“Smoothing” my way to healthier eating

By Sheryl Jedlinski

Today I joined the ranks of countless Americans who are blending, making smoothies, and juicing their way to better health. Admittedly, you won’t find any of these small appliances on my Amazon.com wish list. I agreed to try a smoothie maker only to placate friends and relatives concerned that I am losing too much weight (40 pounds and three clothing sizes) too quickly as a result of chemotherapy. Most everything I try to eat (with the exception of chocolate, of course) has a metallic taste to it, leaving me with little or no appetite. For as long as I can remember, I wished that I could eat everything and anything that I wanted and never gain weight. Now that my wish has been granted, there’s very little food I want to eat, and when I do eat, I fill up quickly. As the saying goes, “Watch what you wish for.”

My husband, Tony, who is in charge of everything in our house that plugs in, lights up, and makes noise immediately volunteered to accompany me on the blended drink machine buying trip. For better or for worse, we are now the proud owners of a smoothie maker that can break down whole fruits, vegetables, and ice in seconds and combine them to create a custom blended drink for my specific health needs. You can add boosts for fat burning and cleansing greens for digestive issues.

If you are in the market for a smoothie maker, I suggest you do your homework before heading out with money in hand. We did not follow our own advice, and got what we deserved: information overload. Our heads were spinning by the time our energetic young saleswoman had finished explaining the pros and cons of each machine’s features. The best feature is that there is no prep work, no cooking, and no cleanup required. So, what do I think of my new smoothie maker? I am embarrassed to admit that I haven’t tried it yet, but plan to do so very soon. In the meantime, I promised my husband that it would not go the way of our blender, which lived for decades in the back of a dark cabinet until we found it and gave it away. My new smoothie maker occupies a prominent space on my kitchen countertop so I remember to use it.