Name: Super Food Berry Smoothie
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 ripe banana (peeled); 2 cups fresh or frozen berries (such as blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries); 1 tablespoon flax seed (whole or ground); 1 tablespoon chia seed; 1 cup packed fresh spinach (or 1 cup unpacked frozen spinach); 2 cups unsweetened almond milk; Stevia to taste (optional)

Jump-start your day with this Super Food Berry Smoothie! Full of vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants, it’s nutrition at its best!

I think it’s fair to say that most of us want to improve our health. I have three girls, and I really try never to talk about “weight,” but to talk about whether or not eating something is making us “healthy.” All of us know that fruits and vegetables are good for us, but it’s often difficult to eat as much as we know we should.

That’s where smoothies come in! They are the perfect way to get a lot of fruits and vegetables. They are doubly good because breaking down the fruits and vegetables makes the nutrients more readily available for our bodies to absorb. You can make smoothies out of practically anything, but there are a few things you need to know in order to keep your smoothies healthy.

Tips for making healthy smoothies:

When making your own smoothies, don’t add yogurt unless it’s unsweetened Greek yogurt. The sugar content on your 6-oz. containers of yogurt have anywhere from 20-35 grams of sugar! If you do add unsweetened Greek yogurt, don’t add too much. It can really overpower the flavors of everything else.
For healthy smoothies, ripe bananas will be your sweetener. If you feel like you need things to be sweeter but still want to keep the sugar content down, you can add some Stevia (I use Purevia or xylitol.)
Use spinach for extra nutrition. Spinach is flavorless in smoothies but adds a ton of vitamins and minerals. It may not make your smoothie look pretty, but your body will thank you! You can use fresh or frozen spinach.
Add healthy seeds with Omega-3 fats, like flaxseed and chia seed. If you do this, you may want to run the smoothie cycle on your blender twice.
Use unsweetened almond milk or water for your liquid. Juice has too much sugar, as does regular milk.

For this Super Food Berry Smoothie, I used almond milk, spinach, flax seeds, chia seeds, a banana, and a three-berry blend with blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

I always put the banana in the blender first, then the fruit, seeds, and spinach on top. Then I pour in the almond milk and use the smoothie setting on my Blendtec. If you don’t have a “smoothie” setting, I recommend letting your blender run for about 50 seconds. You may need to stop and use a spatula to push things down if they are not being blended properly.

In this Super Food Berry Smoothie, you are getting the following amazing health benefits:

Disclaimer: I am not promising the following benefits if you drink this smoothie. This is merely a list of some stand-alone health benefits from the ingredients of the smoothie.

Fiber from all the seeds – both the chia and flax seeds and the seeds in the berries. The spinach and flesh of the berries also add fiber.
Spinach has so many health benefits, it’s difficult to list them all. But spinach has been shown to reduce the formation of cholesterol, lower high blood pressure, and help your memory!
Chia and flax seeds are full of Omega-3 fats, which help raise good cholesterol, thus protecting against heart disease and stroke.
Berries are chock full of antioxidants which are great anti-cancer agents. They also promote a healthy digestive system and can help keep your memory sharp.

So add this Super Food Berry Smoothie to your menu, any time of day! Your body will thank you!

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