You’ve heard that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, right? Well, something similar is required to help us absorb Vitamins A, K, E and D from our vegetables and food: ‘a spoonful’ of fat.
I’m not saying, however, we have free rein on deep-fried foods. Unfortunately the ‘spoonful’ is not clearly defined, although it’s thought approximately 6 grams (approx. 1 tsp) of fat may be a good guide.
Reporting a nutritional study, WebMD says …
Eating your salad or carrot sticks with a little fatty salad dressing may actually be better for your health than pouring on the fat-free stuff.
A new study shows that eating fresh vegetables with a little fat, such as oil-based salad dressings or cheese, helps the body absorb valuable nutrients found in vegetables, such as lycopene and beta-carotene, which have been shown to help prevent heart disease and cancer.
In contrast, eating a salad without any fat in it may deprive your body of these healthy nutrients, which are known as carotenoids.
Some nutrients, including vitamins A, K, E and D, and various minerals are fat-soluble which means we need fat for our body to be able to absorb them.
Just another reason to make sure we eat a varied diet.
And everything in moderation.
So perhaps we have license to add a little full-fat sour cream, cream cheese or maybe a little coconut oil to that dip and raw veggies we’re having for lunch, lol! Or in this case, to our smoothie recipe!
We’ve spoken before about including healthy fats in our smoothies. That was to help prevent blood sugar spikes. Well now we have another reason to make sure we include them in our green smoothies.
We have a simple smoothie recipe from Dana the MinimalistBaker that includes some healthy fat to help your body absorb the fat-soluble nutrients it needs.
Recipe: Healthy-Fat Smoothie
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 medium Banana, frozen
1/2 cup mixed Berries, frozen
1 Tbsp Flaxseed, ground
1 heaping Tbsp natural, salted Peanut Butter, OR Almond Butter
1/2 – 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Milk, OR Milk of your choice plus 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups fresh Spinach*
Blend until smooth and enjoy.
* Spinach is an excellent source of Vitamins K, A, E – all fat-soluble – C, B1 and B2 as well as many other nutrients.
Source: WebMD
Recipe Source: MinimalistBaker
Photo: DrinkMeHealthy
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