Hemp Seeds Or Hemp Protein Powder
Source: picturepartners/Shutterstock
This magical protein powder is a weapon for a smoothie: its packed with not only 8 or more grams of fiber per serving but also has roughly 13-20 grams of protein depending on the brand and type you choose too. Hemp is also a great source of magnesium to support blood sugar levels, aid in muscle recovery, and helps boost your mood thanks to the omega-3 fats it contains. Try it in Chocolate Strawberry Almond Protein Smoothie, the No Beef Plant-Based Protein Smoothie, or Pumpkin Protein Smoothie.
Freshly Brewed Coffee Or Cold Brew Also Works For A Caffeine Boost
If you want an added dose of caffeine to start your day, you can also add the coffee of your choice to your smoothie. Cold brew makes a perfect add-in, as well as brewed hot coffee that has been stored in the fridge. For a good right-now option, add a teaspoon of regular instant coffee.
Pumpkin Makes A Perfect Add
In recent years, we’ve seen the meteoric rise in popularity of pumpkin spiceeverything, but you shouldn’t forget about pumpkin as soon as the last autumn leaves fall, because it’s a killer source of vitamins A and C, potassium and fiber.
Its creamy consistency and mild flavor make canned pumpkin a perfect smoothie mixer long after those pumpkin spice lattes disappear from your Instagram feed.
You May Like: Coconut Skin Smoothie Priming Moisturizer
Is It Easy To Follow A Whole Food Diet
Once youve got your head around having ingredients rather than ready-to-eat things in your kitchen cupboards, its actually very easy. The only issue is the lifestyle and habit changes that come along with it.
It is very likely that for many people, following a totally, religiously whole food diet may be unattainable at least some of the time. For example, there are days where you dont get time to make your lunch or if you want to enjoy social eating. Similarly, people who have young children or who are working more than one job are unlikely to be able to follow a whole food diet all of the time.
Sometimes, we put ourselves under pressure to be as perfect as we can with diets like this, which can lead to an eating disorder called Orthorexia, which is a preoccupation with healthy eating.
This means that following a whole food diet, in principle, can be healthy and accessible for some people but not for everyone. It also means that those with previous disordered eating, as always, need to avoid any form of dietary restriction or rules around their diet.
Orange Strawberry Squash Smoothie
This two-serving sipper is a delicious way to help you reach your daily fruit and veggie requirements. Like many smoothies, you could blend it into a drink or a smoothie bowl. If you want to make more of a meal out of it, add protein-rich enhancers, like protein powder or Greek yogurt.
This smoothie bowl packs 27 g of protein to power you through a long morning. Plus, wild blueberries are packed with antioxidants and fiber.
If a non-dairy smoothie is more your style, this one, with plant-based protein powder, makes a delicious and filling meal.
Cottage cheese provides the protein in this layered drink. Its made parfait-style so the smoothie and cottage cheese are kept separateperfect for days when you want to dig in with a spoon.
Read Also: What Smoothies Make You Lose Weight
Tropical Green Energy Smoothie
This smoothie will have you sipping on major skin-friendly ingredients: kale, papaya, pineapple, and chia seeds. Which means you’ll be sipping on just about every beauty-boosting vitamin and mineral there is. On top of all of that collagen-happy, skin-brightening goodness, this smoothie also has a natural energy secret: nutritional yeast. “Its packed with protein and B vitamins that help give me that extra little pep without the crazy crash,” explains The Adventure Bite blogger Dani Meyer. It’s a brave new nooch and a surprisingly tasty smoothie.
Ready for some next-level skin help? Blend up Gwyneth Paltrow’s go-to smoothie . Don’t have time to whip up your own beauty-boosting drink? It might be time to try rose wateror add these 9 foods for amazing skin into your lunch and dinner plans.
The Best Healthy Smoothie Add
Read Also: Fruit And Vegetable Combinations For Smoothies
Swap Yogurt For Kefir For Added Digestive Benefits
If you already add yogurt to your smoothies, try swapping for kefir, a yogurt-like substance that comes in vegan and dairy options alike. Kefir is made from similar bacteria as yogurt while being a bit thinner and milkier, so it’s perfect for a smoothie.
Kefir has a tangy, sour flavor but little sweetness, and it’s a natural probiotic, which means it helps minimize “bad” bacteria that can build up in your gut, making it an excellent choice for your digestive health and overall immune system.
How To Make A Fruit Smoothie
Making a fruit smoothie is as simple as tossing ingredients in a blender and letting it rip, but we want to make sure you succeed every time, so heres our exact process:
Don’t Miss: How To Make A Fruit Smoothie Without Yogurt
Don’t Forget About Steamed Boiled Or Roasted Beets And Sweet Potatoes
Beets get a bad rep in the veggie world, but they’re actually a perfect option when blended into a smoothie. Both beets and sweet potatoes will give your smoothie a vibrant red hue, but that’s not all: beets provide antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory, which can help with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and even dementia.
Sweet potato is the secret ingredient your smoothies are missing, because they’re loaded in important nutrients like vitamins A and C, fiber, potassium, and iron, and you can add them grated raw or steamed, boiled, or roasted for the right amount of natural sweetness. The opportunities are endless.
Ice Cream Frozen Yogurt Or Sherbet
Smoothies that include frozen yogurt, sherbet, or even “frozen oatmilk dessert” are not fitness drinks. They are desserts. For example: At Smoothie King, a small Yogurt D-lite sounds like something healthy. But the yogurt they’re referring to isn’t Greek yogurtit’s frozen yogurt with 17 grams of sugar. As a result, this small drink packs 54 grams of sugar . That’s more than what’s in McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae and more than what the USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend you consume in an entire day!
Eat This! Tip: A large scoop of unsweetened Greek or Icelandic yogurt and a handful of frozen fruit will give you exactly the same flavor and consistencywithout several nights’ worth of dessert. For more tips like this, to get the latest food news and nutrition advice delivered straight to your inbox.
Don’t Miss: Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Body Buttercream
The Best Green Smoothie
Okay, lets be real. We all want to add a little more green into our lives. However, sometimes it can be hard to gag down. Change all of that with this 5-star smoothie recipe. Not only is this smoothie incredibly delicious, but its also packed with nutrients. Chug those greens the easy way!
What Are Some Great Smoothie Recipes
Alright, now that youre fully versed on how to make a great smoothie, let me share with you some of our absolute favorite combos! Click on any image to jump over to that specific smoothie recipe.
Classic Simple Smoothies
These smoothies are a great place to start. No weird ingredients that you have to special order, just fresh, real food that you can find at any typical supermarket.
Wild Blueberry Lemon No Banana Smoothie
Read Also: Protein Packed Smoothies For Weight Loss
A Good Blender Is Worth It
I got a Blendtec just over 2 years ago, and I can never go back to a normal blender again. Mine tells me how many times Ive used it and Im a few smoothies away from 800 blends! Thats amazing, and it also shows how much I have used it. A good blender will whip you up a thick delicious smoothie with no chunks in about 45 seconds. If you are going to go green on any of your smoothies, a good blender is the key to getting all those healthy leafy greens to blend and have a great texture. I love my high power blender and highly recommend one.
How Can I Make My Smoothie Healthier
The smoothie recipes below are plain, but if you want to expand your smoothie horizons, go for it! Toss in chia seeds or protein powder or hemp seeds or flax or whatever else makes your heart happy. If you have a standard set of mix-ins you like, you can even freeze them into booster packsgreat for really quick and easy smoothies!
Read Also: How To Make Banana Smoothie At Home
What Do I Use To Sweeten A Smoothie
All of these smoothies here use frozen fruit as a base, which adds a nice baseline of sweetness that you can build on if your tastebuds would like. My recommendation is to blend up your smoothie without any added sweetener, then taste. Add in honey or maple syrup to taste. Many times, I dont need to add anything! Another great natural option for sweetening: pitted Medjool dates. Throw in one or two of those bad boys and let the blender do its thing. Youd be amazed at how sweet your smoothie will be!
Flavored And/or Nonfat Yogurt
Yogurt adds high-quality protein and calciumas long as its not the flavored stuff, which counts added sugar among the first ingredients on the label , says nutritionist Kim Melton, R.D. Whats more, no fat means watery yogurt, says Christy Brisette, R.D., president of 80-Twenty Nutrition. Some research, in fact, has shown that higher-fat yogurts seem to be just as beneficial for weight loss as fat-free ones a bit of fat in your yogurt helps make you feel more satisfied for longer. Choose 2 percent yogurt, Greek for more protein. Bonus points for those that are labeled probiotic, which may boost digestive and immune-system health. By nature all yogurts contain good bacteria, but the ones that are labeled as being probiotic yogurt have to meet certain standards and have been studied, Brisette adds.
This simple swap will make your smoothie so much more filling:
Also Check: How To Make A Green Machine Smoothie
Berry Good Workout Smoothie
Get the energy you need to power through your workout in minutes with this easy-to-make smoothie recipe. For an extra dose of calcium, try adding a teaspoon of Organic Kale Powder.
What youll need: 1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries, 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, 2 Tbsp. honey, 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice, and 1/2 cup ice cubes. Blend until smooth.
Nutrition :162 calories, 1 g fat, 2 g protein, 41.5 g carbs , 32 g sugars
Choosing The Right Ingredients
Our standard fruit smoothie recipe starts with a banana or apple and yogurt,but anything you can imagine can work. We’ve made delicious treats with peanutbutter, pineapple, carrots, spinach and kale, and more. We’ve even added celeryto the spinach peargrape smoothie. If you’re going for complete nutrition, adding protein powder tosmoothies puts power in your day without changing the flavor.
You don’t have to break the bank by paying out the nose for little bags ofwashed, chopped, and frozen fruit at the store. Freezingyour own fresh fruit takes less time than you think, and you can make yourown mixture of ingredientsready to dump a little baggie in yourblender!
The amount of ice affects how smooth or chunky your smoothie is .The more ice, generally the chunkier the end result given the same amount ofblending time. Too much ice or too much frozen fruit and you’ll end up with asorbetdelicious, but harder to drink through a straw.
For a very healthy, low-calorie smoothie load up with flavorful fruits and cut down on high calorie ingredients. Punchup your drink with spices, herbs, and other low-calorie flavors. Remember thata smoothie packed full of leafy greens will keep you full too without blowingyour calorie budget.
Also Check: How To Make A Peach Smoothie Without Yogurt
How To Make A Smoothie Without Bananas:
Bananas are the backbone of my simple smoothie recipes. They add so much creaminess, and natural sweetness while being inexpensive. That being said, I know not everyone likes/eats bananas. If you arent into bananas, you can add some Greek yogurt + sweetener + ice OR a half of an avocado + sweetener + ice. Those two combos will replace a banana nicely in a smoothie and still give you a nice rich and smooth texture.
List Of Healthy Superfoods:
- Kale insanely low in calories, powerful anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory properties, and helpful for arthritis and autoimmune diseases
- Spinach the beauty of spinach lies in how easy it is to disguise the taste. Its mild tasting yet packed with vitamins, has anti-cancerous properties, and is one of the healthiest foods on the planet
- Blueberries – one of the highest antioxidant capacities of all fruit which helps to combat free radicals in your body
- Strawberries – just one serving provides more vitamin c than an orange while being low in natural sugars
- Greek Yogurt – double the protein and half the carbs as regular yogurt
- Cucumber since its 95% water, its an incredible detoxifier and helps with liver and kidney function
- Lemon one of the most important items to stock in your kitchen as its a highly effective cleansing agent and cuts through the bitterness of greens
- Banana an essential in smoothies as it adds creaminess, a touch of sweetness, and helps you feel full longer plus, its rich in potassium and fiber and gives you natural energy
- Turmeric – anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties
- Ginger – aids in digestion and supports the immune system
- Chia + Flaxseeds – rich is Omega-3 and fiber benefits
If you are looking to add fruit and vegetable JUICE recipes to your diet as well, .
For extra detoxification benefits, a lemon turmeric flush first thing in the morning will do the trick. This isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s super simple.
Read Also: Tropical Smoothie Cafe Lean Machine Fat Burner
The Right Smoothie Ratios
Start your smoothie with two mugfuls of a liquid base. This can be milk, or a dairy-free alternative such as soya or almond milk, natural or flavoured yogurt, fruit juice, or for a tropical flavoured smoothie, low-fat coconut milk or coconut water. Its important to add the liquid to your blender before adding the fruit, as this will prevent the blade from getting damaged.
Next, add about three quarters of a mug of your chosen fruit. Banana is a great base flavour for any smoothie, and will give you a lovely creamy texture. Other fruits that work well are berries, mango, peaches, plums, nectarines, grated apple or pear, and melon. You may have to add more fruit or liquid, depending on the type of fruit you choose. Play around until you have a texture you like. Add a squeeze of honey, maple syrup or agave syrup if your smoothie needs it, and finally add a few ice cubes to the blender for a thick and frosty smoothie.
Smoothie combination ideas