Healthy smoothie recipies

[Bergkampsballs]

Hi, first time here so I thought I'd just dive straight in...

I've been making up smoothies recently by basically chucking a load of healthy stuff together then adding in some protein powder and liquid sweeteners to make it all taste nice.

Here's some of the ingredients that I've been mix and matching together in the order I put them into a 1 litre smoothie bottle:

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Almond / Coconut milk with white chocolate sweetener drops

About 50 - 100g of low sugar greek yogurt with live cultures

A scoop of protein powder

5 - 10g each of cacao powder, spirulina, collagen powder and ashwaghanda

Frozen Broccoli / Cauliflower

3 or 4 frozen strawberries

Lemon or lime juice

A dash of Extra Virgin Olive oil

A teaspoon of mixed seeds

Topped up with water and blended together

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I'm wondering what other people's healthy smoothie recipies are?

Edit: Just a quick side note for those worried about smoothies being less healthy than eating foods whole, a recent study suggests that smoothies may not spike your blood sugar as we have been led to believe.

Personally, I've recently lost 5kg whilst drinking about 3 of these a day and feel healthier than ever

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[Jalia]

I'm sure that there are many on here who will respond with their favourite smoothies. However I can't for the life of me imagine mushing all those vegetables etc into a thick liquid and drinking it 🤢 I would rather have it all whole on a plate!

[Bergkampsballs in reply to Jalia]

Lol, I get that. TBH if it didn't have the strawberries, the protein powder. the cacao and the sweeteners in there it would definitely be pretty rank but mixing those in they usually taste really nice to me.

The only thing I'm not really a fan of is the seeds as they definitely don't help with the texture.

[kingsnorth]

OMG that's a lot in one smoothie personally l would ditch the sweeteners and protein powder if you are eating healthy you will get all the protein you need from your diet unless you are weight lifting and muscle bulking then you will need more protein. Al that nice veg is best eaten on a plate and digested that way. I make lots of smoothies my favourite is fresh or frozen blueberries almond milk a few chia seeds and a small bunch of fresh spinach if l have any left over from an evening meal. Good luck

[Bergkampsballs in reply to kingsnorth]

Hey, thanks for the advice. I do work out so the protein powder does have some benefit and for me the sweeteners and protein powder along with the berries make them a lot more enjoyable.

It's kind of a trade off that means I can have healthy smoothies that provide all sorts of nutrients but still taste good at the same time.

After nearly a year of unsuccessfully attempting to shift a beer gut I've only recently started adding these to my diet. It's been quite a big change and although the scales aren't really shifting my belly seems to be getting smaller so I'm hoping they're slowly doing the job.

Your smoothies sound very healthy as well

[happytulip]

That's a smoothie with a huge amount of sugars and carbs.

[Bergkampsballs in reply to happytulip]

Hey, I'm not sure what ingredients you're seeing as having a huge amount of sugar and carbs? I specifically chose ingredients low on sugar and carbs.

[happytulip in reply to Bergkampsballs]

Fruit can contain alot of hidden sugars. Also carbs.

[Bergkampsballs in reply to happytulip]

They can do, that's why I chose to use Strawberries or Mixed berries as my fruit of choice.

Strawberries and other berries are notoriously low in sugar.

The other ingredients all have little to no sugar too

Sugar content of various common fruits

[happytulip in reply to Bergkampsballs]

Yes, thank you. I was aware. I have a similar chart on my fridge.

[liveforsummer in reply to Bergkampsballs]

Thanks, just printed off this chart to put on the fridge. I used to make full fruit smoothies (blueberries, raspberries, bananas, juice, nuts and whatever was available) but read somewhere it make the sugars too 'potent' (wrong word probably). Especially fruit juice. I just have the fresh fruit with muesli now.

[Bergkampsballs in reply to liveforsummer]

No worries, yeah I think it makes the sugars less healthy, a bit more like those in sweets and stuff but personally, I feel like if I'm keeping my sugar intake low elsewhere then a little bit of sugar from low sugar fruits in smoothies crammed with healthy ingredients isn't the end of the world.

Funnily enough, I just tried googling it to increase my understanding and found this article highlighting a study which suggests the idea that blending fruit is bad for you may be a myth anyway....

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[Tessie66]

Love to know how much of each do you have to put in?

[Bergkampsballs in reply to Tessie66]

TBH I don't measure any of it and change the recipe depending on time of day etc but to give you an idea I have been mixing an equal amount of 4 ingredients... Spirulina, Cacao, Collagen and Ashwaghanda together in a tub, I then use 1 part of this superfood concoction mixed with 2 parts protein powder (I'm going to guess at 10 - 15 grams concoction + 20 - 30 grams protein powder but could be some way off)

I'll generally add either frozen brocolli or frozen cauliflower with an equal amount of frozen berries. This should be just enough to make it to your desired texture. Based on how quickly I'm getting through my 1KG packs of fruit I'd estimate that I'm using ~50g of fruit and ~50g of veg in each smoothie.

I'll usually add a dash of lemon juice, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and maybe a tea spoon of seeds for the health benefits.

I'll add a bit of liquid sweetener to the coconut milk and just use enough coconut milk to fill the smoothie bottle, usually filling it half way with coconut milk then adding the other ingredients before filling to the top with coconut or almond milk.

I do try to keep the amount of sweetener down as I think it's the only ingredient that's not healthy.

Basically, it's a work in progress and I just bodge it as I see fit but I'm sure I've been finding that my energy levels have been much higher than before and although it's early days I believe that my body shape seems to be improving since I've added a couple of these a day to my diet.

Plus I genuinely really enjoy them

[kingsnorth in reply to Bergkampsballs]

l forgot to say well done for all the effort you are making on your healthy eating and weight loss journey. It’s never too late and l must admit once you start watching what you eat and going to the gym it does become addictive. The weight will come off gradually and that belly will eventually be toned. I’m 73 and go to the gym 3 times a week and use resistance weights. Keep me posted

[Bergkampsballs in reply to kingsnorth]

Thank you, that's very kind

I always have the utmost respect for people in their 60's and upwards when I see them in the gym. It's such an important time to be keeping your body fit and healthy and not many do so well done to you too, I think you officially qualify as a Supergran!

[kingsnorth in reply to kingsnorth]

Most of my friends at the gym are in their 50s and younger and also have friends in their 80s who go once you have the bug it hopefully stays with you. Have a look at Zoe on YouTube lots of info on food and nutrition

[Yuuupsongbook002]

mmm that sounds good

[Bergkampsballs in reply to Yuuupsongbook002]

Thanks, I do really enjoy them!

I've updated the list to add some greek yogurt in there as well which makes them even more lovely IMO