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.

[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.

[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