The Unique Health Benefits Of Smoothies Featuring Living Farmacy
The vast majority of people that I encounter both personally and professionally tend to love smoothies because they are equal parts convenient and delicious.
As a dietitian, many of my clients are actually eager to hear my thoughts on smoothies both in terms of their nutritional value and potential role in the dietary routine of both themselves and their families.
These are great questions and ones that I will be answering in today’s post, which is brought to you in collaboration with Living Farmacy – a Toronto-based craft smoothie company that I’m thrilled to be working with.
I’ve always said that, when partnering with brands, I favour those who are both local and offering a product that I know my clients and their families would value and benefit from.
Living Farmacy definitely fulfills these parameters and you will have a much better understanding of why I feel that way as today’s discussion evolves, so let’s get right to it.
The Unique Nutritional Value Of Smoothies
Let’s start with the more obvious practical component here; smoothies can be both delicious and highly convenient.
This is especially true of Living Farmacy’s products which I can confirm taste exceptional (Flow is my favourite, more on this shortly) and only require you to add a liquid base of your choice to the pre-mixed product (you can use water, but I chose soy milk for the creaminess and protein content!).
From the pure nutrition perspective smoothies allow us one major unique advantage which is exposure to certain foods or ingredients that we may generally be lacking in our diet (fruits/vegetables) and/or exposure to certain foods or ingredients which otherwise we may not choose to consume in other capacities.
Obviously multi-ingredient smoothies like those sold by Living Farmacy work in a number of ingredients that we may be less inclined to eat in their whole form – and I tell my clients who enjoy smoothies to take advantage of this and to add components to smoothies that you may not have the opportunity or desire to incorporate elsewhere in your routine.
To my chagrin, kale often gets reported as one such ingredient!
Jokes aside, this smoothie strategy becomes important for very busy people and especially those with children who may not have the broadest palate.
Many of my clients utilize smoothies strategically with their children to great effect and as you will better appreciate after I go through their craft smoothie product line, Living Farmacy smoothie offerings really do make the most of this strategy.
Why I Love Living Farmacy’s Craft Smoothies
Taste, ease of preparation and nutritional value are the three areas that really making Living Farmacy’s products appealing.
Minimal Prep Time
Living Farmacy’s craft smoothies comes in frozen pouches.
I don’t have to thaw the pouch, I just break the contents into pieces inside the pouch.
Throw the contents into any blender and add equal parts water or liquid of choice (180ml is what they recommend).
60 seconds later – I have a fresh tasting smoothie.
Unique Ingredients And Great Taste
Living Farmacy’s smoothie blends are unique and contain synergistic combinations of fruits and vegetables.
I also like how they have highlighted the percentage of fruits and vegetables in each blend, which I know is something people will appreciate it.
Let’s now highlight some of the notable ingredients across Living Farmacy’s five unique craft smoothies.
For each smoothie I have linked the full product description and ingredient list via Living Farmacy’s Website.
Alive: The primary ingredient in Alive is strawberry, but it also contains zucchini, celery and rhubarb which are three very nutritious ingredients that kids especially may not be as inclined to incorporate in a different form. There is a hint of basil to give Alive a fresh taste.
Flow: The primary ingredient in Flow is mango, which is my favourite fruit – especially when served cold in the form of a smoothie. Flow also contains butternut squash which is one of the highest food sources of vitamin A and cardamom which is an antioxidant-rich spice.
Power: Pineapple is the primary ingredient in power, but it also contains fennel and a unique blend of spices including ginger, turmeric and black pepper. All ingredients are known to be rich in antioxidants. This blend is truly food combining at its best! Black pepper contains a bioactive compound piperine which has been known to boost the absorption of curcumin in turmeric.
Love: Given that Love contains my favourite vegetable kale, the name could not be more fitting. It also happens to include good amounts both zucchini and spinach making it a very good tasting vehicle for green veggies for those who may not be consuming them as often as they’d like to be – kids included. There is also fennel and tarragon in this blend and at first may appear odd but it really works — giving Love its unique powerhouse green smoothie taste.
Clarity: Last but not least allow me to offer you some Clarity ( sorry I couldn’t resist!). Clarity’s primary ingredient is wild blueberries – which has twice the amount of antioxidants than regular blueberries. The wild blueberries do a great job of masking the fact it also contains both spinach and zucchini! There is a hint of mint to freshen you up.
I hope you guys enjoyed going through both my thoughts on smoothies and the closer look into Living Farmacy’s product line, which I’m confident would be a great fit in any smoothie-lovers freezer.
You can check out their website at: https://www.livingfarmacy.com
Use discount code ANDYRD to save 15% on any trial pack or smoothie box purchase.
Until next time,
Andy De Santis RD MPH
