Morning shake isssues ...

nicklebleu

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
Hi all,

I have been making myself a morning shake for about 3 months now (along the lines discussed elsewhere in the forum) but have found the experience "difficult to swallow" (pun intended).

My ingredient list looks like that:
- frozen blueberries
- maybe small banana to sweeten the deal
- 1 tblsp of linseed
- 1 tsp of vit c
- 1 handfull of almonds
- 1 tsp of macca root powder
- 1/2 tsp of magnesium citrate
- 1/2 tsp of tri-salts (a mix of ca-carbonate, mg-carbonate, k-carbonate)
- water
AND
- 1 tblsp of spirulina

Apart from that I ingest:
- 1 caps of MSM
- 1 caps of reduced glutathion
- 1 caps of 600mg ALA

And then:
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tblsp of cod liver oil
- 1 tblsp of linseed oil

I used to put all these ingredients into the shake, but found the mixture to be too hard to drink. So I took the cod liver and linseed oil out of the mix and now drink it with lemon juice which is quite ok.

My main problem is the spirulina. It tastes awful and makes my shake look a sickly green. I call it my "dragon sperm" :scared: I have somewhat improved the formula by adding the juice of a full lemon to the mix.

While I totally see the benefits of taking spirulina, and it feels quite satisfying for many hours after, I also think that (particularly) breakfast should be an enjoyable experience. I usually dread my shake as soon as I get up - on weekends I supplement this with other more palatable things like eggs or bowl of fruit etc.

I really would like to keep on taking the spirulina, but would like to ask all of you, what your experience is with it - and if you have found a way to actually start to enjoy taking your morning shake.

All suggestions appreciated!
Nick
 
Hi nicklebleu,

My first question would be how does the shake taste exactly? Is it sour, not sweet enough, etc? And you're right, you shouldn't dread breakfast. Have you thought of trying almond milk as a base, always using a banana or adding some xylitol or stevia to sweeten it -- that is, if you're not in the process of candida detox? I use water, banana, vit c, spirulina (haven't been bothered by the taste or color), psyllium husks, blueberries and sometimes another fruit I may have lying around like grapes or strawberries, a bit of stevia, flax oil and I've also added fulvic acid which I just ran out of. Other ingredients have come and gone but this is what I'm working with most days of the week for now.

I dunno, maybe your mixture ingredients don't complement eachother. I've never tasted macca root but I've read that the taste can be a bit off-putting. And on my bottle of spirulina the serving size is just one teaspoon. Also, you may want to look further into the bioavailability of the tri-salts you take. I've read that the carbonate forms of minerals, especially calcium carbonate, is little better that eating chalk. Not very absorbable in other words.

Just my two cents, as they say. :)
 
Hi Nic!

I've had to quit my shakes once I learned that the rice protein powder had high levels of aspartic acid and glutamic acid. The rice protein was important to replace eggs for breakfast. Since then I've had eggs and had no adverse reactions...so the jury it out on that. (Meaning I need to do another food trial on eggs)


I think you may be putting too many things together in your shakes, and its making them tough to take.

Mine went along the following:

1/2 c of coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup ice
2 scoops brown rice protein powder
1 banana
1 t of spirulina powder
1/2 t of stevia
1 cup frozen berries (usually black berries or blue berries)

I don't usually add the oil or linseed unless I'm having the shake for a dessert after lunch or after dinner. I'd drop the maca root, and the tri salts, and try one of the things in my shake list, and see if the taste is better. :D And do you grind the linseeds? I grind mine up in a coffee grinder fresh each time.

I've noted that I have more energy with spirulina, but it also has high levels of glutamic and aspartic acid, and while dropping it has really made day to day living rougher, my joints also don't hurt as bad. Its a bit of a catch-22 on my end, as I'm trying to avoid anything that has precursors for monosodium glutamate or aspartame.
 
You should be able to get spirulina in pill form so that you don't have to put it in the shake. I'd ask the clerk where you get the powdered spirulina about that.
 
Thanks for all the feedback!

Odyssey said:
My first question would be how does the shake taste exactly? Is it sour, not sweet enough, etc? And you're right, you shouldn't dread breakfast. Have you thought of trying almond milk as a base, always using a banana or adding some xylitol or stevia to sweeten it -- that is, if you're not in the process of candida detox?

To me it just tastes awful. It didn't bother me at first, but after a while I suddenly couldn't stomach it anymore ...
I don't have a very sweet toooth, so I tend to not use any xylitol or stevia (which I don't like for its bitter aftertaste). I prefer things quite sour - hence the lemon juice everywhere!


Gimpy said:
I don't usually add the oil or linseed unless I'm having the shake for a dessert after lunch or after dinner. I'd drop the maca root, and the tri salts, and try one of the things in my shake list, and see if the taste is better. :D And do you grind the linseeds? I grind mine up in a coffee grinder fresh each time.

I've noted that I have more energy with spirulina, but it also has high levels of glutamic and aspartic acid, and while dropping it has really made day to day living rougher, my joints also don't hurt as bad. Its a bit of a catch-22 on my end, as I'm trying to avoid anything that has precursors for monosodium glutamate or aspartame.

I quite like the idea to throw everything into one dish - makes my breakfast quicker and easier. But then you might be right, maybe less is better.
The maca root actually has a quite pleasant taste, I don't think that it is the problem. However it isn't quite important, so I'll try to skip that.
As to the tri-salts: Haven't done much research on it, it's what Rogers suggests in her book (Detoxify or Die), the only issue that I have had with it is that together with lemon juice it starts to bubble and fizz, which is not a pleasant sensation in a breakfast shake.
The linseeds I throw into the shake and put everything into high-speed blending. So everything gets chopped and ground together.
And the coconut milk is probably a good idea too - I sometimes use coconut oil, which gives the shake a pleasant taste.

And maybe I need to go back to eggs for breakfast as well - usually don't have problems with eggs.


Heimdallr said:
You should be able to get spirulina in pill form so that you don't have to put it in the shake. I'd ask the clerk where get the powdered form about that.

Totally forgot about this - I initially started out with spirulina in tablet form, but changed over to powder out of financial reasons. This might be the solution! :-[
Thanks for your suggestions!
 
Hi nickleblue,

Consider the extra expense as a trade off for not dreading the first meal of the day. It was a blessed day when I found spirulina caps. The thought of "green sludge" every morning for breakfast was really, really depressing. I was even able to up the amount I take (4 gms) because it is in cap or pill form.

Happy blending!

Herondancer
 
Hi nicklebleu. I put a scoop of chlorella, rather than spirulina, into my morning shakes and I find it doesn't turn the whole thing green and I can't even taste it. The shake is usually blue because of all the blueberries I put in it. Here's my recipe:

2 Tbsp. flaxseed (linseed)
2 scoops hemp protein
1 tsp. vit C
1 tsp. mg citrate
1 tsp. MSM
1 tsp. chlorella
2 droppers of stevia
1/2C or so blueberries
1 or 2 carrots
a few leaves of romaine or other greens
a few chunks of cucumber
other veggies or fruits if I have them, like zucchini, apple, fennel...
1 Tbsp. flaxseed oil
water
ice

I'm not sure if the chlorella is milder in flavour than the spirulina or not, but you may want to try it out. When I was going to nutrition school I had a teacher tell me that he had found his clients tended to be divided as to which ones would do better on spirulina and which would do better on chlorella. He said that many who were opposed to one would be OK with the other. Might be worth experimenting.
 
I share your dis-taste for spirulina. I've tried it for a few times and then decided it was evil just because of the taste ;) Sometimes I put in my shake Pro-greens from Nutricology, which is basically a blend of several things plus chlorella. It tastes much better. But, in general, I had made progress without green stuff. :)
 
I do NOT like the spirulina either and rarely use it. I only take the shakes now and again at this point, when I feel the need for some high-impact nutrition. Otherwise, I eat normally and take my supplements. (Sometimes that is a pretty big handful of pills; I alternate days on many of them, but some I take faithfully every single day.)

In other words, depending on your objectives, how you feel, you can modify things.
 
I just wanted to chime in with my particular shake recipe. I've been on the diet for quite awhile now, so the shake I have now is not the same as at other times during the detox process.

1 cup berries
5 drops stevia
1 tbsp xylitol
4 big scoops rice protein
Rice milk

Pretty simple... And it tastes nice and yummy. But, I also take 1tbsp flaxseed oil straight before the shake, and then wash it down with 4-5g of Vit C powder mixed in water. Then I use the shake to take numerous supplements. Sometimes I also eat breakfast (mmm, bacon...), and other times I'm full just from the shake. In my case, I never quite nixed the shake for the simple reason that it's really hard for me to swallow many of the bigger supplements one after the other with just water. And I'm still taking a LOT of supplements each morning. At lunch and dinner, I only take a few.

I don't think there's anything wrong with getting spirulina in pill form again, and even delaying some of the other ingredients until later meals, and/or mixing a couple other ingredients together separately and drinking them first as the "miserable part" and then enjoying a tastier shake! When I put the C powder in my shake, I couldn't drink it. It was just too unappetizing. So, I decided to separate the C into a "pre-shake drink". I used to almost gag when drinking the 5g of ascorbic acid powder in water because it was SO bitter, but now I don't even notice the taste - and my shake is right tasty! Some people put a few drops of stevia in with the Vit C powder in a glass of water and that helps. I will say though that spirulina powder in water is NOT a good idea no matter what you put with it... :shock:

Bottom line is, if it's miserable, you won't stick with it. Detoxing can be hard enough as it is depending on the state of your health - as well as the presence of evil tempting foods. ;) So I would say minimize the misery by experimenting and maximize the flavor while still getting what your body needs!
 
I also do not use the green stuff anymore. I didn't feel that there were enough positive benefits to justify ruining my shake. I also usually take my vit. C or anything else that is yucky separately (with a quick gulp and pinch of the nose). In the beginning, I used bananas and almond butter but have since learned that both are bad for me. I also do not need a shake every day anymore. I usually have one every 3 days or so. Sometimes for dinner!

My shake consists of:

Frozen blueberries, blackberries or strawberries
Water or rice milk
A few personalized amino supplements
Flax seeds
Flax oil
1 tbsp of xylitol
 
Mr. Scott said:
I just wanted to chime in with my particular shake recipe. I've been on the diet for quite awhile now, so the shake I have now is not the same as at other times during the detox process.

1 cup berries
5 drops stevia
1 tbsp xylitol
4 big scoops rice protein
Rice milk

Hi Scott,

Quick question here: is your rice protein flavored?

I find the pure rice protein's taste in the shake *very* dominant and unpleasant. I'm trying strawberry and chocolate flavored variants now and they are fine for me. Only thing I'm wondering, if it's not advisable to use flavored rice protein because I have no idea how exactly the flavoring is done, chemicaly-wise speaking.
 
Odysseus said:
Only thing I'm wondering, if it's not advisable to use flavored rice protein because I have no idea how exactly the flavoring is done, chemicaly-wise speaking.

I find this depends on the brand. I've seen some protein powders that are sweetened with aspartame, which is a definite no-no, but some use stevia or xylitol. Take a look at the ingredients and see what they're putting in there to flavour it. Watch for terms like "natural flavour" or "flavour" - these are code words that basically allow the manufacturers to put in chemical ingredients like MSG without having to declare them.
 
I know it may not be the best for food combining, but one thing that really helps with the spirulina for me is to throw in some leafy greens- kale is very nice! I must admit however that I didn't really have a problem with the spirulina to begin with. I'm one of those kids who grew up eating seaweed at the beach.... :P hopefully it wasn't TOO contaminated.

This is my usual mix:
1-2 tbsp brown rice protein powder
1/4 tsp Vit C powder
1-2 tbsp flax seed oil
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 banana (fresh)
1/2 - 1 cup frozen berries (usually blackberries and/or blueberries. Sometimes I use raspberries)
Water or "milk"- I use either brown rice milk or almond milk.

Once in a while for a treat I will add some carob powder or cacao nibs if I have them. I don't use the shakes every day, either. I find I like them more in the warm weather months- having them almost every day in the summer, but dreading them in the winter. During the winter I have oatmeal generally, which is a prebiotic. If that is the case I add the frozen berries to the oatmeal as I am making it, and top with a little raw honey, the ground flax seeds, and walnuts or almonds instead of using protein powder. Then I will drink the C in straight water, I really don't think it's too bad personally. I don't have any major physical issues to address with the detox, though I've a history of depression and had mono, which still affects me at times even 9 years later.
 
Odysseus said:
I find the pure rice protein's taste in the shake *very* dominant and unpleasant. I'm trying strawberry and chocolate flavored variants now and they are fine for me. Only thing I'm wondering, if it's not advisable to use flavored rice protein because I have no idea how exactly the flavoring is done, chemicaly-wise speaking.

You could try hemp protein powder. I haven't tried rice protein powder, simply because it wasn't available in my local store and I didn't want to wait for it to be delivered by mail. Hemp protein powder tastes quite OK on its own.

Here's my current shake recipe:

1 cup water
Generous half cup of berries – strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries and redcurrants (actually it's a frozen summer fruits mix from my local supermarket).
2 scoops hemp protein powder
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tbsp flax oil
Half tsp ascorbic acid (about 2.5g)
2 scoops D-ribose (they're small scoops!)
1 tsp spirulina

Blend until everything is really well mixed. It's rather like the colour of mud! The ascorbic acid and the berries mask the taste of the spirulina. The shake is one of those foods that looks quite unlike a 'normal' food (it's dark reddish-greenish brown and sludgy) but I really like the taste and look forward to it every morning.

If you like the taste of ascorbic acid, you could try mixing the spirulina with ascorbic acid and water, perhaps add a little himalayan salt. I found that quite palatable.
 
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