Smoothies are so “in” these days, everyone is making them or selling them. We like to think that by choosing to drink smoothies we are replacing a meal with a nutrition filled drink or we are rejecting unhealthy drinks and snacks. This is great logic, but is it sound? Are you sure your smoothie is really a healthy alternative? They can be.
These delicious healthy smoothie recipes make it easy to eat healthy with fruit, milk, immune-boosting yogurt, and other nutritious ingredients and they're great for those on a smoothie diet, too.
If you go to most stores or stands that make and sell smoothies fresh, right on the spot, they usually consist of 3 ingredients, fruit, fruit juice, and sugar. Remove the sugar and it’s simply fruit. Some places add milk, soy milk, ice cream, yogurt, coffee, peanut butter, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. Healthy? In a word, no.
First, let’s take a look at the 4 basic types of smoothies.
1. Smoothies Made with Junk Food But Listed as Healthy:
These are the ones that have agave nectar, pasteurized honey, milk, soymilk, and commercial peanut butter. You find these in an awful lot of health food stores and gyms that don’t know any better. Sometimes they try to convince you that it’s healthy because they can add cheap nutrition powders, soy powder, and other types of cheap, chemical vitamin powders.
2. Plain Old Outright Junk Food Smoothies:
You know these, generally made with ice cream; they have these really healthy sounding names such as Very Berry or Strawberry Kiwi. These make you think they contain nothing more than fruit, but ask what’s in them, and that will tell you all you need to know.
3. Healthy Smoothies:
These are usually made with any combination of healthy foods, such as spinach, wheatgrass, a bit of raw organic honey, and/or any combination of fruit. These won’t have any unhealthy additives or other ingredients. In fact most times these types of smoothies are advertised as containing only organic fruits and veggies.
4. Healthy Smoothies with added nutrition:
These are, without a doubt, the very best. Not only is every ingredient in your smoothie good for you but they also contain high quality protein powders, superfoods such as spirulina, or other types of nutrition powders that are made with whole, clean foods. This type of smoothies is capable of restoring or maintaining health.
If you are just starting out making smoothies and you are looking for some good smoothie recipes to start with, or you are simply interested in a new recipe, take a look at a couple of these.
1. Avocado Crunch
Ingredients:
1 Organic Avocado
1 Cup of ice
1 Tablespoon nutrition powder
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 Tablespoons cacao nibs
¼ Teaspoon vanilla powder
Almond/Hemp/ or other non-dairy milk (just enough to cover)
Stevia (to taste)
Add the avocado, ice, and milk to cover. Then, add your nutrition powder and vanilla. Add the coconut oil and cacao nibs, then the stevia, if you would like this a bit on the sweet side. Blend well, adding a bit more milk or water if need be to make the mixture smoothie.
2. Raspberries and “Cream”
Ingredients:
1 Whole, fresh, organic pineapple, medium sized
10 Ounces frozen, organic raspberries
1 Organic avocado
4 Tablespoons of coconut oil
1 Tablespoon of nutrition powder
Cut up the pineapple and blend it well. Add your coconut oil and avocado and blend again. Now add your nutrition powder and the raspberries and blend until smooth.
3. Green Apple Smoothie:
Ingredients:
1 Cup organic, freshly squeezed Granny Smith apple juice
1.5 cups Organic, frozen mixed berries
2 Tablespoons of flax seed oil
2 Heaping tablespoons of nutritional powder
1 Cup organic baby spinach leaves
1 Raw free range egg (don’t use conventional eggs as they might have salmonella)
Blend everything together. You can pour over ice if you like or add a few ice cubes while blending.
This is a very healing smoothie with enormous benefits. For those of you with diabetes, arthritis, cancer, or any other type of health issue, or even if you are simply looking to prevent diseases, the above smoothie recipe is perfect for all these reasons and you should begin to drink it regularly.
The Best and Worst Smoothies:
And now for my list of the best and worst smoothies, from a nutritional standpoint. To be considered for the list, the item had to be called a “smoothie” or something very similar. The serving sizes range from 10 ounces to 24 ounces, so I ranked them by calories per ounce.
All of the smoothies in the “best” list are free of saturated fat, contain no more than 61 grams of carbohydrate and at least 4 grams of fiber, and have 17 calories or less per ounce.
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