper. A blender tamper is used to push ingredients down into the blades. It helps ensure that all of the contents get blended evenly so you don’t have any chunks in your coffee or smoothie. Furthermore, the tamper can help pop the air pockets that try forming around the blades. Hence, making sure your mixture blend smoothly without the blades stopping.

The Vitamix automatic timer will come in handy

Apart from the lovely build of every Vitamix blender, Vitamix Ascent blenders and a few others have a built-in-digital timer that counts up and down when blending. If you are using the Vitamix A2500 or the A3500, you may not need to closely monitor your smoothie as the timer can be set to automatically turn off at certain times depending on the container used.

FAQs 

How do I clean my Vitamix blender?

All Vitamix blenders are self-cleaning: just add a few drops of dish soap, fill halfway with warm water and run on high for 30-60 seconds (or run the Clean program). Also, check which model you own – all newer containers are dishwasher safe

Why Blend on High in a Vitamix Blender?

Blending on high not only reduces blend time, it also helps keep the motor cool.

Should I use Ice?

It is preferable to use frozen fruit to give smoothies a frosty texture while keeping them full of flavor. Ice, on the other hand, tends to water smoothies down. But if you don’t have frozen fruit on hand, by all means, use ice to thicken and chill your smoothie. Moreso, ice-crushing is not an issue for a Vitamix. A vitamix blender pulverizes ice and other frozen foods easily

Should I add liquid to my Smoothie?

Liquids such as milk, coconut water, water and fruit juice should be added to a smoothie before blending, to give it a distinct flacour. These liquids also help the blender function properly because it permeates through the fruits and pull them closer to the blades.