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| Sweet Potato Island Smoothie |
INGREDIENTS
- 1 organic sweet potato (peeled)
- 3 organic carrots (peeled)
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 2 cups water
Makes 40 oz.
Put ingredients in the Vitamix Blender and blend. Yep, it's just that simple!
I was going to juice this, but when I put it all in the vitamix, it looked like my child hood days of a "dreamsickle" so I had to taste it...and you know what? It was fine without running it through a strainer bag...I think the idea of making a smoothie out of sweet potato is what made me consider turning this into a juice, but it really was good. But don't worry if this is too much fiber/pulp for some of you, feel free to run it through a nut milk bag and turn it into juice.
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Some Health Benefits
Pineapple:
is a fruit that contains a
proteolytic enzyme bromelain
that digests food by breaking down protein. Bromelain also has
anti-inflammatory, anti-clotting and anti-cancer properties. Studies
have shown that consumption of pineapple regularly helps fight against
arthritis, indigestion and worm infestation. Fresh pineapple is an
excellent source of antioxidants and vitamin C. Vitamin C is
required for the collagen synthesis in the body. Collagen is the main
structural protein in the body required for maintaining the integrity
of blood vessels, skin, organs, and bones. Regular consumption of foods
rich in vitamin C helps body protect from scurvy; develop resistance
against infectious agents (boosts immunity) and scavenge harmful,
pro-inflammatory free radicals from the body. It also contains good
amount Vitamin A (provides 58 IU per 100 g) and beta-carotene levels.
These compounds are known to have antioxidant properties. Vitamin A
is also required maintaining healthy mucus membranes, skin
and essential for vision. Studies have suggested that
consumption of
natural fruits rich in flavonoids helps body to protect from lung and
oral cavity cancers. In addition, this fruit is rich
in
B-complex group of vitamins like folates,
thiamin, pyridoxine, riboflavin and
minerals like copper,
manganese
and potassium. Potassium is an
important component of cell and body fluids, helps controlling heart
rate and blood pressure. Copper is helpful cofactor for red blood cell
synthesis. Manganese is a co-factor for the
enzyme superoxide
dismutase, which is a very powerful free radical scavenger.
Sweet Potato: Although their
names
are commonly used interchangeably, sweet potatoes and yams are not the
same vegetable. They're not even in the same family. Sweet potatoes are
native to the Americas, while yams are grown in Africa and Asia. Yams
are large, starchy roots that can weigh as much as 100 lbs. Although
they're smaller in size, sweet potatoes provide more nutrition than
yams.
One
medium baked sweet potato, which is approximately five inches long and
two inches in diameter, contains about 103 calories...this is probably
one of the few times you will ever hear me make mention of calories, as I
simply don't believe in them. It supplies a
little over 2 grams of protein and has almost no fat. Its carbohydrate
content is almost 24 grams, with nearly 4 grams of dietary fiber. A
1-cup serving of steamed sweet potato leaves contains approximately 22
calories and almost no fat. This serving has about 1.5 grams of protein
and nearly 5 grams of carbohydrates, with a little over 1 gram of
dietary fiber. Sweet
potatoes are excellent sources of vitamins A and C. A medium-sized
sweet potato supplies about three times your dietary reference intake
(DRI) of vitamin A and approximately a third of your DRI for vitamin C. A
medium-sized sweet potato also supplies about four percent of your DRI
for calcium and iron. Sweet potato leaves are good sources of vitamins
A, K and folate. Because boiling can leach out some of these nutrients,
it’s best to use other methods to cook these leaves, including steaming
them.
Carrots: Did you know the carrot is a root vegetable? It's sweet and succulent taste is rich in anti-oxidants, vitamins and dietary
fiber. They are exceptionally rich
source of carotenes and
vitamin-A. Studies have found that flavonoid compounds in carrots help
protect from skin, lung and oral cavity cancers. Carotenes are converted in
to vitamin A in the liver. Beta-carotene is the major carotene that is
present in these roots. Beta carotene is one of the powerful natural
anti-oxidant helps protect body from harmful fee radical
injury. In addition, it also has all the functions of vitamin
A such as vision, reproduction (sperm production), maintenance of
epithelial integrity, growth and development. Carrots are rich in poly-acetylene anti-oxidant
falcarinol.
Research study conducted by scientists at University of Newcastle on
laboratory animals has found that falcarinol
in carrots may help fight
against cancers by destroying pre-cancerous cells in the tumors. Fresh roots are also good
in vitamin C; provide about 9% of RDA. Vitamin
C is water soluble anti-oxidant.
It helps body maintain healthy connective tissue, teeth and gum. Its
anti-oxidant property helps body protect from diseases and cancers by
scavenging harmful free radicals. This root vegetable is
especially contain good amounts of many B-complex group of vitamins
such as folic acid, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, pantothenic
acid,
etc that acts
as
co-factors to enzymes during substrate metabolism in the body. It also has healthy levels
of
minerals like copper, calcium, potassium, manganese and
phosphorus. Potassium
is an
important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling
heart rate and blood pressure by countering effects of sodium.
Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant
enzyme,
superoxide
dismutase.
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