Smoothies are a great way of getting in your fruit and vegetable serves. I also love the variety of flavours that you can create. They can be a super quick and delicious meal or snack full of whole, fresh foods and lots of nutrition.
When it comes to making juices, we’d recommend blending your fruit and vegetables as opposed to juicing them. That way you keep all the fibre and ‘pulp’, which maximises your nutrition and dilutes the natural sugars. It’s also going to be much more filling and satisfying on less calories. Also, make sure that you don’t add more fruit into your blend than you would actually eat. Blending can make fruits and vegetables easier to consume, but if you’re having 4-5 serves of fruit per day, this may be a little too much. I’d recommend sticking to 1-2 serves of fruit per blend. Go nuts with the vegetables!
I’d also suggest that fruit and vegetable blends are probably not suitable meal replacements. They’re just not quite substantial enough, particularly due to the lack of healthy carbohydrates and protein. If you’re looking to make a breakfast smoothie or something to keep you going for a few hours, don’t forget to add a protein source (milk, yoghurt, etc) and a high fibre carbohydrate (rolled oats, etc).
Check out my three favourite blends for some fresh inspiration for your smoothies!
3 Smoothie Combinations
Ingredients (each option serves 1)
Breakfast Smoothie:
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Pink Smoothie:
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Green Smoothie:
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Method
- Combine all ingredients from one option together, add ice cubes and a dash of cold water, and place in a blender. Blend on high until it becomes a smooth consistency.
Nutrition Info per option
Breakfast Smoothie
- Energy: 1479kJ (353 calories)
- Protein: 17g
- Carbohydrate: 53g (37g sugar)
- Fat: 7g (3g saturated fat)
- Fibre: 6g
- Sodium: 158mg
- Calcium: 445mg
Pink Smoothie
- Energy: 437kJ (105 calories)
- Protein: 3g
- Carbohydrate: 19g (19g sugar)
- Fat: 1g (0g saturated fat)
- Fibre: 6g
- Sodium: 30mg
- Calcium: 36mg
Green Smoothie
- Energy: 351kJ (84 calories)
- Protein: 3g
- Carbohydrate: 14g (14g sugar)
- Fat: 0g (0g saturated fat)
- Fibre: 6g
- Sodium: 22mg
- Calcium: 70mg
Notes
1 serve of this recipe offers:
Breakfast Smoothie
- 1/2 serve carbohydrate
- 1 serve protein
- 1/2 serve fruit
Pink Smoothie
- 1/4 serve vegetable
- 1 serve fruit
Green Smoothie
- 1 1/2 serve vegetables
- 1 serve fruit