Kids and Green Smoothies...

[Raspberry4]

Hello,
I started giving my sons greens smoothies (small amount) for the last two days and each time my youngest (11) had stomach discomfort from them, the second time running to the bathroom. Water, banana, ice, spinach, 1 orange squeezed... Has this happened to anyone's children before? And what to do, I finally got him to drink them, and now this reaction - very frustrating.

[spicyfull]

Glad he setteled into them and everything is going Smoothly now. This won't help the problem but call it the Hulk Smoothie since it is Green.

[Snoozy]

Yes actually! My 10 yo wanted me to make my raw Orange Julius drink for him all the time, but every time he drank them, he had diarrhea. I was going to stop giving them to him but he really liked them and heck, it's hard to get fresh fruit down my kid so I didn't stop. I've probably only made him about 6 in the last month. The last one he had did NOT give him diarrhea so I'm hoping that means his body is just adjusting???

Interesting, I didn't realize that this was a kid issue, I just thought it was my kid. :confused:

[Veganforlife]

I call them Shrek shakes and mine are hard core. By that I mean they taste very sea-like as I add dulse and kelp (for my thyroid) and spirulina, Alissa's green food powder, msm, beet powder, and stevia.

I think the kids' reactions are normal. Don't you think maybe their little bodies are detoxing? Are they 100% raw? If not, well then the body is just doing what it's supposed to - getting rid of gunk.

[Raspberry4]

Veganfor life - thanks, but no, I do not think it is detox after just having 2 6 ounce portions. No they are not all raw either. He actually gets pain in his abdominal area one-half way through drinking the 6 ounce portion. It is as though the 'good nutritious' food is upsetting his stomach. It is so weird and frustrating since he at least wanted to try it. He probably won't again (he has always had problems with eating - but that is another chapter). I feel so bad that he actually gets pain from something nutritious - very frustrating indeed!

Snoozy - keep me posted on your son. I hope he is doing better too.

Spicyful - thank you for responding but I don't understand your post. It is not going smoothly at all right now, that is the problem.

Have a great day everyone :)

[Rawkincake]

Maybe he is allergic to one of the fruits? I know my son can't eat mangos or peaches without having horrible stomach issues. I make him spinach, banana and strawberry smoothies and he does great with those.

Good luck!

[coco]

that's actually not such great food combining, add to that the ice and you've got a fairly hard to deal with drink on your hands.

have you tried just some apple and spinach with room temp water to get it going? maybe give it a go and see if that one gets a different reaction.

and i strongly suggest ditching the ice, in everything. food and drink that is too far from room to body temperature is hard on the body and requires a lot of extra energy to deal with.

good luck!

[PixieLed]

I second removing the ice. I never put ice in my green smoothies. I think that trying to drink something cold can be hard on our systems.

I would suggest you just try different combinations. :) Bananas and spinach and blueberries work well for me.

Good luck!

[Raspberry4]

Thanks to everyone for your time and help! I will try it without the ice (he only drinks his water with ice so he is pretty used to it. He prefers cold drinks all the time). But I will try. I like ice in mine just to make it thicker and more like a 'shake' consistency. Also I will try one fruit, with one green and see how that goes. Thank you again everyone! If it works, this would be a great way to get the fruits/veges in!

[FiddleMama]

I have trouble tolerating citrus sometimes, particularly if I eat it with something else.

My toddler loves this very simple, mild, and sweet smoothie: head of romaine, 1 apple, 2 sliced frozen bananas

Those amounts make enough for 2 adults and our 2 year old.

I hope that helps!

[Raspberry4]

Thank you. It is ironic but my son just said to me tonight "mom why don't you make just apple and banana smoothie"? Isn't that funny? I still need to sneak in a green though. Have a good night :)

[Snoozy]

Thank you. It is ironic but my son just said to me tonight "mom why don't you make just apple and banana smoothie"? Isn't that funny? I still need to sneak in a green though. Have a good night :)

What an awesome kid you have!!! Hope he did well with the apple/banana (and green - shhh...) smoothie. :D

[joyfulmama]

My kids ages 7-15 drink 1 or more qts of green smoothies. spinach, parsley, lots of bananas, frozen strawberries and mangos. the 2 and 4 year old have 8 or more ounces. No one has ever had stomach issues. My first thoughts was a reaction to the orange- and I never use ice. freeze your bananas or add frozen fruit.
debra

[Theogirl]

Thank you. It is ironic but my son just said to me tonight "mom why don't you make just apple and banana smoothie"? Isn't that funny? I still need to sneak in a green though. Have a good night :)

I've been adding a spoonful of spirulina to my gs lately and it's quite mild tasting. Maybe try a bit of that.

[Raw Angel Mom]

His body is adapting and i would be surprise if this continue. It is better to have the waste out within 72 hours or less. So if he is eliminating quick, as long he isn't dehydrated, i think this is ok. When i first went raw food ever, i was taking fresh fruit in the morning up to lunch following a diet for life guideline and i had that same problem as your son. It was good for me, because i had chronic constipation and this way, i was finally going more often.

Make sure to alternate your greens and not giving him the same greens all the time, otherwise he will get fed up. There is a poison in each greens nothing armless, it is making our body stronger if consume greens in balance. According to the Victoria Butenko, it is a way (this poison) that mother nature has found to make sure that the animals don't eat all the same species of green at once. When you alternate your greens, it is eliminating this problem.

Best wishes

[RaisingAlex]

Raspberry4

Does he like the GS? Has he ever said anything about the color of it? Curious because some kiddo's really have a issue with the color. Maybe is gets all worked up causing tummy pain.
Green Smoothies are very filling maybe he is full?
Just some thoughts. Good luck!

I got the grandkids to drink them by having "science experiments" in the kitchen that they participated in. We call them all kinds of fun names too.

Raw Love
Melissa

[garden granny]

Are you washing the greens/spinach really well? Just a thought, cause I bought some salad/herb mix a couple weeks ago that said it was prewashed and it looked really clean so I used it and within a few minutes I got cramping and running to bathroom. So, I tried rinsing it really good in cold water and used it with no problems at all after that.

[Raspberry4]

Thank you everyone for the great ideas/thoughts. The color is ok for him. I do wash the greens really well (the ones in bags I don't trust anymore after the salmonella scares). The ice is out for now too. Thank you!

[lavendarJ]

I know everyone has their own views about food combining, but I really believe in the power of combining foods properly (even raw foods) and I do like green smoothies but they give me indigestion and major gas every single time (never get gas when drinking separately), so if I decide to enjoy them I do so in small amounts. I started combining and researching food combining long before raw and I believe in its healing power as strongly as I believe in the power of simply living raw. Fruits and vegetable juices really shouldn't be combined and I used to be very disciplined with this prior to raw, but I can eat the same fruits and veggie separately (all fruit juice or all veggie juice) with no problems but when I turn them into a green smoothie-Bam, bloating, indigestion and gas. Some people think it's something your body needs to get used to but I think that on the other hand, the body is intelligent and it's the body's way of telling you that your foods are improperly combined. I don't even mix any fruits together. All foods break down differently. Everyone's digestion system is different, some people drink them with no problem.I drank them this week for a few days and prepared myself for the consequences- some people have to run to the bathroom but hey've never had that effect on me..yet we are all uniquely different.

I hope you find a happy medium for your little one....:)

[klomasius]

We call our green smoothies snot shakes, or halloween shakes.

My 7 y o son has never had a problem digesting green smoothies, but I make a gentle gs of mild greens, banana, orange juice and avocado.

I think for us the addition of some fat in the form of the avocado goes a long way to making both a gentle and palatable drink. My son drinks it no problems and is VERY fussy!

[Pookietooth]

Spinach is very high in oxalates. I think kale is lower, you could strain it after making it to get the bigger pieces of kale out (since it's harder to break down in a regular blender).

[ltcartwright]

In my Hamilton Beach blender I blend the greens in whatever liquid I'm using first until its broken down really well, then I add the other ingredients. With the heavier ingredients the greens take a while to break down. If you have a high speed blender, then this isn't necessary.

My 2yo takes one look into my cup of green smoothie, scrunches up her nose and shakes her head at me. Once the color doesn't look right to her, she doesn't even bother to drink. If I fool her into thinking it's something different, she'll get it on the tip of her tongue then spit it out like she tasted poison.

I wanted to start her on Raw, but getting her to eat anything SAD or RAW is extremely difficult. I'll checked the postings under "Raising Raw Kids" to see if any strategies were used that I can incorporate.

[coco]

they say that the way to get kids to eat any foods is to never force and to offer the food over and over again. i think having it yourself and expressing obvious enjoyment, maybe sharing with other people too, would illicit some interest from your small one.

[MiahTay]

In my Hamilton Beach blender I blend the greens in whatever liquid I'm using first until its broken down really well, then I add the other ingredients. With the heavier ingredients the greens take a while to break down. If you have a high speed blender, then this isn't necessary.

My 2yo takes one look into my cup of green smoothie, scrunches up her nose and shakes her head at me. Once the color doesn't look right to her, she doesn't even bother to drink. If I fool her into thinking it's something different, she'll get it on the tip of her tongue then spit it out like she tasted poison.

I wanted to start her on Raw, but getting her to eat anything SAD or RAW is extremely difficult. I'll checked the postings under "Raising Raw Kids" to see if any strategies were used that I can incorporate.

The way I started my kids with green smoothies is to make them with blueberries and not to much green so that it's still purple (not brown) and they never even knew the greens were in there.

Oh yes, and I agree with coco that when I mmm and ahhh over food and DON'T offer them some it usually makes them want some.

Good luck.

Heather

[klomasius]

I wonder if any stomach issues with green smoothies are at least in part a result of the high fibre content.

I find that if I've eaten terribly (non raw and yuck) and I go back to green smoothies, I get some bowel issues at first. A big hit of fibre has definitely been shown to have some detrimental effects on a system that is not used to it. That's why people who have been recommended they should eat more fibre are told to increase the levels slowly, and not to take fibre tablets as these deliver a big hit of fibre all at once.

The good news is that the issues soon go away after I'm back on a high fibre diet.

I'd guess the same thing would apply to children.

[phytomama]

my 19mo had some funny bathroom issues with green smoothies. she had really loose stools and urgent. a tough one when you are letting her run around bottomless. :eek:

i have decreased the amount of kale and added a bit more fruit for her. i also leave out the flax seed meal for her. those little bowels don't need the fiber that we do.

so, we are doing banana, blueberry, kale and spirulina with water. she is digging them, but oddly enough, she loves the greener smoothies more. what a funny little creature i have.

we'll have to experiment with some other recipes.

happy smoothie making.

:)

[klomasius]

awwww...

I just love to hear of little ones who love healthy food, what a great boon for you as a parent! How odd that she likes the greener ones better!