Breakfast Smoothies: The Perfect Way to Start Your Day

Smoothies are perfect for breakfast because it is healthy and delicious. They're perfect to start our day. The best thing about smoothies is that we can drink these anytime. We can add any ingredient that will suit our taste. We could try a different smoothie each day of the week. But it's also a good option to find a handful of smoothie recipes we enjoy and stick to those during the week.

Having some go-to favorites lets you buy and prepare the ingredients ahead of time, making it even easier and quicker to blend up your fave breakfast drink each morning. That’s a good way to make your breakfast smoothies work when you do not have enough time to prepare some. Go to the grocery store and buy your favorite smoothie ingredients. When you come home, wash, peel and chop the fruit and veggies. Put them in storage bags in small portions that are perfect for your single-serving smoothies and store them in the fridge or freezer.

When you wake up in the morning, just get a container, add the ingredients to your blender together with the other smoothie ingredients (water, milk, yogurt, juice etc.) and mix. Pour your smoothie, wash your blender and your breakfast is finished. It's just as easy as that.

You may use your main blender and make smoothies for the whole family, or just use a personal blender so that each family member can make their own fave smoothie.  There is no right or wrong way to make this as long as it is perfect for you and your family.

Put your smoothie in a blender bottle or an insulated cup to bring it with you in the office or school. Adding up frozen fruit or ice to your smoothie will help keep it cool even if you do not finish it right away.

There are three reasons why I love smoothies for breakfast ....

Firstly, if you mix the ingredients in the right way, a smoothie can become a powerful nutritional bomb. It starts my day off right with a boost of nutrition. It’s much easier to get at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day when a big amount of it is in your smoothie. Plus smoothies are made with fresh, unprocessed foods. That is a huge improvement from the ordinary breakfast choice of cereal, toast, or breakfast sandwiches.

The vitamins and natural sugars from the fruits and vegetables give you the energy you need in the morning and it is simple to add some protein and a bit of healthy fat to your smoothies. This will provide you a filling breakfast drink that will keep you full even if you are not yet taking your lunch.

Great protein and healthy fat sources to include in your recipe are:

• coconut oil or milk
• Greek yogurt
• cottage cheese
• avocado
• flax seeds
• natural nut butters like peanut butter (not store-bought!)
• natural protein powders (hemp, peas) 

Don't forget to measure all the ingredients. Many people just throw everything they can find in the blender. Calories are still calories, so be sure they come from the right sources. Avoid adding sugar, pop drinks and processed foods to your smoothie – it will fill your body with extra calories it does not need.

If you do not feel full after drinking your smoothie or you think that you will get hungry really fast, try this trick: put some rolled oats into your blender. You will have a thicker smoothie because starch from oatmeal absorbs some liquid and forms a »body«. Satiety for sure!

Secondly, a breakfast smoothie is a great way to add liquid to your body. One sign that your body is dehydrated is waking up very tired and not rested. During the night, the body can lose as much as one liter of sweat. You need to replace the lost fluids somehow. Put in your smoothie some quality liquid such as:

• cold water
• freshly squeezed fruit juices
• coconut, almond or soy milk
• nonfat Greek yoghurt
• kefir

As much as possible avoid store-bought juices as they are usually filled with extra sugar and additives.

Lastly, drinking breakfast smoothie can be a good way to add greens to your daily diet. Include greens, such as spinach, kale, parsley or cucumbers. These will add nutritional value to your smoothie and get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals.

Just one warning – if you are just beginning to drink smoothie, gradually add greens to the smoothie. Kale, for example, can be bitter and adding too much too quick will ruin the smoothie's flavor. So just take one step at a time.

If you still think you lack the time to make your morning smoothie, just try it. You will see that it is super easy. All you need is a good blender, the right and quality ingredients and a few minutes of your morning time. Check this article for some easy smoothie prep ideas.