Alkame Smoothies and Raw Bite bars

We first came across the great Scandi brand Raw Bites when we were in Southern Sweden and became obsessed with their cool packaging and delicious flavours. Raw Bites are raw fruit and nut bars and when our shopping website launches in the next couple of weeks, you will be able to order them for home delivery as part of our home delivery boxes.

We will be stocking three delicious flavours, Protein, Raw Cacoa and Vanilla berries, though I can see how we will very quickly expand that to the whole range as they are that good!

Along with an Alkame green smoothie, they make a great easy and healthy breakfast.

If you’d like to know more about our home or office delivery to West London, Soho, Mayfair and the Square Mile then get in touch at info@alkamesmoothies.com

Our obsession with Fresh Almond Milk

Anyone who follows us on Twitter (@alkamesmoothies), Instagram (@alkamesmoothies) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/alkamesmoothies) will know that as much as we LOVE green smoothies, we are equally obsessed with Almond Milk.

We don’t mean the processed kind that is popping up in corner shops and supermarkets and which is usually packed with sugar. No, by Almond Milk we mean fresh, rich creamy almond milk made with almonds and fresh water.

For anyone who is lactose intolerant, vegan or would just like to reduce their reliance on dairy, almond milk is (in our opinion) the best cow’s milk alternative.

We could go into a lot of reasons why cow’s milk isn’t great, but instead of pointing out all the things that aren’t great about cow’s milk, we’d much rather  keep things positive and tell you about all the benefits of almond milk!

1. It’s great for your skin. One serving (about 250ml)  contains about 50% of your daily allowance of vitamin E which is great for skin health and protects against sun damage.

2. It’s great for your heart. Almond milk is rich in omega 3 fatty acids (the kind usually associated with oily fish). Your body needs a balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids to work at it’s optimum. Modern diets generally contain far too much Omega 6, so incorporating almond milk into your every day diet is a great delicious way to balance things out. Omega 3 is also important for reducing levels of unhealthy LDL cholesterol and reduces inflammation in the body.

3. It’s great to drink post workout as it helps with muscle growth and healing. Almond milk is relatively protein rich, but more importantly it contains lots of vitamin B and iron, important for building and repairing muscle.

4. It’s great for digestion, especially when made with blended (not pressed) almonds. Each serving contains about a gram of fibre which is vital for healthy digestion. Fibre also helps to maintain a slow steady energy (from natural sugars) release.

We love to make ours with raw cacao and a bit of maple syrup, plain or with a bit of turmeric which is great for the immune system.

As well as green smoothies delivery we will be offering fresh almond milk delivery when we launch in Notting Hill, West London (W2 and W11) and the Square Mile later in the month. Fresh is best.

 

A few reasons why we make green smoothies and not green juices

It seems at the moment in the UK (and London in particular) that more and more people are drinking green. Some are drinking green smoothies, other green juices. So what’s the difference and why did we chose to make green smoothies and not green juices or cleanses?

We believe that green juices have their place. If you are doing a cleanse or detox they can be great for a few days, and green (and by green we mean packed with green leafy vegetables) in juice form is better for you than reaching for a processed fruit juice or processed fruit smoothie. However, when it comes to incorporating something great for you into your everyday diet, smoothies for us have the edge, and here’s why:

1. When you blend lots of fresh leafy greens with a little fruit you keep the food whole. That means all the nutrients, and most importantly the fibre. Why is the fibre important? Well the fibre is not only critical for proper digestion, it also leads to a slower energy release. One that is maintained for longer as opposed to the energy hit (and dip) you get from juice – even green ones. When you juice you lose the fibre and any nutrients attached to the fibre. 

2. Green smoothies fuel us pre or post workout. Here at Alkame we love exercising (in fact we are planning on devoted entire posts to great exercise classes in London and home workouts), be that running, cycling, yoga, pilates, bootcamp, swimming, spinning or getting out and walking around London. Basically anything that gets your heart beating faster, blood pumping and endorphins going makes us happy. Green smoothies are great pre-workout to keep you going for longer, or post to help your body recover. They are protein packed (especially ones like our Simple Green with fresh almond milk) and can  therefore help aid muscle recovery. For us juices don’t cut it when exercising, we crave something more substantial and that means keeping the whole food and not just taking the juice.

3. Green Smoothies are very filing – Again it’s back to the fibre, but a green smoothie keeps us feeling fuller for longer, meaning we are less likely to snack between meals. Sometimes we will have one for breakfast and don’t feel the need to eat anything else until lunch. Other days, we like to have a bit at a time throughout the day to keep unnecessary snacking at bay. There’s also something very luxurious about a green smoothie. The thicker texture and delicious flavour feels like a real treat, and the fact they are great for you is the cherry…on the green smoothie! Again juices just don’t have the same affect for us and with juices it can sometimes feel like a chore to drink them.

That’s not to say we never have green juices (variety is the spice of life after all), but they are not the thing we reach for everyday when we want a filing, nutritious, delicious green drink. That’s why our aim is to share the love and get Londoners drinking green smoothies!Image taken from http://www.divineglowinghealth.com

 

We are not a cleanse…

Around this time of year (the run up to the unpredictable British summer) a lot of people will be looking at how they can achieve that ‘perfect’ beach body. They might (in addition to exercise) look at their diet and decide they need to do a cleanse in an effort to quickly drop a few pounds.

Now we aren’t against a juice cleanse (detoxing can be great when done properly as part of a diet overhaul or to give the system a reboot – if you’re into that kind of thing), but for us getting your greens shouldn’t be part of a quick fix to lose weight. Getting more greens should be the first step on the road to making your diet better. A great healthy supplement to help offset the bad things (processed foods) that most of us find hard to avoid. That’s why we offer green smoothies not green juice food replacements. We don’t want to be just another cleanse, we want to be a healthy change that you regularly make.

We’d love you to incorporate green smoothies into your daily diet because 1. they taste AMAZING; 2. they are a great way to get a natural sustainable energy boost. With smoothies the whole veg/fruit is blended keeping the fibre which regulates the energy release. With juices you get just the juice which can lead to an energy spike and drop; and 3. they might be the catalyst to making other healthy changes (eating more whole foods, ditching the processed sugars, getting more raw foods into your diet – you name it).

So start drinking green smoothies regularly, see how you feel and see what other changes to your diet they prompt you to make. You might not instantly drop a few pounds, but we like to think that if you start drinking green, you will start crowding out the bad, incorporating the good and start to naturally, slowly and healthily change your body for the better! Because at the end of the day, it’s not about the ‘perfect’ beach body, it’s about a fit and healthy strong body that should serve you well for years to come.