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