How to Make the Perfect Smoothie at Home

I was inspired to write this post because I have my gum graft surgery on Friday and have been stocking up on smoothie ingredients and I will likely be living on smoothies for a while. If made thoughtfully, a smoothie can be a very nutrient dense complete meal or snack. If a smoothie is missing key components, it can leave you feeling unsatisfied and on a blood sugar roller coaster.

I’m sharing my 5 step plan to ensure my smoothies are well balanced and leave me feeling full and satisfied for longer than 30 minutes 😉

BASE choosing the right base is one of the most important decisions when making a smoothie. I encourage you to skip the juice and milk alternatives with added sugar (check your labels). Ideally your base is water, coconut water, or unsweetened dairy alt (regular milk if thats your pref). Here is my homemade almond milk recipe.
PROTEIN aim for 20-30 grams of protein in your smoothie. More is not better as your body has a limit of how much protein it can absorb and utilize at one time. I have been using this protein powder and highly recommend as the quality is excellent. I also like Garden of life, marine collagen, and Après. I like this article on protein powders and agree on the protein powders they listed as good options. If you want to skip the powders you can add greek yogurt or cottage cheese for a protein boost.
FAT add 1-2 tbsp fat to your smoothie to help stabilize blood sugar, aid in absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, and keep you full! Yummy choices are avocado, coconut/MCT oil, coconut butter, coconut meat, walnuts, any type of nut or seed butter, and even ghee.
FIBER bulk up your smoothie with 5-10 grams of fiber. Try ground flax, hemp seeds, chia seeds, or acacia fiber
GREENS & FRUIT smoothies are a great way to sneak in greens. Personally I like frozen spinach and add in about 1 cup into my smoothies. I try and limit the fruit in my smoothie to 1 cup (1 serving) but this is where you get sweetness and flavor. Frozen berries, peaches, pineapple, banana, whatever you like.