Superfood Smoothology

Since I’ve been getting tons of questions about smoothies, I thought I’d finally do a post on them. Smoothies are great on any occasion. Many people prefer to make a large smoothie for breakfast, others use them for a mid-day boost, but I love them as a way to help speed recover and restore energy levels after a hard workout.

Initially, I figured I would just blog the recipes of a few of my favorite combinations; but then I realized that most of my smoothies are made on the fly with whatever goodies I can get my paws onto. As such, instead of sharing a few rigid recipes, I thought I’d share the basic building blocks to the perfect superfood smoothie and leave it to your own imaginations to do the rest. And so here is my basic guide to creating the perfect blend.

Base: 

Water

Green Tea (excellent way to boost antioxidants) 

Almond Milk,

Sunflower Seed Milk (high in Omega 3s)

Rice Milk

Apple Juice

Orange Juice

Berries: (I often use frozen berries) (Antioxidants)

Blueberries

Strawberries

Goji Berries (dried) 

Mulberries  (dried)

Acai Berry Pulp (frozen)

Cherries

Fruit:

Bananas (I often freeze bananas)  

Pineapple

Apple

Mango

Pear

Greens and Veggies:

Kale

Spinach

Collards

Arugula

Beet Greens

Beets

Celery

Carrots

Wheatgrass powder (practically tasteless, navitas)

Nuts: (Proteins and Fats) 

Almonds,

Cashews

Walnuts

Brazilian nuts

Pine nuts

Powders/Spices: 

Vega One and Vega Protein

Sunwarrior

Hemp Powder

Hemp Protein by Nutiva

Pomegranate Powder (made by navitas)  

Amal Powder (Dried Indian Goose Berries. Very, Very High in antioxidants and Vit C.)

Maca Powder (excellent post exercise, helps relax the body)

Raw Cacao (very high source of antioxidants and magnesium which helps relieve cramping)

Cinnamon

Cloves (One of the highest sources of antioxidants)

Ginger (excellent for recovery)

Turmeric (Indian spice, helps fight cancer, helps blood circulation for recovery, must take with black pepper to metabolize) 

Oils: (I only use these on weeks were I've trained really hard and never more than half a teaspoon)

Coconut oil

Hemp Oil

Flax Oil

Olive Oil

Seeds:

Chia Seeds (Add a spoonful of chia to every smoothie to add Omega 3s and fiber to keep blood sugar from spiking from the fruit and sweetners)

Hemp Seeds/Powder (excellent source of protein)

Flax Seeds

Sunflower Seeds

Sweeteners:

Dates

Date Sugar

Dried Figs

Lucuma Powder (navitas)

Sweet Palm Coconut Sugar

maple syrup 

Stevia (use sparingly)

Agave (use sparingly)

You may have noticed that I didn't include any algae. I don't use spirulina (except for the small amount found in Vega). While many believe it is a superfood because it is 60% protein, it has recently been found to breakdown muscles rather than rebuild them, and is has also been linked to liver cancer. Instead, I use to take small amounts of Chlorela when I felt I need the extra push but the payoff didn't seem worth the price, as I replaced it with Kale, which is much cheaper and can be found local!

More on Spirulina can be found here:

 http://nutritionfacts.org/video/blue-green-algae-spirulina/

Now go get out the Vitamix (or any other blender you may have) and mix and match to your hearts stomachs content.