Summer isn’t only about ice cream—smoothies are great too, and they’re healthy! You can have a smoothie every morning for breakfast if you choose too, but you can’t say the same about a chocolate shake!
You can make plenty of different smoothies during the summertime without sacrificing your health. Smoothies are the perfect way to mix the best of both worlds—fruits, vegetables, sweets, and super foods.
To make the perfect fruit smoothie for those days of sitting outside under the sun, blend together several ice cubes with about a cup of frozen strawberries and one frozen banana. Add about a cup of almond milk, and then mix in several super food items, such as chia seeds, flax seeds, or cashews. You can even toss in a handful of spinach leaves and you won’t even notice it’s there. Blend and enjoy!
If you’re craving a chocolate or vanilla shake, you can make an easy, delicious, chocolate shake right at home, with way less calories. Add 2 frozen bananas to a blender with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, and 2 cups of almond milk. Blend and enjoy! To make a vanilla shake, simply leave out the cocoa powder and add a few dashes of cinnamon in its place.
To make your chocolate or vanilla shake a healthy smoothie or a meal replacement rather than just a snack, add in about a tablespoon of chia seeds and flax seeds, plus a tablespoon of protein powder. This provides extra fiber for a more filling meal.
Green smoothies can be just as delicious as fruit or chocolate smoothies, you just have to know the right tricks. First, choose your liquid, which could be almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk or coconut water, oat milk, or hemp milk. Use about a cup and a half of liquid. Next, add a big handful of greens. Choose from spinach, kale, collard greens, chard, or beet greens.
Next, add one to two cups of fresh or frozen fruits (be sure to add ice cubs if you are using fresh fruit). Choose from bananas, apples, strawberries, blueberries, or mangoes. Add a teaspoon of agave nectar, stevia sweetener, or pitted dates to add a little extra sweetness to your smoothie.
The remaining ingredients are the healthiest options that can assist you with any back pain you have been experiencing. These are the anti-inflammatory super foods which consist of avocados, hemp seeds, coconut or flax oils, plant-based protein powders (such as soy or hemp protein powder), chia seeds, flax seeds, almond butters, ginger, or raw cacao. Blend and enjoy your perfect green smoothie, which you can feel great about drinking.
Smoothies with the right ingredients offer wonderful anti-inflammatory benefits, but there are other non-invasive methods of healing your back or neck discomfort if you are seeking additional help. Please contact Premier Health Chiropractors and our licensed chiropractors can perform chiropractic adjustments to help you to feel better in no time. Contact us today!