Eco Peaceful
Were ethics meets lifestyle!
TASTE & TEXTURE - This Vegan Chocolate smoothie recipe is our family's favorite, and it is 'spoiled teen' approved! It is not very easy to feed healthy and whole foods to my spoiled teenage son, so I created this recipe since it tastes delicious and has a creamy and fluffy texture. The Flax seeds makes it creamy, and chia seeds and avocado makes it thick, fluffy and light. Lecithin makes in this recipe is optional, but it creates a more creamy and almost dairy-like taste. See more information bellow in the "recipe notes" how to buy a Natural Lecithin without any solvents, such as acetone, ethanol or hexane.
NUTRITION - I created this smoothie purposefully to be very high (almost 1000% RDA for adult female) in Omega-3 fatty acids, since my son usually does not eat food high in Omega-3s. Most Americans are deficient in Omega-3s, even those who chose to eat fish. Humans do not need to imprison, manipulate and murder fish and deplete our oceans to get Omega-3. Walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds are all high in Omega-3s, and you can have undamaged Omega-3 fats from nut/seeds, while fish is usually cooked, which is damages Omega-3s (and all other mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids). Most of the fish oil supplements sold on the market are actually bad (rancid). So if you prefer to get Omega-3 from a supplement and chose not to harm and kill fish, it is better to buy vegan DHA (made from algae) (Amazon affiliate link) than from fish. This vegan chocolate smoothie also has about 60% Protein, 70% selenium, 40% calcium. I use https://cronometer.com to evaluate nutrition of the food, which uses the data from USDA database.
WHAT? FAT FOR WEIGHT LOSS? - Contrary to a popular, yet unscientific, belief that only low-fat diets help you to lose weight, scientific studies actually show that adding nuts and seeds (high in fat) into your diet, can actually help you to lose weight, and even live longer! The satiating quality of fatty foods can also help people reduce their cravings, as well as reduce and eliminate their desire for animal foods which helps them stay on a vegan/plant based diet!
EQUIPMENT:
Blender - The only equipment you need for this chocolate smoothie recipes is a blender. If you do not want to consume plastic scrapes and Teflon flakes* from plastic high-speed blender containers, then we recommend using a glass jar blender without plastic on the bottom like the Oster Pro 1200 (Amazon affiliate link).
NOTE: According to independent studies, "BPA-free" plastic claims have been shown to be untrustworthy! I recommend the $59 Blender Oster Pro 1200* (glass jar blender without plastic on the bottom) to avoid the many toxic chemicals from plastic leaching into your food and avoid supporting the plastic manufacturing industry as much as possible. Click here to watch our videos about "BPA Free" claims & Blenders.
*I call plastic high-speed blenders, "Plastic Scrapes and Teflon Flakes", since the food, spinning at up to 300mph, is scraping the plastic sides, while flakes of Teflon come off of the blade assembly! According to independent studies, the plastic that used in BPA-free blenders are not truly BPA free.
INFO ON TRITAN™ PLASTIC, Tritan plastic used in Vitamix, Blentec and many others claimed "BPA-free" blenders:
Migration of plasticisers from Tritan™ and polycarbonate bottles and toxicological evaluation. Are Any Plastics Safe?
For 2 Person(s)
SUGGESTIONS FOR RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
LECITHIN
Mechanical or Chemical Processed Lecithin? Not all Lecithin are made equal, some is made using mechanical and some chemical process. Mechanically processed lecithin usually stated as "100% natural" or "all natural" or "solvents-free". Chemical processed lecithin use solvents, such as a hexane, acetone, ethanol or combination of those. Some of them safer than another, but usually manufacturers do not disclose on the label what type of solvent were used.
Sunflower or Soy Lecithin?
Soy lecithin tastes better than sunflower lecithin, but I could not find any organic or natural soy lecithin that are made without any solvents, so currently I am using 100% natural sunflower lecithin.
Which to Buy Organic or Solvent-free Lecithin?
If you want to buy solvent-free lecithin I am aware of only 2 options for those who live in the USA:
1) Lekithos - All Natural Liquid Sunflower Lecithin Currently, I am using this lecithin and I am satisfied. It is made in Spain, and is available in 16 and 32 oz glass jars.
2) Micro Ingredients Sunflower Lecithin Powder (Amazon Affiliate link).
The purity and origin of this lecithin is very suspicious, here is Lekithos analysis of the Micro Ingredients lecithin, from their website:
"Q: I see organic sunflower lecithin powder advertised online, stating it was made in the USA? The claim of “Made in USA” is certainly possible, however, the better question is: are all the ingredients used to make this product “Made in USA”?
A: We have our doubts … as mentioned above, currently the only commercially known liquid organic sunflower lecithin manufacturers are located in China.The advertised “organic sunflower lecithin powder” as seen online at Amazon.com, and the producers own website, most probably contains Chinese liquid organic sunflower lecithin, which is pulverized (in the USA) with the addition of a carrier and drying agent. We have had this product analyzed and found that it only contains approx. 70% lecithin, and what appears to be maltodextrin (as carrier) and silicone dioxide (as drying agent). In addition, there is no information available on the phospholipid and fatty acid profile of this product – neither online, nor on the actual packaging. This information would reveal if said product was merely a lecithin powder blend “containing” organic sunflower lecithin, or actually 100% pure lecithin.We suspect this product is merely a blend, and not 100% pure organic sunflower lecithin, thereby misleading, if not mislabeled.We encourage you to do your own research and inquire with the seller and/or manufacturer." https://www.lekithos.com/faq
Micro Ingredients does not label and do not answer how much phosphatidylcholine is in one serving.
I do not trust organic products from China due to both my research and business experience - lots of organic textile products from China are fake. In this article (which includes my textile testing video) I exposed fake organic nut milk bags from China and in this video I expose fake organic mattress covers ) and I also recently found out that even "Organic" food from China can be fake and/or toxic. Fake “Organic” Food from China is FLOODING USA Store Shelves. Here’s What You Need to Know NutritionFoodRecipes.com/2017/03/fake-organic-food-china-flooding-store
Any other Brands offer Solvent-Free Lecithin?
Based on my research all others brands use chemical solvents to extract lecithin, one company promotes their lecithin as "Hexane-free", but uses acetone instead.
Also, do not get mislead by "raw" or "organic" labels that are part of the brand name of some sunflower lecithin. For example: Blue Mountain OrganicsTM brand with a trademark name LoveRawFoodsTM sells NON-organic lecithin (chemically processed). Also, "raw" does not mean that it is processed without chemical solvents.
Are Lecithin Supplements for Everyone?
No
CAUTION: Adding lecithin to a diet already high in choline (found in high amounts in many animal products) may increase your chances of heart disease.A landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine (Intestinal Microbial Metabolism of Phosphatidylcholine and Cardiovascular Risk) shows that choline (within: eggs, poultry, dairy and fish) produces the same toxic TMAO (trimethylamine) as carnitine in red meat, which may help explain why a vegan diet can protect against heart disease. Gut bacteria can turn the choline into TMAO. Vegans tend not to have the TMAO producing bacteria in their gut due to a high fiber diet with a low intake of carnitine and choline (both naturally found in very low amounts in many plant foods). Learn more in this 9-min video by Michael Greger, MD - Carnitine, Choline, Cancer, Carnitine, Choline, Cancer and Cholesterol: The TMAO Connection
OTHER INGREDIENTS SUGGESTIONS
For sweeteners and vanilla suggestions, see my Cashew Milk Recipe Without Straining
This Recipe contains Amazon affiliate links, If you use my affiliate links, it will help me financially to produce more content like this.
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