Best tasting high-protein green smoothie

There was a time where I would live for smoothies. All colours. All flavours. Green smoothies in particular loved me and I loved them right back! We were close. Then, all of a sudden I didn’t love them. If anybody had to mention the word smoothie and get all excited about preparing one, I would literally do a massive eye-roll and say firmly NO THANK YOU. I was just over the whole smoothie thing. And most smoothies people prepare was full of chunks and very difficult to swallow. A biiiig no thank you!

But lately I have gotten back into the game. I felt my health declining as I made bad food choices and not getting in enough greens and fruit and any of the good stuff into my diet. So, what better way than a smoothie to make sure you meet all your dietary needs in one simple drink?

If you want to head on straight to the recipe, just scroll down to the bottom.

Are green smoothies ACTUALLY healthy or is it just a fad?

This might seem like a silly question. I mean, if you look at the ingredients, what is not healthy about a green smoothie? Well, one must just note that poor soil conditions and various other factors can lead to poor quality of your ingredients. Cruciferous vegetables, like Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbage has a high level of heavy metal called thallium in it. Cruciferous vegetables also has goitrogens naturally and if consumed in large quantities, it may hinder your uptake of iodine by the thyroid gland. As a result it reduces the production of thyroid hormone and lowering thyroid function. So, due to the thallium, goitrogen, and oxalate content of green smoothies, it might actually be considered as NOT as completely healthy as you may think.

What to do?

• Alternate between your greens. Use Spinach one day, then Kale the next day, then herbs, then lettuce and so on.
• Only buy organic greens.
• Cook your cruciferous vegetables as it stimulates an enzyme called myrosinase that helps to deactivate goitrogenic glucosinolates.
• To deal with the Oxalates in your fruit and veg, make sure you have a healthy gut by drinking and eating fermented foods and drinking your probiotics.

Conclusion

Drink your smoothies! And if you can, drink them green. If you only drink green smoothies most of the day, every day, you might want to take note of the issues mentioned above. But if you drink a smoothie every other day – you are perfectly fine. And I would say a smoothie for breakfast will not cause you harm and you can only reap from the myriad of other health benefits green smoothies has. 

What makes this smoothie taste so good?

Well, the rule of thumb with smoothies is that you do NOT want the contents to separate after you have poured it into your glass. You want it to be smooth and sweet and extremely good tasting. When you add mango, no separation will occur. I think this smoothie hits all the flavour notes! I LOVE how creamy it is and that there is zero hint of spinach. Just creamy, sweet deliciousness with amazing health-benefits. What’s in it?

• Water
• Bananas
• Mangoes
• Spinach
• Chia seeds
• Peanut butter
• Cinnamon (optional)

Scroll down for the full recipe.

What makes this smoothie extra special is the delicious peanut butter I buy from a company called Fresch in South Africa. It is by far my favourite peanut butter!

Why I like green smoothies

• Smoothies helps make healthy eating easy.
• Green smoothies helps me get more greens in.
• Smoothies helps with my digestion.
• Most smoothies helps my mood stabilise.
• Smoothies gives me prolonged energy.
• Smoothies helps me to not get sick.
• Green smoothies helps my skin, hair and nails.

 

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Resources:

• https://chriskresser.com/the-dark-side-of-green-smoothies/
• https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8715/is-your-green-smoothie-actually-healthy-and-balanced.html