Top 10 easiest smoothies that also boost your health and prevent disease
08/24/2015 / By Carol Young
Homemade smoothies are a wonderful way to get a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Commercially produced smoothies are often filled with added sugars and preservatives, thus having questionable nutritional value. By making your smoothies at home, you have more control over what will go in them and you can also make smoothies to fit your nutritional needs. These smoothie recipes contain seeds, spices, vegetables, fruits and roots to boost your health and prevent disease.
Spicy tropical smoothie
Fighting inflammation is one of the best ways to prevent disease since so many diseases stem from inflammation. Turmeric is one of the best anti-inflammatory roots you can eat. But how do you get this tough root into a smoothie? Use freshly ground turmeric or peel it and roughly chop it up into small pieces. Remember, turmeric has low absorption so it is important that you improve turmeric’s bioavailability by mixing it with black pepper, fats or quercetin (onions, raw spinach, sweet peppers to name a few). In this spicy tropical smoothie recipe, the fat content from the yummy coconut milk and the delicious, freshly ground pepper will increase the absorption of the important curcumin in the turmeric. Blend all of these ingredients together and drink immediately for the best nutritional benefits!
- 1 cup coconut milk
½ cup pineapple chunks
1 banana
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
A little honey or maple syrup (optional)
Post-workout smoothie
Whether you have just finished a run with your dog, clocked in 30 minutes on the elliptical or completed an intense weightlifting session, there are important nutrients that you can eat or drink to help the body recover from exercise. Following a workout, you need protein to help rebuild your muscles. Smoothies are a great way to get protein because many people do not want to eat right after intense training. You want to get about 15 to 20 grams of protein after working out. The next ingredient you should include in your smoothie should be a carbohydrate. If you want to limit your carb intake, use a low-carb fruit like strawberry, raspberry, blackberry or even rhubarb! High-carb fruits include bananas, mangoes, pineapple and grapes. Drink your smoothie within half an hour to an hour after exercise to help swiftly restore your energy level and repair muscle damage.
- ½ can pure pumpkin frozen in ice tray
7 oz Greek yogurt (slightly less than one cup)
½ cup water
¼ avocado
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1 Tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
Five-ingredient detox smoothie
Whether you’ve overindulged over the holidays or imbibed too much for a hen or stag night, a detox smoothie is a lovely way to easily (and gently on the stomach) get important nutrients in your belly. The Minimalist Baker‘s five-ingredient smoothie makes a wonderful vegan, gluten-free smoothie that you can blend to get the best detoxifying foods in a single cup.
- 1 cup frozen berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
1 cup organic spinach or kale
½ cup bananas previously sliced and frozen
1 Tbsp flax seed meal
1 cup fruit juice
2 Tbsp silken tofu or almond butter for protein (optional)
You can adjust this smoothie any way you like. Don’t like bananas? You can omit them. Not a fan of spinach? The small serving size makes sure you don’t taste any of those greens. Keep the berries though, because blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are great toxin cleansers.
Digestive smoothie
This smoothie is adapted from the Chilled Green Smoothie recipe submitted by the healthy smoothie headquarters. The melon, cucumber and ginger are digestive-friendly ingredients.
- 1 cup honeydew melon
½ a peeled organic cucumber
½ plain yogurt
½ ice cubes
2 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
Handful of fresh mint
Drink smoothies like this one if you have a digestive issue. The probiotics in the yogurt will give a boost to your good gut bacteria, and the other ingredients are digestive-friendly. Cayenne is known to help with digestive problems including peptic ulcers.
Smoothie to improve your complexion
If you have an ongoing chronic skin condition like eczema, psoriasis or rosacea, you need all the extra help you can get when it comes to your complexion. This smoothie recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction has some very nutrient-dense foods to give you that perfect glow.
- ½ cup plain coconut water (or water and a touch of coconut oil)
2 frozen ripe bananas – ideally previously peeled and sliced
1 cup pineapple, frozen or fresh
1 cup mango, frozen or fresh
2 cups spinach or kale
½ avocado
1 Tbsp ground flax or flaxseed oil
Blueberry banana almond kale smoothie
This Oh She Glows smoothie is creamy, not too sweet and full of nutritional goodness. The iron-rich kale also has calcium to strengthen your bones, and the blueberries are full of antioxidants that also boost your memory. Try this smoothie before attending a lecture or meeting to help you absorb more information! The chia seeds are full of anti-inflammatory omega-3s. The vitamin E from the almonds will give you a nice glow. All of these ingredients are healthy and great for fighting disease.
- ½ cup almond milk
½ kale leaves, stems removed
½ frozen peeled banana
½ cup frozen blueberries
½ Tbsp almond butter
½ Tbsp chia seeds
Austin original smoothie
This recipe comes from the Austin, TX, business JuiceLand. It is one of their most popular smoothies – the Wundershowzen. This delicious smoothie tastes more like a treat than a healthy, disease-fighting snack. The peanut butter makes it a little different than most smoothies these days now that almond butter has taken over in smoothie-butter popularity. The hemp protein powder is a great source of dietary fiber that is also full of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
- 2 cups frozen bananas
1 cup organic baby spinach
2 Tbsp hemp protein powder
2 Tbsp organic peanut butter
2 cups rice milk
Banana spice smoothie
Not a fan on the green smoothie trend? Try this spice-filled smoothie with just a few ingredients. The cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, allspice and turmeric are some of the healthiest spices in the world that help fight inflammation and disease! This smoothie is adapted from EatingWell.
- 2 ripe bananas (or frozen bananas)
2 cups vanilla kefir or plain yogurt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground all spice
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne
Full tray of ice cubes
Minty anti-stress smoothie
Recent breakup got you down? Is late-night studying making you frazzled? Work keeping you tense and under pressure? If it’s too much pressure, then its time to drink a smoothie. This smoothie uses specific ingredients to reduce blood pressure, aid digestion (which is affected by stress) and calm nerves.
- 8 leaves of fresh mint
2 slices of avocado
½ cup fresh fennel, chopped
½ can crushed pineapple (in its own juice, not syrup)
The avocado helps reduce blood pressure; the fennel aids digestion and has a calming effect (as well as tastes great). The smoothie is full of vitamin B to keep you calm and less frazzled, which will keep you healthy. Reducing stress is one of the best ways to prevent disease.
Kitchen sink smoothie
Everything but your kitchen sink can go in this smoothie. This is a good base to start with on your smoothie adventure!
- ½ frozen banana
5 stalks kale, stems removed
1 Tbsp chia seeds
½ frozen peach
½ scoop green superfood powder
½ scoop whey protein powder
1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
This gluten-free, dairy-free smoothie is full of all the superfood nutrients you need to keep you healthy and full of energy.
Sources
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com
http://www.healthyandnaturalworld.com
http://www.healthysmoothiehq.com
Tagged Under: disease prevention, functional foods, health, smoothies
