Smoothie for a Hot Summer Day

I love smoothies right now. With all the fresh berries arriving with the hot days, a smoothie makes a nice breakfast or snack. Smoothies are good if you eat breakfast on the run because they are portable, quick, packed full of nutrition (if you make them right) and are easy to digest. If you eat in a hurry or when you are in motion you will not digest your food as well as when you eat while seated at a table relaxed. Any stress in the body, like being in a hurry, causes your digestion to slow down. While you work on giving yourself more time and a relaxed environment to eat, do eat meals that are simple and easy to digest. Smoothies are already blended for you, making things easier.

In order to have a complete meal in a smoothie you need to add some key ingredients. The carbs are easy to put in, those are your fruits. Fruit is a healthy carb in that it is filled with nutrients, fibre and natural sugar. Choose fruits that are lower in sugar such as berries, apples and pears. Bananas and other tropical fruits are fine too, just use them to compliment a less sweet fruit like blueberries. One tip about blueberries; use only 1/2 a cup per smoothie or your smoothie will get all thick and jelly like. Not in a good way either.

Next you need some sort of protein. I like plant base proteins myself because they have more than just protein; they also contain fibre, minerals and enzymes. Hemp is a great protein, brown rice protein is also a good choice. The most popular type of protein is whey, which comes from dairy. If you choose whey protein look for New Zealand based in order to avoid growth hormones. Whey does mix well but I recommend trying out a plant based protein for it's added value.

The next ingredient is fat, good fat that is. Flax, hemp or borage oil are all good choices. Add about 1 tbsp of oil to get your omega 3 brain food for the day.

Finally I like to add something green. Greens are important to balance out the sweetness of a smoothie. Too much sweet will leave you hungry for more. The slight bitterness of greens will balance out the sweet. Don't worry it won't make your smoothie taste weird or bitter, not at all. I promise. It will change the colour a bit though. Good greens are spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass juice or plain and simple a handful of spinach, kale or romaine lettuce. Yes, that's right, I am suggesting you put spinach in your smoothie. It's good, trust me.

Here is a recipe to get you started. Look for more smoothie ideas in the future and let me know your favourite blends.

Standard Smoothie Recipe

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup pear or apple juice
1/2 banana
1 cup berries/peach/pear/nectarine
1 scoop hemp protein
1 tsp Spirulina or 1 handful of spinach
1 tbsp EFA oil (I like Barlean's Flax the best)

Blend it all up and enjoy.

To make your smoothie even easier use Vega's Smoothie Infusion. It includes complete protein and greens all in one and it is vegan.