Is this Green Smoothie safe for birds?

[TWR]

I make a green smoothie daily and wondered if I can share it with the fids and if there's anything I should remove from the ingredient list. I've already removed avocado & protein powder but not sure if I should remove anything else. Here are the ingredients:-

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 lemon (no skin or pith)
• 3 carrots
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 2 handfuls of kale
• 1 zucchini
• 1 summer squash
• 1 apple (no core or seeds)
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1 tblspn Pepitas
• 1 tblspn Flaxseed
• Spirulina
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 large cucumber
• 1/3 bunch flat leaf parsley
• 1 medjool date

Nothing is peeled (except the lemon) and nothing is cooked. Made daily & zapped in the vitamix. It makes 4+ thick people sized serves and each bird would only have a very small portion.

Anything to be concerned about here?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Begone]

That sounds awesome to me that also share all my healthy food with my parrots.

But I'm not sure of what medjool date is?

 

[TWR]

That sounds awesome to me that also share all my healthy food with my parrots.

But I'm not sure of what medjool date is?

Thanks - I wasn't sure about almond milk or the spirulina. Here's info on the dates.
Nutritional Facts of Medjool Dates | LIVESTRONG.COM

 

[Lady Jane]

Almond milk is non-dairy and should be fine. Spinach has oxalates' which over time can impede the uptake of calcium. So I would suggest you go light on the spinach.

The Truth About Oxalic Acid In The Parrot Diet

 

[expressmailtome]

Spirulina is sold for birds to eat.

 

[Monica]

Almond milk is non-dairy and should be fine. Spinach has oxalates' which over time can impede the uptake of calcium. So I would suggest you go light on the spinach.

The Truth About Oxalic Acid In The Parrot Diet

Interestingly enough, here are some other foods that are high in oxalates!


Kiwi fruit
Raspberries
Fava Beans
Navy Beans
Red Kidney Beans
Collard Greens
Brown Rice
Buckwheat
Millet
Wheat
Almonds
Cashews
Peanuts
Pistachios
Pumpkin Seeds
Walnuts
Pecans
Sunflower Seeds

All-purpose Flour
Brown Rice Flour
Cornmeal
Wheat flour



Just kind of interesting how everyone blames spinach, but it's not the only food high in oxalates... foods we may feed our birds every day also contain a high amount. Of course, none of these foods are fed exclusively, but rather a part of the entire diet.


THE 179 HIGH OXALATE FOODS AND PRODUCTS: BY CONTENT OF OXALATE



I would think that the green smoothie would be okay as a treat.

 

[Begone]

Thanks - I wasn't sure about almond milk or the spirulina. Here's info on the dates.
Nutritional Facts of Medjool Dates | LIVESTRONG.COM

OK, they are safe too. And like Matthey say, spirulina is very good for our birds.

And about food that contains high levels of oxalate. That is also OK, as long as you don't feed them every day. I give mine spinach and parsley 2-3 times/week.
The only time you should be worried is if they only eat a lot spinach and every day. And in fact, we human should not do that too if we are worried about low calcium levels.

Good luck with sharing your healthy smoothie with your fids. I hope they like it!

 

[Mizzely]

Oxalic-Acid Information

Agreed that as a treat, especially with a diet high in calcium, it's just fine.

I use medjool dates for the binder in homemade treats

 

[Lady Jane]

It is true many foods contain oxalic acid, especially leafy greens. Spinach has the highest levels of oxalic acid - 750 mg per 100 gm serving. Oxalic acid content of foods are not a concern for healthy people. The main controversy surrounding oxalic acid is whether or not they contribute to the formation of kidney stones in humans. As I wrote feeding spinach sparingly to birds is suggested as it does contain the highest level of all of the foods we feed them. I also suggest for anyone with concerns about this to ask your avian vet as it is a controversial subject.

 

[Mizzely]

Almond milk is non-dairy and should be fine. Spinach has oxalates' which over time can impede the uptake of calcium. So I would suggest you go light on the spinach.

The Truth About Oxalic Acid In The Parrot Diet

From your article:

"The fact is that oxalic acid will only suppress the absorption of calcium from food that contains oxalic acid. For instance, spinach contains both calcium and oxalic acid. The oxalic acid in the spinach binds with its calcium and will block its absorption into the blood stream. However, it does not affect the calcium in other foods even when eaten in the same meal.

However, if spinach is ALL your bird ever eats (and I am not picking on spinach for any reason other than continuity in this article), then your bird will wind up with a calcium deficiency because the oxalic acid will cancel out the bird’s only source of calcium. There would likely be other deficiencies as well if your bird only ate that one food.

If your bird’s diet is varied and well rounded, you don’t really need to give oxalic acid any further consideration because your bird will have its calcium needs met through other foods."

 

[TWR]

Thanks all, for your responses.
@Eloy @Lady Jane @expressmailtome
@Monica @Mizzely

For the smoothie to become a part of their daily food, instead of a treat, what ingredients should I remove? Also, what can I add to increase the calcium?

2 of my birds are females and they are not as good at eating their veggies as my male. In fact, the oldest female is atrocious and daily out of all her veggies, she leaves all and only eats the sweet potato. The only way I get veggies into her at all is in her daily spoon feed (1 Tspn ground Roundybush pellets & 1 Tspn puréed veggies). I had hoped that I could substitute the puréed veggies daily with the green smoothie. The beauty of the smoothie is that I can pour out their portion BEFORE I add in the balance of any ingredients that I need to restrict from their diet.

 

[Begone]

For the smoothie to become a part of their daily food, instead of a treat, what ingredients should I remove?

Remove the milk and don't use spinach and parsley every day.
You can use broccoli/green peas instead that is healthy and contains calcium. And herbs also contains calcium. Almonds are also very high in calcium but also high in fat.

 

[Begone]

You can make several recipes so that you also get a variation. One day add almonds, (not milk) and one day add spinach, and one day add broccoli or green peas.
And also change the fruit, if you add melon one day it will really taste different. And perhaps pineapple one day.
You can add walnuts the days you don't add flaxseed oil. Walnuts are an excellent source to Omega 3 and 6 just like flaxseed oil are.

 

[TWR]

@Eloy The Almond milk is the base & first ingredient, so it's really the one that will be difficult to remove - unless I want my own smoothie to be water based (I don't think that I do, but I can try it I guess).

I had hoped Almond milk would be ok, since it's not dairy, although I did wonder. I guess I may have to stick with puréed veggies after all.

 

[TWR]

@Eloy I like all those other veggies & fruits, so that's not a problem to switch things around. I'll try today's with switching out the Almond Milk with water at the beginning for water and then after I pour out their serving, I can add the Almond Milk for me. I just realised I can do that easily, because at the end of adding all ingredients, the smoothie is really thick, so I always thin it out by topping up the vitamix to the maximum level with water as the final ingredient. (Even after adding the water, this still makes a really thick consistency). So I can swap my process around and start with 1 cup of water and end with topping it off with Almond milk - if you follow what my waffle means.

 

[TWR]

@Eloy (and everyone else) what herbs are best for calcium? Only one of my 2 girls is fully adult - the other turned 1 on the 8th of this month, so calcium needs and potential future egg laying is a concern since neither are fantastic veggie eaters (one is sort of ok, one is atrocious). I can fool them both into eating veggies with a daily spoon feed which they all love (the male too). I hope there are never eggs, but with girls the chances are there.

I had also thought of occasionally adding ground up cuttle bone - but I don't know how often / how much.

 

[Begone]

That will be great. I do love that I "cook" healthy to both me and my fids everyday. But they don't get all of the things I eat either. (like the cottage cheese)
And I have flaxseed oil every day, and they only 2-3 times/week. But we do eat almost the same thing and I like that.

And melon contains a lot of water so perhaps that will be enough to make the smoothie less thick for your birds without adding so much water.
And use more carrots, they do love the taste of carrots and it contain a lot of fibers. I make carrot juice to mine and the love it so much so when I begin to press it I have one crazy Pionus on each shoulder nipping my ears for wanting "their" juice.

 

[Begone]

what herbs are best for calcium?

The herbs they eat.
All herbs and other green thing you can get from outside, like dandelions, ground elder and chickweed for an example contains a lot of calcium, but they will not eat everything.
Akelas favorite calcium source is wild herbs, parsley and dandelions and Eliys are chickweed, wild herbs and basil.

 

[TWR]

I have a Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer, but I tend to use the vitamix more as it goes threw less produce.

When I say I thin it out with water at the end, it would be with no more than a cup. Probably less. To add the water, I'm filling the vitamix beyond capacity and need to cover it with a towel before the final blast, otherwise I end up with green squirts on my wall (not a good look).

I'm all in favour of thinning it out with carrots, instead of water though

Plus, one day soon I may even get out the juicer.

What do you think of tumeric for the fids? Safe?

 

[TWR]

The herbs they eat.
All herbs and other green thing you can get from outside, like dandelions, ground elder and chickweed for an example contains a lot of calcium, but they will not eat everything.
Akelas favorite calcium source is wild herbs, parsley and dandelions and Eliys are chickweed, wild herbs and basil.

we have lots of fresh food here, but I have never been able to find dandelions. Not sure about ground elder or chickweed - will have to look around.