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Get the Most Out Of Your Smoothie
By Jason Chamney, Fitness Science Director
There are a lot of ingredient combinations you can throw into a blender, but here is what we recommend to make your smoothie a vehicle to amp up micronutrient intake you would otherwise have trouble consuming with time-efficiency.
FROZEN GREENS BASE
Most of us have trouble getting a ton of greens in our day when they should predominate our daily eating. 1-2 cups of frozen organic greens as a smoothie base can give you a big head start on the optimal intake of these crucial micronutrient sources. Going with frozen greens allows easy storage and more palatable consumption. You can use frozen kale, spinach, collards, chard, beet greens, dandelion greens, or whatever is available for you.
Note: The oxalic acid in some of these raw greens can bind with your own minerals during digestion. This is not good and can result in intolerance of these greens for some. If you blend in a teaspoon of liquid magnesium or even break a magnesium capsule’s powder into the blender, it will not affect the flavor and will bind with the oxalic acid before it hits your system.
HEALTHY FAT SOURCE
Beyond nutrition, the satiation-power of fat can help this beverage to tide you over until your next meal. Next to vegetables, healthy fats are the most important component in our daily nutritional intake guidelines. Here are some of the best options for getting them into your smoothie. All of them lend to a creamier texture.
- Avocado – A half or even a whole and fresh or frozen both work great
- Raw Nuts or Nut Butter (remember peanuts and cashews are NOT nuts, but beans) – Going raw (not roasted) keeps the molecular structure of healthy fats intact. Use almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, macadamias, or brazil nuts (only one or two to avert selenium toxicity). If you use whole nuts instead of butter, make sure they are added so they are close to the blender blades so you don’t end up chewing your smoothie.
- Coconut Milk or Cream – Look for organic and BPA-free cans of either option with just 2 ingredients: coconuts and water. It will also reduce the amount of water you need to add for blending.
- MCT Oil – This our only refined oil recommendation, medium chain triglycerides have some fantastic health benefits. Straight coconut oil is the C12 (12 carbon chain) MCT oil, lauric acid. It has tremendous benefits for your immune system. However, it is solid a room temperature – not great for a smoothie, but better for high-heat cooking. Shorter chains C10 (capric acid), C8 (caprylic acid), and the harder to find C6 (caproic acid) fuel your brain and can help you perform during your high intensity training sessions. If you choose to add liquid MCT oil to your blend, start with only a teaspoon at first and build gradually (to 1 or 2 tablespoons) over time. Many people have adverse GI reactions at first if new to MCT oil.
NUTRIENT DENSE TASTE ENHANCEMENT / PREBIOTIC
Choking back a blend of leaves and fat is not something most people will sustain no matter how good for them it may be. However, you don’t want to load up your micronutrient masterpiece with sugar or other antinutrients. So adding any of these low-glycemic options can make the experience not only tolerable, but tasty. The green banana and apple also offer a fuel for your microbiome.
- Small Raw Beet
- Green Banana
- Big Handful of Berries
- Half an Apple or Pear
ADDITIONAL PROTEIN POWDER
If you are looking for a bump of protein to help your exercise recovery or just want to make more of a meal from the smoothie, here are my top 3 recommendations. Add 15-25 grams of protein from one of these powder options. Once all other ingredients are blended, just pulse protein powder in afterward so you don’t mechanically denature the protein.
- Hemp – This vegan protein has absolutely no potential for gut intolerance (unlike pea or rice). If you get a less-processed version, you also get the healthy fat and fiber bonus.
- Whey Isolate – If you have no problems with dairy, a high quality whey isolate (not a concentrate or blend) is an awesome bioavailable source of many important amino acids. This is the one that I use.
- Marine Collagen – The amazing thing about collagen protein supplementation is that it goes directly where you need it to go in your body (joints, skin, hair). Marine collagen (preferably from a wild and organic source like this one), has no antinutrients (specifically NEU5GC sugar) you would find in a bovine source (even grassfed).
SUPPLEMENTAL MICRONUTRIENT POWDERS
If you want to further boost this premium dose of whole-food micronutrients, there are loads of powder supplement options out there you could add a teaspoon or so of. These include sea vegetables, mushroom extract, and micro-greens blends. We don’t endorse any in particular, but make sure they are free of sweeteners and chemical additives if possible.
Once you have everything in the blender vessel, just add water to suit your desired thickness and hit the button. Play around with ingredients to suit your taste buds and what you have available to you. Make it easy, enjoyable, and a compliment to your life.
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