Winter-fying Your Smoothies

Green smoothies are my favourite way to pack in raw foods and nutrients all year round. Summer is easy but cold smoothies in winter? Not so enjoyable. There are swaps to warm your smoothies so you don’t have to miss out on the potent daily dose of greens. Plus winter crucifiers vegetables such as spinach, kale, broccoli and cauliflower when eaten raw/chewed well or cut release ITCs compounds. The more cuts you make into the vegetables, the more chemical reactions occur, positively effecting DNA repair (disease fighting/preventing). That’s why obliterating them in a blender and drinking them goes straight into your bloodstream. Here are some simple ideas to make smoothies winter friendly.

Hold the Cold

Swapping out frozen items such as berries, bananas and spinach for fridge or room temperature fruits and veg. Still delicious to drink but doesn’t leave you feeling cold.

2. Grounding & Seasonal Foods

For the smoothie base try swapping our summer fruits and veg and experiment with seasonal produce. Mandarins, oranges, zucchini, broccoli and pears. Honour the season by eating what nature grows at the time. Your microbiome also loves diversity so experiment with different winter foods. Cooked root vegetables like beetroot, pumpkin or sweet potato can replace bananas for sweetness. Chinese Medicine and energetics of food theory say that root vegetables lend their 'grounding' properties to us when we eat them, helping us to feel physically and mentally more grounded and stable. These changes also keeps smoothies from becoming boring.

3. IMMUNE BOOSTING SPICES

To fight inflammation, boost your immune system and improve circulation try adding ginger, turmeric, cayenne and cinnamon. These can be very overpowering so start with a sprinkle and see what you like then increase the amount. Warming Auyrvedic spices can also improve digestion.

These little tweaks can make a big difference in ‘spicing up’ your smoothie routine, keeping your body warm yet still nourished during winter.