Preparing healthy smoothie recipes on a regular basis should not be just a task or a responsibility. We need to make it a habit, and make it a fun one, too. And we all know how easy fun habits are to develop and keep.
Speaking of health habits, preparing healthy food – including smoothies – is just a piece of the grand puzzle. And the puzzle, it doesn’t come magically, unfortunately. In simple terms, health is a never-ending fight. If it sounds harsh, let’s call it a process. A complex combination of daily activities and thoughts will eventually lead to a more or less constant, good, healthy condition.
Health & Immunity
Building immunity is not an overnight process, and it’s not finite, so to speak. As a predetermining factor for our health, it doesn’t react well when neglected. A poor immune system poses a detrimental health threat that will eventually ease access to dangerous influences in your body.
So, we come to the big point, and a major mistake many people I’ve seen try to make in their efforts to keep or improve their health. Strong immunity – and a good health condition – is not solely dependent on diet.
Diet
Yes, diet is a very important building block of our health, and preparing healthy smoothie recipes is among the easiest ways to utilize it. But remember, diet cannot withstand nor resolve all the challenges by itself. It’s not a standalone component. There are two more components that complete the health image.
Physical Activity
Physical activity is, the way I see it, the second pillar of health. Diet can only do so much, depending on the second pillar, to help the body dissolve it properly, spread it throughout, reach the designated cells, and excrete it properly at the end. With no (or low) physical activity, a certain amount of food may remain improperly processed or pile up, leading to obesity-related problems. Still, even diet and physical activity, in many cases, will not be enough for a properly established health condition.
Mental Activity
Last but not least important is mental activity. More often than not, this piece of our puzzle can mean the difference between complete and broken health. For good mental health to be established, we need happiness and responsibility. And since adults are all experiencing days with almost nothing but responsibility, it’s obvious where we need to pay more attention.
Happy thoughts, or at least relaxing ones, are not easy to come by, but simply making an effort to organize even the tiniest bits of your daily tasks, one at a time, you are contributing to overall mental relaxation, regaining focus, and starting to make a path for happiness to start settling.
Complete the Circle
Now that we reminded ourselves of the importance of a proper balance between the three pillars of health or that we need our health to be a complete circle of activities, let’s start with the basic one – food, or as I translate it lately – smoothies.
Today, I’m offering you three healthy smoothie recipes that will help you improve your diet quality and hopefully trigger a long-term change for a better and healthier lifestyle. Don’t forget about the three pillars of health and pay equal attention to them.
Now let’s check out the healthy smoothie recipes.
Autumn Blues
Again, that melancholic time of the year is coming, the season when the leaves change colors and gray clouds cover the skies. And while for many, it’s a time to mourn for the summer that’s going away, for me, the period is on par with spring, as various fruits and vegetables simply overflow the markets. That’s why the first of my healthy smoothie recipes is based on a pumpkin.
Pumpkins are simply amazing in taste and color and bear loads of health benefits! Rich in fiber, vitamins A, C, and B6, iron, phosphorus, etc., they boast a tremendous antioxidant environment, promote heart and eyesight health, and even possess strong anti-cancer properties. Mix the pumpkin nicely with a third cup of almond milk until smooth.
Almond milk adds minerals like magnesium, potassium, iron, and phosphorus into the mix, and some vitamins – C, E, B6, then niacin, folate, riboflavin, etc. It’s a whole chemistry of essential nutrients!
Next, we’ll add half a teaspoon of honey, the best natural sweetener out there, if you ask me. Not just in taste but in the amount of health it brings within. Energy boost, antioxidant environment, allergy symptom alleviation, and excellent wound-healing properties are just a part of it. Honey will add the necessary sweetness but also complement the taste of the pumpkin with its specific flavor. Nothing says autumn like a mix of honey and pumpkin!
Then throw in half of a pear for its fiber and vitamin C content, but also to add up to that nostalgic, fairy-tale-like connection between autumn and pears. At this point, let’s add the blueberries as a final punch of health! :) Lastly, we’ll add a teaspoon of cinnamon, finalizing the first of our healthy smoothie recipes with an amazing scent that is, at the same time, very heart-friendly, among other benefits. Enjoy! :)
The Recipe:
- 1/2 cup pumpkin (pureed)
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 pear
- 1/4 cup blueberries
The Booster
The next recipe in this list is a real health booster. First, we’ll need half a cup of almond milk and a handful of – preferably – fresh spinach leaves. Spinach bears many important health benefits for us, especially the colon, and for proper brain activity. Its antioxidant potential also deserves an honorable mention.
Now we need to add one banana into the mix, adding some more digestive tract-friendly nutrients. Bananas are doing wonders for my belly, so it’s a common choice of mine daily. Also, I like bananas because they are rich in heart- and blood-friendly potassium!
And, as autumn is around the corner, I just had to add a couple of, preferably fresh, plums. Plums, other than being rich in antioxidants and vitamins, bear protective properties for the eye retina.
To finish this recipe, let’s add half a cup of cranberries. Same as most, if not all, other berries, they are rich in antioxidants and are fierce promoters of heart health. But other than that, they are also very good for the urinary tract and, of course – extremely delicious! Enjoy! :)
The Recipe:
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 5–6 spinach leaves
- 1/2 banana
- 2 plums, pit removed
- 1/2 cup cranberries
Sunset Dream
We’ve come to the third – and last – of our healthy smoothie recipes, and it includes an amazing mix of healthy exotic ingredients. We’ll base this recipe on coconut water. Other than the delicious taste and vitamin C content, coconut water (which is not the same as coconut milk, as many confuse them) may have anti-diabetes properties.
It can potentially arrest the development of kidney stones. Also, since these are healthy recipes, and being healthy means feeling fresh always, coconut water was the best ingredient I could choose as it keeps the hydration and renews the electrolytes.
Chop and peel (or use frozen, but avoid buying those big solid frozen piles. Make sure to buy smaller chunks) a cup of pineapple. It is abundant in vitamin C and A, antioxidants, copper, manganese, potassium, and beta-carotene. This means that pineapple is beneficial for bone strength, promotes healthy tissue in general, and of course, helps a lot in the absorption of certain toxins from the body.
After all of this is well mushed, proceed by adding a handful of fresh parsley. Parsley will add a nice green shade to the smoothie, giving it a more natural appeal. But parsley is not a mere decoration in this recipe but an amazingly important ingredient! It bears staggering amounts of vitamin K, which is why it is believed to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Parsley is a very efficient blood purifier, emphasizing its powerful anti-cancer properties.
Blend it all nicely and add one chopped and preferably fresh peach. Peaches are rich in vitamins C and A and antioxidants alike, but they do contain decent amounts of vitamins K and E. It’s important to mention that while peaches are delicious and extremely healthy, they also contain fructose, which is not good for us in great amounts. However, one must go over the line with them to provoke any adverse sugar effects.
The finishing touch for the last of today’s healthy smoothie recipes is a full teaspoon of grated, fresh ginger. This root has a rich history of various applications, and to me personally, it is more of a medicine than food. Its medicinal values are quite broad, but the most emphasized are the ones related to the digestive tract and pain relief. Add the very specific smell and flavor to the description, and it becomes clear why I had to finish this extremely healthy compilation with this majestic ingredient.
The Recipe:
- 1/2 cup coconut water
- 1 cup fresh or frozen pineapple chunks
- A handful of fresh parsley leaves
- 1 fresh peach, pit removed
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
Please let us know how you like our recipes in the comment box; share these healthy recipes with your friends and family if you like them, and feel free to share your opinions with us!