Cold Smoothies in Winter??

I was having a discussion not long ago about smoothie drinking in winter, given many people like their smoothies cold, even icy cold - which isn't that comforting on a frosty cold morning! It was suggested to use the thermomix to warm the smoothie up a bit to combat the cold aspect. This can be done to 37 degrees and hence not affecting the enzymes, but I can tell you a warm smoothie is not very pleasant - I know this from trying it, and from previous blenders that warmed smoothies up due to their friction based mechanisms.

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I do agree getting the temperature of your smoothie right is important - ice cold in winter is just unpleasant, and in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, the consumption of very cold foods and drinks is not recommended. They describe digestion as being a warm event and warmth increases activity. Hence the consumption of cold foods and drinks supposedly slows digestion and requires more and unnecessary energy to heat food up to body temperature. Issues with this are clearly more obvious when foods and drinks are really cold, as opposed to room temperature, which will be closer to body temperature than something frozen.

I know that I am not a fan of ice in drinks and I really dislike water that is cold from the fridge. I also know that if I have used frozen ingredients in my smoothies, that my smoothie can be quite cold (because the Thermomix does not warm with friction). With the lack of variety and availability of fruit in winter, I often use frozen berries or frozen bananas (that I have bought in bulk) so my solution to this is adding some warm water to my smoothie instead of cool, to create a room temp smoothie.

If your blender tends to make your smoothie too warm however, then use ice blocks in place of some of the water, or use some frozen fruit.