201 Organic Smoothies and Juices for a Healthy Pregnancy: Nutrient-Rich Recipes for Your Pregnancy Diet (2 page)

A healthy diet will ensure that you and your baby receive the necessary nutrients that are essential for you both during pregnancy. This overview of important prenatal vitamins and minerals is a great first step to remaining healthy during pregnancy. In addition, you should consult with your doctor about dietary guidelines for your pregnancy. You can then work these delicious and nutritious smoothies and juices into your diet as you see fit.

When it comes to making your own smoothies and juices, there are a few things you need to remember about both tasty beverages. Proper preparation and selection of both ingredients and equipment is key. As a standard for these recipes, choosing organic ingredients is preferable, as they are a healthier alternative to conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. There is more information on the benefits of organic produce later in the chapter—but first, let’s go over some important decisions and instructions for making your own smoothies and juicing on your own.

In order to prepare a smoothie, all that’s needed are the fruits and vegetables of your choosing (according to recipes that sound appetizing to you) and a high-speed blender capable of emulsifying the ingredients.

Choosing the Right Blender

The blender needed for smoothies can be completely based on your needs and choosing. In most reviews of blenders on the market today, smoothie consumers compare them based upon a few major factors: power, noise, capacity, and ease of cleanup.

• Power.
  The power of your blender will determine how quickly and efficiently your smoothie and its ingredients can be liquefied and blended. If time or texture are of no importance, this factor may not require much attention.
  
• Noise.
  Noise can be of no importance or of the utmost importance when it comes to selecting the perfect blender. If you plan on blending your smoothie prior to the rest of your house waking, it might be smart to invest in a quieter version that will still get the job done nicely.
  
• Capacity.
  Capacity is extremely important, considering you will be putting cups of fruits and vegetables, along with other ingredients, into the same canister. You will need enough room for the blending to be efficient. Also, be sure to take into consideration that you will need enough room in your blender for the adequate amount of ingredients for your desired number of servings.
  
• Ease of cleanup.
  Although cleanup may also seem like a nonissue at first thought, consider your schedule or routine when making this purchase. Do you need it to be dishwasher-safe? Will the blender require special tools for cleaning? Is there a recommended strategy to keep the blender clean while also ensuring a long lifespan?
  

Whether you’d like to use your tried-and-true kitchen blender or you’d rather opt for a high-horsepower emulsifying machine, the choice is yours.

Selecting and Storing Your Ingredients and Smoothies

The prep time required for the ingredients starts as soon as you get your greens, fruits, and vegetables home. Although greens will remain green for days or weeks, their powerful antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals dissipate from the time of picking, so eating them as soon as possible ensures you are getting the most nutrition out of every ounce.

A cutting board, peeler, and knife will help in cleaning and preparing your fruits and vegetables with ease and assist in quick cleanup. In most cases, you will want to soak and rinse your ingredients in cold water, but rinsing by hand can be done just as easily. Lettuces and greens should be washed and stored in an airtight bag or container with paper towels or something that can dry excess water off the leaves. Some vegetables such as carrots, turnips, and beets should be rid of their stems and green tops in order to prevent drying the vegetables out. Both fruits and vegetables with hard outer skins or rinds should be peeled prior to blending, and pits should always be removed.

After blending your smoothie, you can take it on the go in any insulated container that will help maintain its temperature and freshness, or you can store it in an airtight glass container in your refrigerator for up to three days.

The simplicity of smoothies is found in what is required to create one: a blender, a knife for food prep, and the fruits and vegetables of your choosing. That’s it!

Nothing quite hits the spot like a freshly made glass of juice—whether you’re pregnant or not. Fruits and vegetables provide a wealth of nutritional benefits that could never be squeezed into a vitamin supplement. Also, no other health food on earth can be so quickly digested and absorbed by the body.

Gearing Up for Juicing

Juicing is extremely simple, but it pays to invest in a quality juicer and learn the ins and outs of juicing techniques before attempting to create your own beverages.

Like any home appliance, your juicer will last much longer if you respect its size, limitations, and quirks, and keep it clean and in good working order after each use. If you’re buying a used model, you may want to have a veteran juicer look it over before you use it for the first time. The last thing you want to do is butcher fruits and vegetables and render them useless for your juices. Plus, it’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to dealing with appliances that have motors and sharp blades.

Juicing Dos and Don’ts

Here are a few tips and trade secrets to ensure smooth juicing:

• Wash all produce before juicing. Remove bruises, mold, blemishes, and dings.
  
• Go organic. The price is more than worth the health benefits. Otherwise, you’ll have to peel everything before placing it in the juicer and lose out on lots of nutrients. Non-organic produce is sprayed with pesticides that penetrate the peels and skins of produce—the largest source of nutrients in produce.
  
• Always peel oranges, tangerines, bananas, avocados, kiwifruits, pineapples, and grapefruit, even if they’re organic.
  
• Don’t remove the stems and leaves of most produce, including beet stems and leaves, strawberry caps, and small grape stems. They contain a high concentration of nutrients and won’t hurt you or your juicer.
  
• Cut most fruits and vegetables into strips or sections that fit easily into your juicer’s tube without forcing or jamming. With experience, you’ll learn what size works best for your particular machine.
  
• Insert a grocery store–sized plastic bag in the pulp receptacle of your juicer to catch the pulp during juicing. When you’ve finished making your juice, you can either throw away the pulp, or save it for cooking or composting, and there’s no need to wash the pulp receptacle after each use.
  

Since all juicers are a little bit different, be sure to read the instructions carefully and follow them closely. The last thing you would want to do is have an accident.

Whenever possible, use organic fruits and vegetables for your smoothies and juices. Organic produce is grown without synthetic fertilizers and chemical biocides. Every year, the conventional U.S. agriculture industry goes through more than 1 billion pounds of pesticides and herbicides. Only 2 percent of that actually kills insects; the remaining 98 percent goes into the soil, air, water, and food supply—including the nonorganic fruits and veggies you eat! Buying and consuming organic produce is one way to circumvent this health hazard.

Because organic farming does not use chemicals to preserve produce, it focuses on growing crops in season. By using organic produce grown in the United States and close to your home, you’ll use fruits and vegetables that are grown in season rather than imported from foreign countries where organic standards may not be as high and where carcinogenic sprays are still legal.

No chemicals or pesticides are used in the organic growing process. In 2002, the National Organic Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prohibited the use of chemicals in organic farming and stipulated management practices “with an intent to restore and then maintain ecological harmony on the farm, its surrounding environment, and ultimately, the whole planetary ecosystem.” It’s important to know that some small farms cannot afford or don’t have enough time to go through the certification process, but do grow organically.

It’s especially important to buy organic when purchasing produce that is particularly vulnerable to pesticide contamination. This includes apples, apricots, bell peppers, cherries, celery, grapes, green beans, cucumbers, peaches, spinach, and strawberries.

You should also steer clear of produce that’s been irradiated, or subjected to gamma ray radiation to kill pests and germs and prolong shelf life. Irradiation can lead to the formation of dangerous chemicals in produce called radiolytic products, which include formaldehyde and benzene.

Be on the Lookout

When choosing organic produce in the grocery store, look for labels marked “certified organic.” This guarantees that the produce has been grown according to the strict standards set forth by the National Organic Program, including inspection of farms and processing facilities, detailed record keeping, and testing the soil and water for pesticides to ensure government standards are met. Labels reading “transitional organic” mean the food was grown on a farm that has recently converted or is in the process of converting from conventional to organic farming practices.

Now that you know what to eat and why, it’s time to start blending some smoothies and mixing up some nutrient-rich juices. In this Part, you’ll find 201 organic, nutrient-packed recipes that will help make the next nine months absolutely delicious! The smoothies and juices that are especially helpful for common pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness or a lack of energy, or common pregnancy concerns such as fetal development, are marked with recipe callouts (discussed on the following pages) to help you get the most from each and every sip. Enjoy!

Throughout this part you’ll find callouts for smoothie and juice recipes that are especially good for you throughout your pregnancy. These callouts indicate recipes that offer the following benefits:

Good for your baby’s nervous system

Your baby’s nervous system begins to develop around week 3 of gestation when the spinal cord begins to form. Folate, or folic acid, one of the B vitamins, is an important nutrient that will support a healthy and functioning nervous system. Folate is found in a variety of foods, including spinach, broccoli, beets, strawberries, and tomatoes. Drinking smoothies and juices with these ingredients will allow you to consume at least 400mcg, the recommended amount during pregnancy.

Good for morning sickness

In the first trimester, three-quarters of pregnant women experience morning sickness, with nausea and/or vomiting. It can happen at any time of day at different intensities, leaving you feeling exhausted and miserable. A combination of many physical changes taking place in your body is the main contributor of morning sickness. These smoothies and juices may contain ginger, which has been shown to bring relief. In addition, watermelon may also help alleviate morning sickness due to its water content and raspberries have been used for centuries to treat morning sickness and may also be present in some of these smoothies or juices.

Good for your digestive system

Your digestion will be affected during pregnancy and the most common symptom is constipation. During pregnancy, food passes more slowly through your intestines due to hormones that cause the muscles of the digestive tract to relax. In addition, your uterus can also press on the colon, causing similar effects. The good news is that fruits and vegetables that contain more fiber have been shown to help constipation, as long as you consume plenty of fluids. Some types of produce—including watercress, beets, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, and watermelon—are also diuretics, which mean that they contain a high water content that helps flush out toxins. In addition, water-filled cucumbers are rich in sulfur and silicon that help remove uric acid. The fiber content or diuretic impact of the smoothies and juices marked with this callout will help with constipation and help you maintain a healthy digestive system throughout your pregnancy.

Good for pregnancy cravings

A pregnant woman’s cravings for pickles and ice cream have been the premise of many a joke and many women do experience unusual cravings during pregnancy. You can avoid overeating during these cravings by making sure you’re taking in enough fiber. Making this an important part of your diet is one way to manage blood sugars that will help control your hunger and energy levels: It slows your digestion, therefore your blood sugars will be more balanced. These juices can help you curb your cravings from the abundance of nutrients they provide, and some may even satisfy your cravings.

Helps boost energy levels

The level of stress on your body during pregnancy can lead to exhaustion. There is a reason they say, “You’re now eating for two.” Your metabolism will increase during pregnancy, urging you to eat more vitamins and minerals for your growing baby. Incorporating the smoothies and juices marked with this callout will help prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies throughout your pregnancy. These smoothies and juices contain a higher amount of electrolytes, vitamin C, or B vitamins, all of which will give your energy a bump in the right direction. Electrolytes promote hydration, which is known to improve energy levels; vitamin C has a high amount of antioxidants that reduces stress in the body, therefore it increase metabolic rate and maintains energy levels; and B vitamins aid in energy production by assisting with the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. B
₆
and B
₁₂
deficiencies are known to lead to lethargy, so bulk up on melons and leafy greens, which are known to contain these vitamins.

Good for healthy skin and hair

During pregnancy your changing hormones can wreak havoc on your skin. The smoothies and juices marked with this callout are full of vitamins A, C, and E; these vitamins are antioxidants that help repair damaged tissue and support the growth of new cells, and they will improve your skin and put a beautiful shine in your hair.

Good for your baby’s bones and development

A healthy diet is essential for the development of your baby. There are a few key nutrients that add extra support to ensure your baby’s bones, teeth, red blood cells, and muscles develop adequately—especially during the second trimester. They include vitamins A, E, and C; calcium; and magnesium. Magnesium and calcium work together to support strong bones and vitamin C helps out with bone growth and repair, and the formation of collagen that is the foundation of bone health. These recipes also help decrease the likelihood of birth defects, the majority of which occur during the first trimester. It is recommended to reach 400mg of folic acid daily to reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spine. These smoothies and juices will help you meet your daily requirements for the vitamins A, C, and E; calcium; magnesium; and folate.

Good for strengthening your immune system

Your immune system is made up of cells, tissues, and organs that have to be protected to decrease the risk of illnesses. Overall, your immune system’s basic task is to protect you and your baby from any foreign free radicals that may cause harm. The stronger your immune system, the more protection you’ll have against these. These smoothies and juices contain higher levels of vitamin C which, in combination with vitamins A and E, minerals such as selenium and zinc, and flavonoids, support your immune system and help repair tissues. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that specifically protects tissues from damage. It also helps your body absorb iron, which is required for the production of hemoglobin and prevents anemia.

Good for fighting infections during pregnancy

There are several infections that women are more susceptible to during pregnancy. The most common are urinary tract, bladder, and yeast infections, which occur due to changes in the urinary tract. In addition, the growth of your uterus can block some of your urine from draining, which may lead to an infection. Cranberries are a well-known remedy for infections, because they produce hippuric acid in the urine that prevents bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder. Vitamin C, beta-carotene, and zinc can also help fight these infections. These smoothies and juices will support your recovery from these infections.