Smoothies for the New Year

As we look ahead to 2025, choosing to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables is a great resolution. An easy way to accomplish that is by a morning smoothie.

Smoothies are a great way to start the day with multiple servings of fruits and veggies, which most people are sorely lacking in their diets. They're easily customizable to your preferences, and are simple to throw together in the mornings (you can even prep your smoothie ingredients ahead of time, Liz uses reusable silicone bags to portion out her smoothie ingredients ahead of time, which is a great idea).

There are lots of smoothie recipes online (we also have a recipe posted at the bottom of this newsletter), but remember, they don't need to be at all elaborate, all you need is some frozen fruit and a liquid to blend it up. It's also a great way of using up odds and ends in your refrigerator or freezer (If you have any fruits that are starting to get a bit too soft, throw them in a bag in the freezer to use for a smoothie).

If you're going to commit to drinking smoothie in 2025, we'd recommend getting a single serve blender that blends your ingredients in the same cup you drink from. They're so much easier to use and clean, but any blender will work.

These are a few of our favorite smoothie add ins, with some of their benefits:

Matcha powder: Matcha is ground green tea leaves and since you're getting the whole leaf it has much higher antioxidants than drinking green tea. Also, for whatever magical reason, adding a teaspoon of matcha powder to a smoothie does not seem to change the taste. It just makes it a nice green color so you can feel extra healthy when you're drinking it. I don't really like drinking green tea, but I'm definitely a fan of matcha in a smoothie.

Collagen: Our Collagen Peptides powder by Nature's Plus is completely tasteless and is an amazing smoothie addition. Collagen is greatly lacking in our modern diets and can help with bones, connective tissue, skin, and even digestive health. It's also a good source of protein, which makes it a perfect addition to a morning smoothie.

Fish oil liquid: I know this sounds crazy, but we have flavored fish oil liquids at the store that taste great (the orange in particular is great in smoothies) that are high potency and give a great dose of omega 3s in just one teaspoon. We have free samples at the store for you to take home to try on your smoothies, so just ask us for one at the register!

A few other great additions are moringa, creatine, flax seeds, hemp seeds, chia, and protein powder.

Smoothie Sweeteners:

If you're mixing your fruit smoothie with water, it may not be sweet enough for most people's liking. We'd recommend adding a bit of maple syrup for sweetness (start with just a touch, because it's very sweet). Maple syrup has been in the news lately for being a beneficial sweetener, you can read the article here, but keep in mind that it still is a sweetener that contains sugar, so it should be used in moderation.

Another idea is liquid stevia extract, since it's a natural sugar free sweetener it will give a bit of sweetness without raising blood sugar. I'd recommend starting with half a dropper worth since too much stevia can add a weird aftertaste and adjust from there. Stevia doesn't taste exactly like sugar, but it has zero calories and is sugar free, so I feel like it's a good option for that reason.

Internal Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning is often on our minds at this time of year, but doing a bit of internal spring cleaning with a whole body cleanse can be a good idea too!

We have a product by Renew Life that can be great for that, their 3 Day Body Cleanse. I kind of like that it's a short cleanse since it's easy to commit to, and easy to do well.

It's a kit of easy-to-swallow capsules that are taken morning and night. It's going to be beneficial even if you don't change anything else in your diet, but since it's only for 3 days, we recommend partnering it with a cleansing diet: obtaining from alcohol, soda, and artificial sweeteners, limiting animal products, and focusing on eating whole foods and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water.

The kit is inexpensive and easy to use, and we think it's an excellent way to have a bit of a fresh start for spring!

Also for long-term cleaning, adding milk thistle to your daily regime isn't a bad idea. Milk thistle is fantastic for liver health, so if you drink alcohol regularly or use medications like ibuprofen regularly that are hard on the liver, milk thistle is a good idea to take. Everything is processed through our liver, and milk thistle is unique in its ability to support and even help regenerate healthy liver tissue.

We have lots of different great milk thistle supplements, but I particularly like our milk thistle by Natural Factors, which comes in a buy one get one free pack, and is a good potency.

See these articles on our website for more information:

Milk Thistle Spotlight

Milk Thistle and Medications

Jarrow's Bone Broth Powder: It's Amazing for Joints, Digestive Issues, and More

We have been searching for a good bone broth powder to carry in the store and have finally found one!  We now have Jarrow Bone Broth Powder for sale in the store, in both beef and chicken varieties. Powdered bone broth is much more economical than buying bone broth liquid (which we do also have at the store), and still makes a delicious, steamy mug.

Bone broth is an incredibly nutrient dense whole food. It is a natural source of type I and II collagen, which is amazing for skin and joint health. The collagen found in bone broth also contains natural forms of glucosamine, chondroitin, and hyaluronic acid- all nutrients which are well known for supporting the cartilage in our joints and helping arthritis-related joint pain.
Interestingly, bone broth is also incredibly healing to the digestive tract, and is something that would be particularly helpful for people with Celiac or any other digestive issues. Drinking bone broth is very comforting to the intestines, and actually helps to supply the body with specific amino acids and other natural compounds which can help to heal and repair the intestinal lining (nutrients not easily found in sufficient quantities in other foods). 

I actually went to a seminar many years ago about natural ways to help people with Celiac, and the speaker recommended simmering a variety of bones and even chicken feet for days, saying that it made a broth which he said was, “The best thing for people with Celiac disease and other digestive issues” due to the types of collagen found in such a broth. I think most of us there thought that sounded a little weird, so it’s funny how that seemingly strange advice is now becoming so well known, and now we’re hearing more and more testimonials of people who have used bone broth with impressive results for their digestive problems. 

In addition to joint, skin, and digestive health, research has even shown that bone broth can help with boosting the immune system, something we could all use as the weather turns colder.

Jarrow’s bone broth is unique in that it also has additional natural calcium and silicon, two other nutrients crucial for bone health. The type of silicon in Jarrow’s bone broth has also been clinically shown to help with reducing wrinkle depth and improving skin elasticity.

When choosing a bone broth, it’s important to use a brand you trust, since I’ve been reading more and more reports about how many bone broths on the market are not much different from regular beef or chicken broth. I trust Jarrow as a company (they make some of my favorite products) and love that they list the actual amounts of nutrients per serving (including the amounts of collagen) right on the label, so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Bone broth powder is great mixed by itself with hot water in a mug, but it can even be added to soups or other foods for an added nutrient boost. One naturopath I read an article from recommended swapping a hot cup of bone broth for one’s afternoon coffee or tea- something I think is a great idea!

Jarrow’s bone broth powder is available in both chicken and beef varieties and will be on sale for 25% off for the entire month of November.

Healthy Q & A: Healthy Eating

Q:

I know I should eat better, but I work a ton and eating healthy is the first thing to go.  I don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables since I eat out most of the time.  Is there anything I can take that would help to make up some of what I’m missing? 

A:

There are supplements which can replace some of the phytonutrients you’re missing from fruits and vegetables, though I would still encourage you to try to eat more produce.  Apples, bananas, and bags of baby carrots are healthy snacks that travel well which can get you closer to the recommended “five a day”.

Nature’s Plus makes two products I think could help.  The first is Fruitein, a drink mix that has concentrates from 110 different fruits and vegetables.  It also has 13 grams of protein so it helps you to feel fuller, longer.  It’s different from most shake mixes in that it’s meant to be mixed with water, so it’s a great drink mix to have at the office or on the go since it doesn’t require ingredients that need refrigeration.  Nature’s Plus also has a supplement called Ultra Juice which is a tablet which contains the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables. 

Making green smoothies in the morning is another great way to increase the amount of fruits, veggies, and greens in your diet.  If you google green smoothie recipes the results are neverending.  Basically it’s mixing water (or milk or orange juice), spinach or kale, and a banana in a blender and drinking.  There are tons of delicious variations.  It might sound weird at first, but I know a number of people who are hooked on them.  Here’s a site with some great recipe ideas.

Also, since you mentioned eating out, there are lots of vegetarian options at restaurants which will give you some heatlthier options.   Plus, you can always request that extra vegetables be added to a dish.  Hope that helps!