Smoothies – a great way to enjoy your 5 a day!
Strawberries, bananas, custard, oats, peanut butter, mango, ice cream – so many combinations of ingredients can be used to make incredible, nutritious and tasty smoothies.
Smoothies are a tasty way of keeping hydrated, happy and healthy. Throughout Nutrition and Hydration Week March 14th to 20th 2022, our residents will be enjoying a range of smoothies as a great alternative to tea and coffee and a fun and encouraging way to enjoy their fruit and veg.
Here’s a quick introduction to making a smoothie
A smoothie a day keeps the doctor away!
Drinking a smoothie daily has many benefits. They can provide a nutritional balance of fats, proteins, carbs, vitamins and minerals to help reduce cholesterol and contain many anti-ageing properties.
Smoothies are also great for our immune system and our digestive system; making sure things run smoothly! When we are happy and healthy on the inside we can feel the benefits on the outside.
Smoothies for older people
As people get older, their bodies may find it harder to maintain a healthy body weight as they may not be able to store essential fats and sugars. Fortified smoothies can play a vital role in adding nutritional enrichment to a diet and helping older people consume their 5 a day.
If you are caring for someone at home who needs to build up their body weight or requires a more enriched diet you may want to try introducing colourful, fortified smoothies. They are a great addition to diets and can be enjoyed by everyone in the family.
Smoothies are quick and easy to make and can look really appetising. Using brightly coloured fruits and vegetables such as berries, mango and carrots can make a smoothie look delicious and are full of fibre and essential vitamins. To make your smoothies look even more appetising, you can add pieces of fruit or colourful straws and umbrellas. Spoons can also be used for older people especially; those who may struggle to use a straw.
What is fortification?
Fortification is the process of adding high-energy foods to meals and drinks to increase calories and can be essential in a diet for people who have a disinterest in food, loss of appetite or need to keep their body at a healthy weight. In our brighterkind homes, our catering teams understand the importance of fortification and supplementing individual residents’ diets with high-energy food and drinks throughout the day with daily menu choices, snacks and refreshments created to help residents’ health and increase their overall enjoyment of food and drinks.
Delicious ways to fortify a smoothie
Fortifying a smoothie is easy and inexpensive as you can use a range of staple foods that you usually have handy in your cupboards. These include ice cream, custard, evaporated milk, milk powder and honey. Runny honey is a great sweetener and really helps with those important calories. Watch this video of two of our brigtherkind chefs demonstrating how easy it is to make the perfect fortified smoothie.
Easy and tasty smoothie recipes
We use lots of fruit and vegetables in our smoothies at brighterkind to create nutritious and healthy drinks.
Food and dining is an important part of daily life in our brighterkind homes, it’s a social time with delicious dishes to suit all palettes. To find out more click here.
