I’ve decided to take a different approach with this blog post, as usually I simply write about a topic related to thyroid health. But since many people who live a natural lifestyle drink smoothies, I figured I’d try to get the feedback of others regarding their favorite smoothie recipe. In addition, I encourage many of my patients to make their own smoothies, as I think it’s a healthy way to get some important nutrients, protein, etc. So what I’m going to do is provide a little bit of content, and then hope that I get at least a few comments from people who will share their smoothie recipe.
Before I list my favorite smoothie recipe, I want to talk about why you might want to drink smoothies (for those who don’t drink them). First of all, smoothies can be a very healthy meal or snack. I almost always have a smoothie each morning for breakfast, and then I will usually have another one a few hours after lunch. A second reason to have a smoothie is because they are a good way of “sneaking” in some protein. I like to add some whole food powder to my smoothies, although you can add some whey protein, or a rice-based protein powder. There are other types of protein powders as well. However, you need to be careful, as there are a lot of “protein powders” sold on the market which have artificial ingredients and other chemicals you don’t want to consume. A third reason why you might want to begin drinking smoothies is because they are pretty easy to make. Simply throw some fruit and/or vegetables into a blender, along with some purified water and/or organic almond milk, and then add some protein powder, and you’re good to go!
Some people are already familiar with my smoothie recipe, as I have listed it in my thyroid diet articles on my website. Sometimes I will add a raw organic egg to my smoothies, which disgusts some people, and then others will talk about how this will interfere with the absorption of biotin. For those who find this disgusting, most people don’t taste the egg when adding it to the smoothie. As for the effects this will have on biotin absorption, this seems to be the case when consuming a large amount of egg whites, but either way I don’t add a raw egg to my smoothie every time I have one, as I usually will do this three or four times a week around breakfast time. So it’s not as if I’m eating raw eggs throughout the day, but of course if you don’t care to add a raw egg then simply don’t do this.
With that being said, here is my favorite smoothie recipe:
1/4 cup of organic berries( blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.)
Two cups of purified water
One scoop of a good quality protein powder. Some examples include Fit Food Vegan Complete from Xymogen or SP Complete from Standard Process
One plateful of organic green vegetables (I usually use spinach, arugula, and/or kale)
1/2 cup of organic carrots
One tablespoon of flax oil
Optional: one scoop of Amazing Grass Green Superfood
Optional: one raw organic egg yolk (three or four times each week)
I’m very satisfied with the taste of this smoothie, although if someone wants to make it a little bit sweeter they can either add half a banana to this, or they can substitute the two cups of purified water with 4 ounces of organic almond milk, along with 12 ounces of purified water. Obviously you can include an entire banana and/or more almond milk, but of course this will increase the sugar content, which will spike up your blood sugar levels, etc.
I’m sure some might wonder what type of blender is ideal for making smoothies. Although I’ve never tried a Vitamix, I have tried some of the other well known blenders, and to be honest I’m perfectly happy with a basic blender. Even though I make a couple of smoothies per day I can’t justify spending $500 on a blender, but I know others who have a Vitamix or something similar and are very happy with it. Some of the other well known blenders for smoothies include the Nutri Bullet, and the Ninja.
Okay then, now that I’ve shared my favorite smoothie recipe with you, I hope you will share your favorite recipe with me and everyone else. Who knows, after reading some of the different recipes I very well might make some modifications to mine! And if you have some feedback on blenders feel free to discuss this as well.