Are Smoothies Good for you?
With all the chaos and uncertainty in the world today, it’s never been more important to maintain good health and a robust immune system. Nutrition is the key to staying healthy. It’s essential for keeping your body strong and fighting infection and disease.
By chewing your food, you could be missing over half of the vitamins and mineral content as your body can’t break it down in time, but by blitzing and drinking it in a smoothie, your body absorbs up to 90% of the vitamins and minerals each time. Are smoothies good for you? We believe it’s one of the best ways to boost our immune systems; here’s why.
Why Nutrition is Important.
Along with regular physical activity, good quality sleep and mental health practices, your diet is one of the most important aspects of keeping yourself healthy.
The food we eat is an essential part of maintaining the body’s systems; today’s most critical systems are the immune system, including the digestive system, lymphatic system, brain, and even your skin and hair.
Luckily, there are foods you can eat that will help promote long-term health across your lifespan. You have probably heard the term superfood; a superfood is basically any food source that grows naturally and has not been over-processed with additives and preservatives: fruits and vegetables, sweet potatoes, fermented veg like kimchi, kombucha, to name a few.
Why Smoothies
Here at ClearPureHealth, I often get asked, are smoothies good for you? In my opinion, they are one of the best ways to get high-quality nutrition to fuel your mind, body and soul.
With a bit of research, you can identify if you are lacking in any vitamins or minerals. You can then tailor your smoothie to focus on optimising that shortfall. If you’re tired, look for fruits and veg that give you a sustained burst of energy, looking to focus on digestion and build the best smoothie you can to help with digestion. The possibilities are limitless, and what’s more, they taste great; it’s a win-win.
The Importance of Health
Staying healthy is vital to keep your body functioning as it should. Good overall health provides a positive effect on every aspect of your life, including:
- Improving mental health
- Reduces stress
- Better quality of sleep
- Lowers risk of lifestyle-related disease
- Aids longevity
- Delays and minimises age-related health problems
On the flip side, not looking after yourself or maintaining your health can lead to a whole host of negative consequences, from reduced self-esteem, premature ageing, poor quality of life, depression, to name a few. This can allow diseases to develop and illness to arise physically and mentally when the body’s immune system is weakened.
What You Eat can Improve Your Health.
In addition to regular physical activity, adequate, quality sleep and mental wellbeing, what you eat is essential for maintaining and improving your health.
Macro & micronutrients and other beneficial food compounds – are what helps you achieve good health. It also boosts vital body systems like the immune, brain, and digestive systems.
Macronutrients are the large volume of nutrients our body needs every day like, Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat.
Micronutrients are the vitamins, minerals and trace elements our body require in smaller volumes to nourish the body
Some of the key food groups, it would be a good idea if you prioritised into meals and snacks are:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Proteins
- Healthy Fats
- Complex Carbohydrates
A great way to pack all of these food categories for the most benefit is a smoothie. Think of it like a fruit cocktail packed with all the nutrition you need to fuel your body, keeping you full, posting your defences and helping you lose weight all at the same time.
How Smoothies Can Improve Your Health
Smoothies are a great way to power-pack your meals with beneficial nutrients; this will improve your overall health and supercharge your immune system.
It is also important to remember that improving your health is based on the ingredients you put in it. Depending on the result you want, you need to pick your ingredients strategically.
There are several benefits you can look for when building you’re smoothie. Here are some outcomes and the ingredients to add to your smoothie that can help you achieve them:
Fortify the Immune System
The immune system is involved in defending your body against disease and illness caused by invading pathogens.
This system is exceptionally intricate, involving several of your body systems to function correctly, including the lymph, cardiovascular, digestive, and even tissue systems.
To create a smoothie that prioritises fortifying your immune system, choose ingredients high in vitamin C and beneficial phytochemicals. Like:
- Citrus fruits (like oranges and grapefruit)
- Honey
- Ayurvedic spices (like ginger, turmeric, and cinnamon)
Support the Digestive System
What you eat has a lot to do with how your digestive system functions. Specifically, how the microbiome functions.
The gut microbiome is an ecosystem of trillions of beneficial microorganisms that live inside the intestines. They play an essential part in digestion but also aid in immune and brain health.
Ingredients to add to your smoothie to support your digestive system and microbiome should contain probiotics and fibre, including:
- Yoghurt (dairy or non-dairy)
- Kefir
- Berries (like kiwi or raspberries)
- Flaxseed
Boost Brain Health
The brain is the control centre of your entire body and controls all other system and how they function.
Eating to boost brain health can also promote better mental health, mood, and memory. Because fat makes up most of the brain, consuming plenty of healthy fats in your smoothie is essential.
Ingredients to add to your smoothie that contains ample omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids are:
- Avocadoes
- Chia seed
- Dark chocolate
- Supplements
Promote Healthy Skin
Healthy skin not only looks pretty, but it keeps your body protected from illness as well.
Your skin is an essential immune system organ as the “first line of defence.” Without healthy skin, you are unable to block illness-causing pathogens from entering the body.
Ingredients for healthy skin and hair should contain healthy fatty acids, antioxidants, and zinc, including:
- Green tea
SuperGreen Blend - Seeds (like sunflower or pumpkin seeds)
- Sweet potatoes
- SuperGreen Blend
Stimulate Muscle Development
When you are looking to gain lean muscle, your smoothie should prioritise complete proteins for muscle-building. Having strong muscles is connected to increased stamina, improved blood sugar levels, and reduced joint pain with age.
You may also want to focus on including complex carbohydrates and healthy fats for sustained energy during workouts.
High-protein ingredients you can add to your smoothie for muscle development are:
- Soy
- Nut butter (like almond or cashew)
- Protein powder
Encourage Weight Management
If you are looking to maintain or lose weight, a smoothie low in calories and high in nutrients should be a priority for you.
Maintaining a healthy weight can provide many benefits to your overall health and lower your risk of developing lifelong diseases. It can also improve your mood and confidence.
Low-calorie, high-nutrient ingredients to add to your smoothie include:
- Leafy greens (like spinach and kale)
- Beets
- Apple cider vinegar
Ingredients to Avoid in Your Smoothie
While various ingredients can benefit your smoothie, some components can give the opposite effect. Think of a smoothie as a chance to overload your body with as many vitamins and minerals as you can cram into one portion. Loading your smoothie with hight sugar/ honey syrup or ice cream will cancel out most of the health benefits of all the goodness you’ve packed in.
Foods to avoid typically contain high amounts of unhealthy fats and added sugars and sodium. These ingredients can wreak havoc on your health, leading to weight gain and possible development of diseases.
When building your smoothie, remember to avoid these common ingredients:
- Refined sugar (table sugar)
- Fruit juice
- Canned fruit in syrup
- Flavoured yoghurt
- Ice cream or sorbet
11 Ingredients that can Boost Your Healthy Smoothie
The best ingredients to include in your daily smoothie will contain total amounts of immune-boosting nutrients, including macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds.
Papaya
Papaya is a delicious tropical fruit loaded with vitamin C, which is also an antioxidant.
As an antioxidant, vitamin C works to support the immune system by fending away harmful free radicals in the body. These toxic particles can cause damage to all of your body systems.
Additionally, this fruit contains ample potassium, magnesium, and folate.
When adding to your smoothies, papaya can be added fresh or in frozen pieces.
Kiwi
The tropical berry kiwi is a tiny but mighty fruit full of beneficial micronutrients. These include folate, potassium, vitamin K, and vitamin C.
Kiwi also contains plenty of fibre, which is found in the seeds and completely edible peel. Fibre is excellent for keeping you fuller, longer.
Spinach
Spinach has been a popular addition to healthy smoothies lately, and for a good reason.
This dark leafy great not only blends amazingly well with any fruit flavour but also contains a variety of nutrients, including vitamins C and A.
And luckily, consuming raw spinach in a smoothie is one of the best ways to reap all the benefits it has to offer.
Try adding a scoop of Super Green Blend to your smoothie to get an extra boost of greens.
Almond Butter
Not only does almond butter add a rich creaminess to your smoothie, but it also provides vitamin and healthy fats with immune-boosting properties.
Combining the antioxidant vitamin E and omega fatty acids reduces inflammation in the body, allowing the immune system to function more efficiently.
Make sure to look for almond butter options with minimal added sugars and sodium for your smoothie.
Yoghurt
Yoghurt is a probiotic containing live and active cultures of beneficial bacteria that live in your gut.
These bacteria play roles in many body functions, including the immune system. From stimulating immune reactions to invading pathogens to assisting in immune cell construction, gut bacteria are involved.
If you cannot consume dairy, consider alternatives made of coconut, soy, or oat milk.
Chia Seed
Chia is one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Containing few calories with high amounts of fibre, protein, omega-3 fats, and ample calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.
It is both filling and immune-boosting, providing antioxidant effects and aids in keeping the beneficial gut bacteria healthy.
Add sprouted chia to your morning smoothie. This form is more comfortable for your body to digest, help your reap all the benefits chia has to offer.
Avocado
Avocado is a literal goldmine for healthy fats and the exact ingredient you are missing in your smoothie.
This unique fruit not only contains 15 grams of omega-9 fatty acids per serving, which is known to reduce inflammation but a plethora of other immune-supporting nutrients, including fibre, potassium, iron, zinc, vitamins K, C, E, and several B vitamins.
Beets
Beets blend surprisingly well into a fruity smoothie and provide a gorgeous colour form with its signature red juices.
This red colour is also the source of the beneficial phytonutrient anthocyanin. This phytonutrient is a bioactive plant compound that acts as an antioxidant, stimulates immune enzymes, and aids immune cell production.
Honey
Honey has been used as a natural remedy for illness and immune support for thousands of years.
Containing lots of natural sugars and organic acids and flavonoids, natural phenolic compounds, honey is a powerful antioxidant. It also improves wound healing and has a connection to easing allergy symptoms.
Be careful when adding honey to your smoothie for a subtle sweetness that provides immune benefits; you don’t want to overlap the sugar content.
Ginger
Ginger is an excellent spice for illness recovery and prevention.
This root contains the unique and potent compound called gingerol, which provides its anti-inflammatory effects. Gingerol can both ease the pain of a sore throat as well as increase immune system function.
You can add ginger to your smoothie in any form you wish – fresh, powder, extract, Supplement – they all provide the same benefit!
Turmeric
Turmeric is a spice that will provide your smoothie with a gorgeous yellow-orange colour while providing the healthy boost you’re looking for.
The main active compound in turmeric, known as curcumin, is one of the most recognised natural immune boosters. It provides potent antioxidant and body-repair properties after stress and injury.
Cinnamon
Another ancient remedy, cinnamon, can add a spicy “kick” to your smoothie while amplifying the benefits to your health.
This spice that is ground from the dried bark of the Cinnamomum tree is high in the compound cinnamaldehyde. When used in the form of an oil, cinnamaldehyde is known to provide antibacterial and antifungal properties, assisting the body in fighting pathogenic infections.
Although there are many varieties of cinnamon available to choose from, try to find Ceylon cinnamon. Also known as “true cinnamon,” Ceylon is more effective at providing benefits to your body.
Max out the nutrition with supplements
Packing your smoothies with nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, seeds, and other foods is a no brainer, but if you want to take things to the next level, try adding supplements like SupperGreenBlend. By adding supplements, you can tailor what you what the health benefits to be if you are trying to boost digestive health and, in turn, immune health, try digestive enzymes or a couple of Omega fish oil capsules.
Almost every smoothie I make contains at least one scoop of Super Green Blend as this Blend is loaded with nutrient-dense leafy green superfoods; I also like to drop a couple of digestive enzymes to help my gut. Science shows that up to 80/90% of Immune health directly links to gut health; it just makes sense to top up the benefits whenever you can. Probiotics are another great addition to the line up of additional superfoods and supplements.
Boost Your Health with a Powerful Smoothie conclusion
Are smoothies good for you? Definitely!!
What we put into our body makes a difference; like a high-performance sports car, you want to look after your engine by fueling it with the best fuel possible. The same is true for our bodies; optimum nutrition produces better health benefits from feeling and looking better to mental clarity and performance.
Packing all the macronutrients, micronutrients we need can be challenging with our modern western diet, so it’s essential to ensure we meet the requirements by adding a smoothie or two into our daily routine.
A healthy lifestyle with regular exercise, wellbeing practices, adequate sleep and good nutrition is the best way to go in this modern world full of disease and health challenges. Incorporating smoothies into your routine is one sure-fire way to boost your immunity and overall health.
Be Your Best