Green Tea Smoothies – Delicious, Healthy, and Help You Lose Weight
Celebrate summer with these yummy green tea smoothies! They're packed with seasonal fruit and all the nutrients your body needs, helping you eat smart and achieve your health goals. Researchers at Purdue University found that you stay fuller longer when you drink thick beverages like smoothies; replacing meals with smoothies ups your chance of losing weight and keeping it off for more than a year.
Even if weight loss isn't one of your goals, drinking smoothies can help you sneak in more raw fruits and veggies into your diet. My dad, who's a total health nut, will throw everything from kale to tomatoes to raw beets into his VitaMix – but shockingly, you'd never know it! Using a little peanut butter, cinnamon, sweetened yogurt, or ripe strawberries can really mask the taste of less traditional ingredients.
Why Green Tea? Green tea contains catechin polyphenols, which Swiss researchers have found significantly increase your body's metabolism of fat – meaning you burn more, faster. In addition, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee, which, coupled with the nutrients provided by other ingredients, will give you long lasting, non-jittery energy, unlike the buzz-crash-repeat vicious cycle of coffee.
Give one (or all!) of these green tea smoothies a try – you won't be disappointed! Green Tea Goddess Smoothie
3 cups frozen green grapes 2 cups baby spinach, packed 1 1/2 cups strong brewed green tea, cooled 1 medium ripe avocado 2 teaspoons honey (or agave syrup)
Avocados are packed with oleic acid, a healthy fat that's great for your heart. Plus, they've got more potassium than bananas, making them excellent supporters of healthy blood pressure levels.
Source: Eating Well
Blueberry Green Tea Smoothie
3/4 cups green tea 2 cups frozen blueberries 12 oz. nonfat vanilla yogurt 20 whole almonds, unsalted and dry-roasted 2 tbsp. ground flax seeds
Almonds are high in magnesium, iron, calcium, and protein, as well as healthy fats that may help you lose weight, and certainly support a healthy heart and low cholesterol!
Source: Food Antioxidant-Rich Berry Matcha Smoothie
1/4 cup frozen blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries (or a mix of all three!) 1/2 cup yogurt 1/2 cup ice 1 tsp. matcha powder
Add some mango, kiwi, ginger, or a few fresh mint leaves to make this even yummier!
Source: MatchaSource Mango Green Tea Smoothie
1/2 cup green tea 1/2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt 1 cup mango chunks, fresh or frozen 3-5 ice cubes
Mango is one of my favorite fruits, and protein-packed Greek yogurt will keep you full and focused for hours!
Source: Joy Bauer Cinnamon Honey Green Tea Smoothie
1/2 cup green tea, chilled 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tbsp. honey 1/2 banana
Like green tea, cinnamon has great metabolism-boosting properties. At only 139 calories, this low-cal concoction is better as a snack than a meal replacement.
Source: Popsugar A Few Tips:
Use frozen fruit. It's cheaper, easier to store, won't go bad, AND might even have more antioxidants than the fresh fruit you find in the supermarket, since it's picked and frozen at peak ripeness.
To brew strong green tea, use two tea bags – but don't oversteep. Oversteeping can give your tea a bitter flavor that other ingredients might not succeed in masking.
