5 Key Components To Make Any Smoothie Dietitian Approved
5 key components to make any smoothie Dietitian approved
We’ve already heard and seen all of the health and nutrition buzz around smoothies. Smoothies are such a nutrient-dense, quick/easy, and convenient option for meals or snacks but, a lot of smoothie recipes we make at home, or that we buy at cafes and juice bars are claiming they are "healthy", when most are surprisingly loaded with up to 3-4 servings of fruit, plus added with extra foods like coconut oil, avocado, almond butter, protein powder, honey, etc. These are "all natural" and healthful foods however, it can be an easy way to overeat some of these foods when blended into a liquid shake - making a “healthy” smoothie sometimes 900 calories, 25gm fat, 35gm protein, and 40gm sugar and you unknowingly could be sabotaging your health and weight goals.
I’m a BIG fan of smoothies as an easy way to Reboot but, if we want to eat smoothies as a meal for weight maintenance and health benefits, we need to forget about the smoothie fab dieting and superfood smoothie bowl health trend and rethink to the basics of healthy eating.
Treat your smoothie like your meal -
trying to get in a majority (at least 50%) non-starchy vegetables, about 25% plant-based protein, 25% whole carbohydrates, a little healthy fat, and 1-3 superfoods for an extra nutritional boost! If done right, smoothies can be a optimal meal and easy way to eating healthier, meeting your daily fiber, vegetable, fruit intake, and making at least 1/3rd of your meals whole food, plant-based! So here is your step by step guide to help you rethink smoothies and easily incorporate them into your life so you can feel reassured they are health promoting!
the Reboot 5
1. Reboot with >/= 50% vegetable
Start with a 50/50 ratio of vegetable to fruit and work your way to 60/40 ratio as your taste buds get used to vegetable based smoothies. Try not to add a sweetener if you do a 50/50 ratio and slowly work your way to a 60/40 ratio of veggie to fruit. The extra vegetables will add lots of vitamins, minerals, plant phytochemicals plus, water volume and fiber, helping to make you feel full! Also, this means you’re making your smoothie lower in calories, higher in micronutrients and higher in fiber, helping to balance and stabilize the sugars coming from the fruit in your smoothie!
Once you get the hang of vegetable based smoothies, start switching up the vegetables you're using! We like to think of smoothies as your liquid multivitamin however, if you're drinking the same smoothie every single day, which is better then not drinking a smoothie at all but, you’ll be shortchanging the diversity of fiber, vitamins, minerals and plant phytochemicals in your overall diet if you don’t rotate your greens and your vegetables! Try to always eat a variety of whole vegetables since each have their own unique nutrient, antioxidant, and phytonutrient profile. For optimal health, you want to switch up your vegetables and try different Reboot smoothies each week! That’s why I incorporate vegetables like cauliflower, zucchini, carrots, beets, etc. diversifying away from your average typical green smoothie! I recommend alternating 2-3 different Reboot smoothies throughout the week (ones with different vegetable/fruit bases, such as a greens, cauliflower, and zucchini based smoothie) so you get a variety of different nutrients throughout the week!
Get our PDF Smoothie Guide E-Book for a complete smoothie recipe guide, meal plan, prep!
2. Reboot with </= 50% Fruit
Loading your diet with fruit seems like a no-brainer, right? Your body gets a boost from nutrients like fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants, plus juicy berries might even satisfy your sweet tooth but, that doesn’t mean maintaining a 24/7 fruit free-for-all is good for your health. Fruit is high in a sugar known as fructose. Even though the sugar is coming from this healthy source, you still have to use it in moderation. This is especially true with smoothies because, it’s so easy to put in 1-2 cups (up to 3-4 servings) or more of fruit into a blender and blend it. Blending fruit makes the fructose even easier to be digested and absorbed and will quickly spiking your blood sugars!
Try to make your smoothie </=50% whole fruit to make it overall lower in fructose and a much more well-balanced smoothie - with a balance of non-starchy vegetables high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats to maintain blood sugar levels while still enjoying the sweetness from whole fruit!
3. Reboot with Protein
Make sure you always have some protein source in your smoothie. Adding protein to your smoothies will help make your smoothie a complete, well balanced meal or snack! Protein in a smoothie helps to keep you full longer, slows down digestion, and helps to control blood sugar levels - therein, helping to sustain your energy and support in weight management!
For a smoothie as a snack, shoot for 5-10gm protein and for a smoothie as a meal, try to get 15-30gm protein! See below for some of our favorite sources of protein to easily add into smoothies!
- Bob's Red Mill Vanilla Protein Powder
- Garden of Life Protein Powder
- Vega One Protein Powder
- Collagen Peptides
- Peanut Butter / Almond butter (with no added sugar or oil)
- Hemp Seeds
- Plain Greek Yogurt
- Organic Sprouted Tofu
4. Reboot with a healthy fat
Adding a healthy fat to your smoothie helps to keep you fuller longer, slows digestion, and aids in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K)! Try to get a least one source of healthy plant-based fats in your smoothie! See below for some of our favorite healthy fats:
- frozen or fresh avocado
- Whole coconut chunks or unsweetened coconut flakes
- Chia seeds
- Raw almonds
- Raw walnuts
- Raw cashews
- Raw pecans
5. Reboot with a nutritional boost
Adding too many supplements, adaptogens and/or other superfood nutritional boosters into your smoothie wont be beneficial. Your body can only absorb so much at a time. I suggest just picking 1-3 different nutritional boosters to add into your smoothies each day and to switch them up throughout the week!
Some of my favorites to add:
- Turmeric
- Ceylon Cinnamon
- Flax seeds
- Moringa powder
- Matcha powder
- Cacao powder
- Ashwagandha
- Chaga medicinal mushroom
- Reishi medicinal mushroom
- Cordycepts
Reboot 5 Smoothies
Dietitian and taste approved and easy to make at home so you can start incorporating some of these healthy foods into your diet today!
coconuts about Blue
Ingredients -
- 1 - 1.5 cups frozen cauliflower (more/less once your taste buds adjust to >50% vegetable based smoothies)
- 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
- 2 large pitted dates (more/less for desired sweetness)
- 1/4 cup raw cashews (can sub for raw pecans, cashew or almond butter)
- 1-2 scoops protein powder (such as Bob's Red Mill Vanilla Protein Powder or collagen peptides) or 3 tbsp hemp seeds
- 1/4 cup frozen coconut chunks (I buy mine from Trader Joe's)
- 1/2 tsp organic ceylon cinnamon
- Dash nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (more/ less per desired constancy)
Directions -
Add all ingredients into blender. Add desired liquid (almond milk, coconut milk, milk, coconut water, or plain water) and blend until smooth!
Feelin' Fineapple
ingredients -
- 1 - 1.5 cups carrots (more/less once your taste buds adjust to >50% vegetable based smoothies)
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1-2 scoops protein powder (such as Bob’s Red Mill Vanilla Protein Powder)
- 1/4 cup raw cashews or pecans
- 1/2 inch segment fresh ginger
- 1/4 tsp organic Ceylon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (more/less per desired consistency)
Directions -
Add all ingredients into blender. Add desired liquid (almond milk, coconut milk, milk, coconut water, or plain water) and blend until smooth!
Pea-nutty by nature
ingredients -
- 1 cup frozen cauliflower, frozen zucchini or jicama chunks (can use a combination of 2)
- 1 frozen banana
- 1-2 scoops Bob’s Red Mill Vanilla Protein Powder *or sub for any vanilla protein powder
- 2 tbsp PB *sub for any nut or seed butter or cacao powder
- 1 tbsp flax seed meal *can sub for chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Directions -
Add all ingredients into blender. Add desired liquid (almond milk, coconut milk, milk, coconut water, or plain water) and blend until smooth!
Get the complete PDF REBOOT smoothie E-BOOK!
- 15 Reboot Smoothie Recipes - health + taste approved
- Feelin' Fineapple Smoothie
- Mint To Be Smoothie
- Acai You Again Smoothie
- Coconuts About Blue Smoothie
- Spice + Everything Nice Smoothie
- 24K Golden Milk Smoothie
- Reboot From Head To Mojitoes Smoothie
- I Love You So Matcha Smoothie
- Pea-Nutty By Nature Smoothie
- Brekki To Go Go Smoothie
- But First, Cold Brew Smoothie
- Chai It, You'll Love It Smoothie
- No Monday Bluebs Smoothie
- Takes Two To Mango Smoothie
- Aloha, chia Pudding
- Step By Step on how to make YOUR OWN healthy Reboot 5 Smoothie
- Vegetable guide
- Fruit guide
- Protein guide
- Healthy fats guide
- Nutritional booster guide
- Weekly smoothie meal plan + prep guide
- Food allergy / ingredient swap guide
- And more!
P.S. NEED TO RECHARGE + REFOCUS + RESET YOUR HEALTH?
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This blog post was sponsored by Bob's Red Mill. Visit https://www.bobsredmill.com/ for more ways to use their products!