5 Steps and 10 Ingredients To Super Healthy Smoothies

Quick, easy, cheap, and healthy are generally not found all together in our country’s food sources. A challenge for many of us is how to connect our stressed out, fast paced lives with the need for convenient, nutritious, and affordable meals. One of the latest trends to fulfill this need has been the increasingly popular smoothie.

Unfortunately, a lot of people make simple mistakes with their smoothies and turn a great idea into another Americanized fast food that robs our health instead of enhancing it. Curious if this is you? Well, have you made a smoothie for breakfast lately only to find yourself dying of hunger an hour later and face planting into a bagel? When I hear this scenario I often ask about the ingredients used and it’s usually something like: berries, bananas and some milk. There’s many things wrong with that equation.

Here’s why:

A “fruit-only” smoothie is going to be high in sugar, and lead to more cravings later. It’s also not ideal if you’re trying to lose weight.
A balanced meal requires protein + fat + fiber to feel full. Fruit provides fiber, sure, but your body needs protein and fat to feel satisfied.
Milk also spikes blood sugar because of it’s natural sugar content (lactose) and most people find
it inflammatory and difficult to digest.

Here are 5 Simple Steps to an ideal, well-rounded smoothie:

Base: 1-2 cups of non-dairy milk (coconut or almond, kefir), coconut water, or plain water
Fiber + nutrients: 1 cup dark leafy green (e.g. spinach, swiss chard, kale)
Protein: 1 scoop whey protein powder or 1-2 Tbsp nut butter/seeds (e.g. chia, hemp)
Fat: 1-2 Tbsp ground flaxseed, 1-2 tbsp omega-3 oil (flax, fish, or coconut), or 1/4 avocado
Flavour: 1/2 – 1 cup fruit

These are just some starter ideas, feel free to play around with the ingredients, as long as you have all of these covered! Whether you’re a morning smoothie drinker or use them as snacks or meal replacements, smoothies are an excellent opportunity to use food as your medicine and fulfill an abundance of vitamin and mineral requirements for your body and mind.

To maximize the 5 Simple Steps use the following 10 ingredients to get the most health benefits out of your next smoothie:

1. Non-dairy milk

This is your base of 1 -1.5 cups of unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk (without carrageenan, if possible), coconut water, or kefir. If you’re having GI problems or would like a little help regulating your bowel eliminations, then kefir may be right for you. This drink has a taste similar to yogurt with a thinner consistency, is full of probiotics. Probiotics are live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host to help promote a healthy digestive flora. Translation: Probiotics give the “healthy” bacteria in your gut an edge over the “bad” bacteria. Improving this balance can lead to better digestive health and even boost immune function. Check out our “How To Heal The Gut” seminar that we did earlier this year to learn more on this subject.

The one non-dairy milk you should not use is soy milk. If you read any of our other blogs on soy then you have seen that all non-fermented soy products are off limits. If you want to know more about why that is, you can watch this video on the Soy Myths.

2. Protein

This is one of the most important ingredients and yet so often at many smoothie bars when they mix up a blender full of fruit and ice, this can be the one ingredient that is most overlooked. Protein provides the amino acids that are an essential part of all living organisms. We cannot be healthy or heal when we are lacking in protein. For years, we have been recommending to consume protein within one hour of waking for hormonal and weight balance. This simple adjustment has had great positive effects on their mood and energy levels, as well as their weight. Dr. Alan Christianson NMD, in his book The Adrenal Reset Diet informs us that having 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning is essential to resetting our circadian rhythm, assisting our energy levels throughout the day, and helping us to sleep soundly at night. I highly recommend a whey protein source with at least 20g of protein made without sucralose, or any other artificial sweetener.

3. Anti-oxidant Rich Carbohydrates

We need carbohydrates to feed our thyroid and adrenal glands and to keep the metabolism revved. The better fruit choices for your smoothie will always be organic berries because they are the lowest in sugar. This can be any berry – strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and even the acai berry. If you are a banana lover like me, there’s no problem to add a ½ of green banana to your smoothie for creaminess.

4. Healthy Fat

Having a healthy fat in your smoothie can leave you full hours longer than if you went without, plus it can protect your cells and feed your brain. All of the healthy fats we recommend below are also excellent for your digestive system:

Organic Coconut oil – 1 tsp
Coconut butter – 1 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tsp
Avocado – ½
Cacao Butter – 1 tbsp
Flax oil-1 tbsp
Fish oil- 1 tbsp

5. Cocoa

It’s for the antioxidants, right? Even just a tablespoon of cocoa powder adds tons of chocolate flavor with very few calories and no sugar—plus, if you get a craving for a late night snack try this:

Peanut Butter Shake –1 cup unsweetened kefir, 1 scoop vanilla or chocolate whey protein powder, ½ green banana, 1 tablespoon cocoa powder,1-2 tablespoon peanut or almond butter, ½ cup of ice. Blend and enjoy!!

6. Chia Seeds

Chia adds omega-3s and fiber to your smoothie while thickening it. Let the seeds soak in your smoothie liquid a few minutes before blending; they’ll absorb some of the liquid and pass through your digestive system much more easily. Try this Gingerbread Cookie Smoothie with cashew milk for starters, just remember to add the scoop of vanilla whey protein powder. I told you people make that mistake often.

Whey Protein sale at our Roanoke, Virginia Chiropractic Office! 10% Off!

7. Ginger and Turmeric Roots

Spice up your smoothie with anti-inflammatory ginger or turmeric—perfect for adding to anything with berries or citrus. If using the whole root just peel a piece and throw it right into the blender. (Chop it roughly first if your blades won’t blend it all the way.) Check out this adventurous smoothie!

Lemon Ginger Berry Blast: 1 cup coconut water, 1/2 cup pure green tea, 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder, 1/2 cup strawberries or other berry,1 to 2 inch piece fresh ginger, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (optional), 2 cups ice (less if using frozen berries)

Don’t forget about adding tea to your smoothies. Not only will you be adding flavor, you’ll also get antioxidants, phytochemicals and flavonoids – all of which fight oxidative damage and may reduce the risk of diseases like cancer and heart disease.

8. Avocado

Seriously, what can’t avocado do? Add half of an avocado to your morning smoothie and you’ll stay full longer, thanks to its fiber and healthy fats. Avocado aids the brain, improves cholesterol, and also helps keep skin and digestion in tip-top shape. For the avocado lovers try this recipe:

Chocolate Avocado Protein Shake: 10oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 scoop of chocolate whey protein, 1/2 frozen banana (or ½ cup frozen peaches), 1/2 avocado, 1 tablespoon of almond or natural peanut butter, 1 tablespoon chia seeds.

9. Veggies

You can eat greens in every snack or meal, and smoothies are no exception. Blend in a handful of kale, spinach or other leafy greens to virtually any smoothie recipe (we’re partial to this Wrinkle-Fighting Berry and Kale one) and your skin, heart and digestion will thank you for it. There’s no need to stop at leafy greens, either—you can add anything from carrots and bell peppers to asparagus to a smoothie.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and bok choy all contain disease-fighting and immunity-boosting phytonutrients, as well as the essential nutrients vitamin A, vitamin C and folic acid. These veggies are great raw, slightly cooked, or even try using frozen veggies and blending those instead. They’ll deliver all of the health benefits you want, and they’ll chill your drink!

The best tasting veggie for a smoothie though, is spinach. Spinach is full of micronutrients like iron and zinc. While low levels of iron and zinc can negatively impact athletic performance, cause fatigue and even result in poor muscle growth, spinach delivers loads of these nutrients while also supplying folate, a B-vitamin responsible for producing and maintaining new cells. Folate is also essential for DNA and RNA production. Pregnant women and women seeking to become pregnant should be sure to take in adequate amounts of folate, as this micronutrient is essential for preventing neural tube defects, such as, spina bifida.

Don’t forget to add the whey protein! Seriously, it balances out the smoothie and keeps your metabolism rolling.

Check out some veggie smoothie recipes below:

Coconut water, Berry, Kale Smoothie

5 Vitamin-Pack Veggie Smoothie

3 Gorgeous Veggie Popsicles

10. Low Glycemic, High Antioxidant Juices

Add a low glycemic, high antioxidant juice to your post-exercise recovery smoothie. This simple ingredient can reduce recovery fatigue and improve the healing rate of muscles.

Cranberry Juice – A tart taste along with powerful flavonoids called proanthocyanidins. Research shows drinking cranberry juice cocktail daily can promote urinary tract health, providing protection against certain harmful bacteria that cause urinary tract infections.
Pomegranate Juice -Old medical practitioners may have been on the right track when they used the pomegranate to treat disease. Extracts of this once-exotic, now-commonplace fruit been found to have strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and even anti-tumor properties. Additional research has found that the anthocyan
ins, tannins and high levels of antioxidants in pomegranates can help fight obesity.
Tart Cherry Juice -There’s plenty to love about tart cherries besides their delicious flavor. For example: Their high anthocyanin and quercetin content. The quercetin serves to prevent oxidative damage and acts as an anti-inflammatory agent, while the anthocyanins, a class of antioxidant phytochemicals found in plants, helps to prevent diseases like cancer. Runners and cyclists in particular may benefit from consuming tart cherry juice: Recent research found that endurance athletes who consumed approximately 12 ounces of the drink twice daily for a week prior to and on the day of a strenuous relay race experienced fewer muscle aches and pains at the finish line compared with those who consumed the placebo.

Looking for more great tasting smoothie recipes? Check out our recipe collection on our [LivFit] tab of CoreRoanoke.com