There aren’t many smoothie ingredients better than thick, creamy, and healthy Greek yogurt.
When you strain the liquid whey, lactose, and sugar from regular yogurt you’re left with the thick and creamy goodness known as Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has roughly the same amount of calories as regular yogurt, but it contains about twice as much protein (6-ounce serving contains 15 to 20 grams) with half the sugar content.
Most health experts agree that it’s much healthier than regular yogurt.
Lacinato (Dinosaur) kale growing inside a hoop house during a cold Michigan winter.
Here’s another healthy green smoothie featuring my favorite green leafy veggie. Some people find kale too bitter (try kale chips), but not me, I like a little bitterness.
If you live in a temperate climate and can get your hands on kale grown outdoors in colder weather you’ll find it’s more pleasing to the picky palate – after a good frost kale’s leaves become much sweeter.
As is the case with other Brassicas, kale increases the amount of sugar inside its leaves to lower the temperature at which freezing begins. Pretty cool survival mechanism, eh?
Sweetness and bitterness aside, kale provides these key health benefits, which make it an excellent veggie to green your smoothie with.
Kefir makes for a creamy, probiotic rich drink that when combined with blueberries renders one ultra-healthy and delicious smoothie!
Including fermented food and drink into your diet is vital for optimal health. Fermentation increases the nutrients, enzymes, and beneficial bacteria (probiotics) of food.
Poor gut health is linked to numerous ailments. Keep your piping healthy by regularly consuming fermented food and drink such as kefir.
Now that’s a nice thick cilantro green smoothie.
The unique flavor of cilantro has the ability to liven up any dish or smoothie. I got some beautiful cilantro from my local farm this past week and had to blend up an equally beautiful green smoothie.
Also known as coriander, this wonderful herb with fantastic flavor offers much in the way of health benefits. Many herbs and spices such as cilantro pack a higher concentration and wider variety of antioxidants than common fruits and veggies. This means more effective free radical scavenging in your body.
Cilantro is perhaps best known for its ability to cleanse and remove heavy metals like mercury from the body. Chemical compounds in cilantro bind to heavy metals, loosen them from your tissues, and usher them out of your body in the process known as chelation.
The latest herb to find its way into my blender is the lovely rosemary. Most people have cooked with rosemary, but have you tried it in a smoothie?
In case you’re new here, I’m a huge proponent of improving the taste and increasing the nutrition of smoothies by incorporating various spices and herbs.
Rosemary is quite easy to grow at home if you’re into that. I actually got a small bundle of sprigs from my CSA (community sponsored agriculture) last week.
Rosemary is no slouch when it comes to nutrition and health promoting properties. Here’s a quick hit list of this awesome herbs top health benefits:
After consuming this smoothie I couldn’t stop kicking myself for not using sage in a smoothie before now.
The sweet savory flavor of sage, and its myriad health promoting properties, make it a superb smoothie ingredient.
My adventures of incorporating more and more herbs and spices into my smoothies has proven quite successful. I encourage you to play with the various herbs and spices as well.
Here are a few of sage’s better known health benefits:
