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.
We’ve listed out the essential components below so that you can mix and match.
Start with your base of 1 -1.5 cups of one of the following:
Unsweetened almond milk (without carageenan, if possible)
Unsweetened hemp milk
Coconut water
If you’ve been following our work for any length of time, then you know we are not a proponent of non-fermented soy in any way. That means whatever you do, please do not use soy milk.
If you want to know more about why that is, you can watch The Dangers of Non Fermented Soy episode.
Now that you have your base, here are your five essential components.
1: 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.
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.
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.
Your best choices for protein are below.
Grassfed Whey Protein – Fit365
Hormone and Antibiotic Free Whey – Jay Robb
Tera’s Whey Goat protein
Vital Proteins Collagen
Designs for Health Beef Protein
Nutiva’s Hemp Protein (plant-based)
If your protein comes from an animal source, it’s crucially important that they come from animals that were raised without hormones or antibiotics and that preferably ate grass or were pasture-raised.
Note: we did not include brown rice or pea protein in the options above, because we recommend not combining fruit with starch for optimal digestion.
If you would like to use brown rice or pea protein, and want to add fruit, then we recommend using an unripe green banana. The brown rice or pea protein, in this case, would count as both your protein and your carb.
2: Carbohydrate
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 banana to your smoothie for creaminess (but remember if using a ripe banana, no rice or pea protein). It will also add potassium and vitamin B6 (another component that calms your mood and provides better sleep at night).
Better yet, use a green banana regardless of the protein type you’ve chosen.
They are lower in sugar and provide a powerful starch called resistant starch. This is a type of starch that is digested hours later by your good bacteria. It gives you the benefits of both soluble and insoluble fiber and creates little to no insulin response (unlike many other starches).
3: 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 teaspoon
Coconut butter – 1 tablespoon
Ghee – 1 teaspoon
Avocado – ¼
Cacao Butter – 1 tablespoon
4: Fiber
Having enough fiber is an essential, food-based way to literally extend your life, because it’s the most natural, healthy way to eliminate toxins from the body on a daily basis.
New research suggests that due to our toxin exposure and all the excess estrogens we’re receiving, that a healthy body should be eliminating a whopping 2.2 pounds of toxins/day.
For that to happen (unless you sit in an infrared sauna for 40 minutes/day), you’re going to have to increase your dietary fiber to eliminate the majority of those toxins via the bowels.
If you’d like to read about or discover new ways to get fiber in your diet, you can read/watch my blog 3 Kinds of Fiber that Will Change Your Life.
Our three favorite choices for your smoothie are:
Add one tablespoon of any one of these to your smoothie and your body will thank you.
5: A Boost
Since you are already getting the blender or Vitamix out, why not maximize your nutrition by choosing a boost to flood your system with superfoods that nourish your cells?
Just a few of our favorites and regular go-to’s are:
Camu Camu powder (single best food-based source of vitamin C)
Bee pollen (to improve allergies and immunity)
Medicinal mushrooms (for your immune system)
Maca (for your hormones)
Goji Berries (for your immune system and your hormones)
Raw Chocolate (for magnesium and improved mood)
Real vanilla bean (for enhanced cognitive function)
