11 Somewhat Surprising Smoothie Ingredients You Should Try

Do you love smoothies but feel like you’re ready to put a new spin on your old favorites? There’s nothing like an unusual (and healthy) ingredient to spice up your smoothie mix. It’s great to find new smoothie recipes… but even better to become a creative smoothie master.

So with this in mind, check out these 11 unusual ingredients. Add them to your blender and get ready for healthy and delicious smoothie adventures!

Strengthen your protein

Nut or seed butters and milks

If you’re a PB and J lover, you’ll love adding nut butters to your smoothie. Just like in this reserve sandwich, the creamy smoothness of the walnuts is perfectly paired with the sweet flavor of the fruit. Better yet, nuts bring heart-healthy fats, protein, minerals, and vitamin E to the mix.

Choose your nut and seed butters carefully. Look for the ones that just give you the crushed nuts and nothing else, with no added sugar or oil (although a little salt is fine). Good peanut butter goes well with anything. And for a seedier option, try a couple tablespoons of sesame tahini.

Finally, for a true hunger killer, try adding almond milk to your smoothie. In addition to their incomparable creamy taste, almonds seem to quell the hunger hormone ghrelin. A little almond can help your smoothie go even further in keeping your appetite in check.

eggs

A word of caution first: Not everyone will feel safe with this ingredient. Raw eggs can lead to a salmonella attack, a bacterial infection that can turn fatal. However, people have safely eaten raw eggs for generations. Many traditional smoothie recipes (such as eggnog) have been made on a raw egg base. If you have access to eggs from a flock you know to be healthy, and you feel confident using the eggs in this way, you might want to try this favorite ingredient of boxers.

Eggs add lecithin for the brain and protein. And if you get some free-range eggs, which you’ll recognize by the glorious orange yolks, you’ll also get a hit of omega-3s and carotenoids.

How to use them? Just break it off the side of the blender and add it.

Hemp seeds

While it’s a distant cousin of marijuana, hemp has none of its psychoactive effects, no matter how much you eat. Instead of recreational use, hemp has been used for fiber, rope, and now food due to its good nutrition. Extremely high in protein, with some of the most complete proteins in the plant world, hemp is also very high in omega-3 fatty acids. These fats can help your body fight inflammation.

A word of caution for smoothie makers: hemp is also high in fiber. This can help digestion, but it will also thicken the smoothie if it sits in the fridge for a while. If you like to eat your smoothie with a spoon, this may not be a problem. But for all you shake drinkers out there, be sure to drink your hemp-infused shakes soon.

Get to the root of powerful nutrition

How about something earthy to balance out the light sweetness of the fruits? Tubers offer the perfect solution.

carrots

How could you leave this nutritional powerhouse out of smoothie making? Especially when he has such a sweet side!

Carrots are known to add beta-carotene, a bright orange antioxidant, to your diet. In fact, beta-carotene is named after carrots. Beta-carotene can be split in half to form the true, natural form of vitamin A. Vitamin A has been linked to supporting skin health, immune health, and reproductive health. Recently, a large epidemiological study showed that carrots, above all other vegetables, appeared to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating lots of carrots could reduce your risk by up to 32%![1] No wonder Bugs Bunny was so excited!

As long as they stay moist and cool, carrots can be stored for a while and still maintain their good nutrition. To add them to a shake, if you have a powerful machine like a Vitamix, you can just drop them in. For other mixers, try rewarding them first.

Pair it with some creamy coconut and nutmeg and you have cool carrot cake in a glass!

radishes

Spicy horseradish in smoothies? Actually?!

Of course!

First, radishes bring some serious nutritional power to the mix… Another member of the cruciferous family, they also contain sulfur-based compounds that seem to help boost your body’s detoxification and cancer-fighting processes.

Plus, as your itchy mouth suggests, they help loosen mucus-clogged ducts if you’re a bit congested.

On top of all this good healing power, radishes open the door to new arenas in smoothie flavor combinations…

Some smoothie aficionados love its zing in traditional sweet and fruity combinations. But they also invite you to try a more gazpacho-like approach to making smoothies. Instead of going sweet and bland, consider adding radishes to the tomatoes, kale, cucumbers, and a little lemon juice for a tastier mix of vegetables.

beets

It’s hard to top the beetroot’s blood-red appearance for drama. You can’t help but wonder what beets do for your health when you see the stains they leave on your counter. And certainly, beets have special compounds that we could all take advantage of.

Research has linked beets to fighting inflammation and cancer. Beetroot juice has recently been discovered by athletes as a powerful way to extend resistance And power. And because beets increase your body’s production of nitric oxide, they can help increase blood flow and lower blood pressure.[2]

Smoothies offer a great way to enjoy the nutrition of beets. You lose the special antioxidants in beets, betalains, the more you cook them.

ginger root

A cousin to the powerful antioxidant, turmeric, ginger claims its own reputation as a powerful healing root. Not only does it improve circulation, clear the respiratory system, and soothe sore muscles, it helps other herbs work better.[3]

Maybe it’s because of its circulatory boost, but ginger is known to herbalists as a root that magnifies the power of other herbs. Imagine what this can mean for your nutritional shake!

You can add dry ginger spice to your smoothie. But for a super spicy ginger flavor, consider adding the fresh root to your mix. Wash and peel it first. And if you don’t have a power mixer, give it first for best results.

Give flavor to your mix

Once you’ve created a good base, why not spice it up a bit more? Spices provide not only high notes of flavor but also symphonies of nutrition.

orange turmeric It has one of the best antioxidants in the world: curcumin. In India, turmeric and milk (a precursor to smoothies) is a common panacea.

Cinnamon helps with blood sugar metabolism and nutmeg used sparingly helps with anxiety and concentration.

Revolutionize your smoothie making

The world of shakes is vast, encompassing all kinds of flavor combinations and nutritional treasures. All you need to enter this world is a blender, a little sense of adventure, and some of these unusual ingredients.

With this kind of inspiration and innovation, you’ll find yourself savoring shakes that can take you to new frontiers of flavor and vitality. Ready to dive in? Speed ​​up your blender and get creative!

Sources:

[1] Oude Griep LM et al. Fruit and vegetable colors and ten-year incidence of CHD. British Journal of Nutrition / Volume 106 / Issue 10 / November 2011, pp 1562-1569

[2] AJ Webb, N. Patel, S. Loukogeorgakis, M. Okorie, Z. Aboud, S. Misra, R. Rashid, P. Miall, J. Deanfield, N. Benjamin, R. MacAllister, AJ Hobbs, A. Ahluwalia. Acute reduction in blood pressure, vasoprotective and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate through bioconversion to nitrite. Hypertension, 2008; 51(3):784

[3] Yance, D. Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism: Elite Herbs and Natural Compounds to Tame Stress, Aging, and Chronic Disease. Healing Arts Press, September 21, 2013. Pg 435