Vitamin C-Boosting Smoothie

 

Ouch

Has this ever happened to you?

You wake up, groggily reach for a glass of water, and because of carelessness, you accidentally knock it over and it breaks into shards?

Then shards hit your toes and immediately,  blood gushes from the wounds?

And ow, ow, ow --- the searing pain makes you want to scream?

I feel embarrassed to admit it, but yes, I was that clumsy and now I have a deep wound in my right toe as well as the middle toe (that one’s not quite as deep). Sniff sniff.

First Aid

My first impulse was to pinch the area to immediately stop the bleeding. (But sometimes first impulses are incorrect. The rules of first aid dictate that I should have checked first for shards of glass still embedded in the skin before washing the area.) If I could have walked to a safer spot, to avoid additional shards of glass, I would have, but it was just too risky. I didn’t want to slip and injure myself even more. 

So I just stayed put.  While calling for help,  I applied pressure between the two edges of the skin to stop the bleeding wound. I didn’t know the other toe was cut at that point — I just wanted to get the blood to clot ASAP. 

Thank God for nurses! Thank you, Janice! We also had a first aid kit, which included a topical antibiotic and some gauze and tape. 

Ahhhh…. Relief at last.

The body heals itself

Right then, I had this incredible urge to just stop and marvel at the One who created my body and its self-healing properties. And I also wondered why it is only during times like these that I praise Him for how wonderfully-designed human bodies are. 

 

Think about it.  

When our skin tears, it bleeds to draw debris that was lodged in the wound during the point of impact, to expel it, then after a while, it forms a clot to seal the cut and stop the bleeding.

Our bodies’ existing cells then build a cushion supporting the clot, and the body makes new cells to repair damaged tissue.

Something created, that when damaged, heals itself?

Have you ever made a project which when accidentally damaged, can repair itself? 

In contrast, your body works together cohesively to utilize absorbed vitamins and minerals and your cells work to heal the damage. You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Praise our creator!

Vitamin C Boost

Give your body awesome fuel to get such repairing work going. Use Vitamin-C-rich food. Also known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C boosts cell repair. 

Not just in citrus fruit!

Daily intake of fresh raw ripe fruit is a wonderful source of naturally-occurring vitamin C. We are taught in school that vitamin C sources are primarily citrus fruit, such as calamansi. But did you know that non-citrus fruit can provide it as well? Papayas and pineapples are a few awesome examples. And guess what? They are available year-round in the Philippines! (For readers overseas, kiwis, strawberries, and oranges are excellent sources as well)

Here's a smoothie recipe for your vitamin C needs.

Have you tried the recipe? What other recipes are you looking for? Are you thinking of eating more fruit and veggies in 2022? Let's chat!

Vitamin C-Boosting Smoothie

Banana Avocado Dream with Tami

Tami, my blender is ten years old. Only 12 pesos a day. Sobrang sulit. She has outlasted my food processor, and two juicers. Huuuge fan. Here’s to more years making healthy smoothies, desserts and sauces. 💚

What’s something you invested in that has good returns?

Banana Avocado Dream with Tami

Berry Date Smoothie

Ingredients

14 dates (depending on the type, they may need to be soaked in water first until they are softer, especially if using a regular blender. deseed).
1/2-1 cup berries (freeze them beforehand if you want a cold smoothie)
1 cup water, buko juice, or a combination of the two (add more if using a regular blender)
1 teaspoon Maca powder

Procedure

Blend everything in your Vitamix!

Berry Date Smoothie

Strawberry-Banana Ice Cream

Watch Ortrud as she demos strawberry-banana ice cream on the Vitamix Blender.



I have since gotten a Vita-Mix blender for myself and I can tell you that this is a great way to rupture the walls of the plant cells in the greens that go in your green smoothies, enabling your body to digest the greens better. (Thank you to Victoria Boutenko for her research on this!)

Let's say you are blending wheat grass with some saba bananas for your breakfast smoothie. If you make two batches, one in your regular blender, and one in your Vita-Mix, you will see the difference. Your regular blender will have little pieces of wheatgrass floating around while your Vita-Mix concoction will have a smooth consistency.

I have wanted a Vita-Mix for so long that I considered asking my sister to buy it for me when she was in the States a few months ago, but I found Ortrud Ting Yao on Google and decided to go with her. It was a little frustrating to get the Vita-Mix on my first attempt because their credit card machine was offline, thereby setting me back by about a week to get it (no worries; it wasn't their fault!) but I can tell you that the wait was definitely worth it!

Is a Vita-Mix blender a kitchen essential for the raw foodie?

This is  debatable. Most raw foodies will say you don't need one. If your blender has a "pulse" setting, they will recommend that you use this to blend ingredients well. A regular blender will do.

I personally wanted one for myself because I have used my regular blender at least twice a day for several months now and it gets pretty warm even without running for very long.  I didn't want to replace a blender every few months, and I wasn't about to give up my green smoothies. :) Also, the blades of my regular blender wore out in a few months and the greens just ended up moving around in little pieces. Prior to ever considering raw, a vegan blogger I followed recommended it. The promise of a 7-year warranty was what ultimately sealed the deal.

So it's really up to you! :) I just really like mine :)

12/06/2010


P.S.

Here's a great tip I got from Asha Peri, a raw foodie who runs Dahon Kusina and Creative Space: Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of your Vita-Mix so that you prolong the life of your blades.

Strawberry-Banana Ice Cream