Who doesn’t love a smoothie? When it comes to shakes and smoothies, there are lots of combinations. Whether it is taken in breakfast or lunch, or post-workout fuel, smoothies can offer a big nutritional boost if filled with nutritious ingredients. Using foods like vegetables, seeds, plant-based milk, and nut butter helps to enhance the diet and ensure one gets all the nutrients one needs. These nutrient-dense foods also pack fibre which helps in reducing belly bloat and digestion. Aside from smoothies, these can also be blended into oatmeal, non-dairy ice creams, soups, and sauces.
Plants based foods that can be added to smoothies –
Avocado: They are an excellent source of healthy fats that can help to keep satisfied and full. The fruit has healthy fat and contains other nutrients like potassium folate, vitamins C, E, K, B6. They are creamy and delicious, which makes them a good combination with smoothies.
Leafy greens: To get the daily dose of leafy greens smoothies is a great way. By adding few handfuls of kale or spinach into smoothies, one gets a wide range of nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, folic acid, and vitamins C, A, and E. To reduce the taste of raw greens, add nut butter and a variety of frozen fruits.
Plant milk: Plant-based milk like oat, soy, pea, almonds are full of minerals and vitamins such as calcium and vitamin B12. For this reason, it is good to add them to smoothies.
Seeds: Seeds such as flax, chia, and hemp have high nutritional value and can be added to smoothies for proteins, healthy fats, extra fibre. Nearly ten gms of proteins are there in three tablespoons of hemp seeds, and chia seeds are a good source of omega3 fatty acids.
Cauliflower rice: Frozen cauliflower rice is one of the great ways to add some choline, folate, vitamin C, and fibre to the diet. Choline is an essential nutrient that regulates memory, mood, and other functions. It is bland on its own, so it cannot be identified when added to smoothies.
Nut butter – A spoonful of almond, sunflower, cashew, or peanut butter, when added to smoothies, can make it taste better. A couple of teaspoons of nut butter in smoothies can help one get essential minerals like magnesium and selenium, healthy fats, antioxidants, and protein.
