Ex-military doctor: 4-ingredient smoothie to live longer, healthier
Former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams uses a simple trick to incorporate more vegetables into his diet.
Adams shares his simple smoothie recipe that helps him avoid highly processed foods and live longer.
The citrusy smoothie contains spinach and carrots. He swears you can’t taste it.
Getting enough fruits and vegetables into your daily diet can be a challenge, especially if you think about it too much.
But it is crucial for your longevity and helps reduce your consumption of unhealthy and harmful highly processed foods.
Here’s how you can eat more vegetables:
That’s why Dr. Jerome Adams, who once held a high position at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, developed a simple and tasty strategy: Pick a simple vegetable you like and sometimes hide it – in a smoothie, for example. Adams’ personal favorite vegetable is spinach.
“I can eat it in a salad, I can eat it sautéed, but I also chose smoothies,” Adams, who served under former President Donald Trump and is now the director of health equity at Purdue University, told Business Insider US. “You can literally get a whole day’s serving of fruits and vegetables in one smoothie.”
“I’m not a person who really loves a lot of fruits and vegetables,” Adams said. However, he added that “the best way for individuals to protect themselves is to incorporate vegetables and fruits and eliminate processed grains and artificial foods whenever we can. Smoothies are one way to achieve this”
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He uses this tactic to eat less highly processed foods – like sugary cereals, sodas, convenience foods like canned soup or packaged pasta, and processed meats. These foods are linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, anxiety and depression. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal linked it to early death.
His simple smoothie recipe allows him to eat more greens every day. This helps him control his weight and reduce his risk of diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, he says. “You can’t even taste the spinach,” Adams added. “That’s my trick.”
Easy 4-ingredient smoothie recipe
Adams has four basic ingredients in his fridge and freezer: spinach, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, some frozen fruit, and another surprise vegetable – carrots. He prefers strawberries, bananas and citrus fruits like pineapple and mangoes because they mask the carrot flavor. He swears you can’t taste either vegetable, and the carrots even add a little sweetness.
Either before he leaves the house or when he gets home from work, Adams throws the ingredients in the blender for a quick and satisfying snack. “You’ll be surprised how much spinach you can put in a smoothie and it won’t change,” he says.
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Yogurt is an optional ingredient, but stay away from juice
Some people like to add yogurt as a source of protein. Adams omits this ingredient because he is lactose intolerant. One smoothie ingredient he advises against: juice, because it contains so much sugar. “I’ve seen people make smoothies that are basically Slurpees,” he says.
In his opinion, this defeats the purpose of a smoothie, which is to mask some healthy foods with fruits that are naturally sugary but still nutritious.
Ethel Purdy – Medical Blogger & Pharmacist
Bridging the world of wellness and science, Ethel Purdy is a professional voice in healthcare with a passion for sharing knowledge. At 36, she stands at the confluence of medical expertise and the written word, holding a pharmacy degree acquired under the rigorous education systems of Germany and Estonia.
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