5 Best Healthy Smoothie Recipes to Help Kick-Start Your Day

Last updated on January 24th, 2015

Healthy SmoothiesA smoothie in the morning is one of the single most healthiest meals you can give your body. Fresh fruit and vegetables in your Vitamix (or blender of choice) makes an appetising and nutritious meal.

All the recipes below are super tasty – each of the recipes can be given a boost by including vegetables or seeds. Why not try adding some broccoli, some chia seeds and a quarter or lemon to each to really up the nutritional vale.

Go Bananas! Breakfast Smoothie (Serves 1)

The Go Bananas breakfast smoothie provides enough energy to keep you going all morning long and it tastes so good your taste buds will go bananas—it’s like hosting a flavor party on your tongue!

Ingredients

  • 1 banana (slightly green if possible)
  • 6 to 8 strawberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 cup plain, low-fat yogurt
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice

[info]How to Prepare

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the desired consistency is attained.[/info]

The Go Bananas! Breakfast Boost Explained

The Go Bananas Breakfast Smoothie is a great fiber provider and contains sufficient vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrate to ensure enough get up and go to get you going and keep you going right through to lunch. The yoghurt’s there for protein, but it also helps with the texture

  • Banana Benefits: Bananas are good in so many ways. They provide potassium, which can lower the blood pressure, and vitamin C, which helps fight the free radicals than can lead to the Big C (cancer). Some studies show bananas may help reduce the risk of asthma developing by around 34%. Other banana benefits include: reducing the likelihood of diarrhea (always a party killer), improving the memory, and boosting the mood.
  • Strawberry Benefits: Often called “the queen of fruits”, strawberries are a nutrient-rich fruit, crammed with antioxidants. They can improve bone health and even have anti-aging abilities. Other strawberry health benefits include: boosts short-term memory, reduces the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, can promote weight loss.

Cherry-Berry Breakfast Smoothie (Serves 1)

Blow the cobwebs away and get the day off to a good start with a cherry-berry smoothie. It takes moments to prepare, tastes great, and provides a tired body with the get up and go it needs to see it through until lunch.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cherries
  • 1/2 cup almond, rice, or soy milk
  • ¼ c frozen pitted unsweetened cherries or raspberries
  • 2 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

[info]How to Prepare

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the desired consistency is attained.[/info]

The Cherry-Berry Breakfast Boost Explained

The Cherry-Berry Breakfast Smoothie provides a healthy mix of vitamins and minerals, natural fiber, and simple and complex carbohydrates. Protein is provided courtesy of the milk content.

  • Raspberry Benefits: As well as tasting great, raspberries provide health-enhancing antioxidants that can reduce the likelihood of cancer. Recent research shows raspberries may be able to assist weight loss by limiting the amount of fat that is digested from food. Any fat that is not digested does not release its calories and therefore cannot contribute to weight gain.
  • Cherry Benefits: Cherries are also high in antioxidants and studies show that consuming half a cup of cherries each day can reduce the risk of gout. Other cherry-related benefits include reduced likelihood of stroke and reduced levels of belly fat.

Fruity-Soya Breakfast Smoothie (Serves 1)

A bumper amount of flavor and nutrition crammed into a glass, the Fruity-Soya Breakfast Smoothie gives you something worth getting out of bed for even on the coldest of mornings.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup light soya milk
  • 1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/2 small banana
  • 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
  • A few drops of vanilla extract (optional)

[info]How to Prepare

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the desired consistency is attained.[/info]

The Fruity-Soya Breakfast Boost Explained

If your body needs it this shake provides it, in a fruity, soya kind of way. Vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrate and fiber—this one’s got the lot.

  • Blueberry Health Benefits: Blueberries are low in fat and high in antioxidants and just a handful can fulfil the body’s daily fiber requirements. Blueberry benefits include reduced risk of cancer, reduced risk of heart disease, enhanced memory capabilities.
  • Soya Health Benefits: Soya is high in protein, vitamins, minerals, and insoluble fiber. It also contains phytoestrogens that may lower the risk of breast cancer. Phytoestrogens are known to act as a (weak) estrogen substitute, so many women use soya products to help ease the discomfort of menopause.

Papaya & Pineapple Breakfast Smoothie (Serves 1)

Start your day with a taste of the tropics and you’ll want to party all day long.

Ingredients

  • 1 papaya (diced)
  • 1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
  • 3/4 cup fresh pineapple chunks
  • 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground flaxseed

[info]How to Prepare

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the desired consistency is attained.[/info]

The Papaya & Pineapple Breakfast Boost Explained

The Papaya & Pineapple Breakfast Smoothie is as high in fiber as it is in taste. High fiber diets help ensure a healthy digestive system and reduce the likelihood of colonic cancer. The mixture also provides vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates.

  • Flaxseed Health Benefits: Often considered one of the most powerful foods on the planet, flax is high in fiber and provides omega-3 essential fatty acids and lignans. Recent studies suggest flax may be an anti-cancer food option. Other studies suggest it may be a natural anti-depressant, may reduce the likelihood of liver disease, and lower cholesterol levels.
  • Papaya Health Benefits: One medium papaya provides around 30g of carbohydrates and 2g of protein, not to mention a load of vitamins and minerals. It also contains the antioxidant zeaxanthin, which is believed to ward off macular degeneration (an eye disease). Other papaya health benefits include: decreases the likelihood of cancer or asthmatic attacks, enhances healing abilities, and decreases the likelihood of heart disease.

Pineapple and Mango Breakfast Smoothie (Serves 1)

Another breakfast smoothie with a taste that hints of sun-drenched beaches and warm summer sun.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup fresh pineapple (diced)
  • 1/2 cup fresh mango (diced)
  • 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
  • 2 ice cubes (optional)

[info]How to Prepare

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the desired consistency is attained.[/info]

The Pineapple & Mango Breakfast Boost Explained

As with the previous smoothies, the Pineapple & Mango Breakfast Smoothie provides a healthy mix of vitamins, minerals, fiber and carbohydrate to help get the day off to a good start. The yoghurt adds some protein.

  • Pineapple Health Benefits: Pineapples are a low calorie fruit. They provide many vitamins and also contain the proteolytic enzyme bromelain, which can aid digestion and is known to be an anti-clotting, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer agent.
  • Mango Health Benefits: Forget apples, some mango each day is much more likely to keep the doctor away. Mangos are super-nutritious and offer numerous health benefits. They aid the digestion, clear the skin and provide cancer-resisting antioxidants. Other mango health benefits include: lowers cholesterol, regulates diabetes, and assists weight loss by providing appetite suppression.
About Natalie Jay 279 Articles
Natalie Jay is a writer and freelance journalist specialising in the weight loss industry. She has a strong background in writing product reviews and writes accordingly. Natalie is the head of editorial team of several health related websites. You can read more about Natalie Here

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