Name: Anti-Inflammatory Cherry-Spinach Smoothie
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup plain low-fat kefir; 1 cup frozen cherries; ½ cup baby spinach leaves; ¼ cup mashed ripe avocado; 1 tablespoon salted almond butter; 1 (1/2 inch) piece peeled ginger; 1 teaspoon chia seeds, plus more for garnish

This healthy smoothie is not only delicious--it also boosts your daily dose of anti-inflammatory foods. It starts with a base of creamy gut-friendly kefir and includes cherries, which can lower the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Heart-healthy fats in avocado, almond butter and chia seeds deliver additional anti-inflammatory compounds to the body, while spinach offers a mix of antioxidants that sweep up harmful free radicals. Fresh ginger adds zing, plus a compound called gingerol, which preliminary studies suggest may improve inflammatory markers of heart disease if consumed daily.

Anti-Inflammatory Cherry-Spinach Smoothie

plain low-fat kefir

cherries

baby spinach leaves

avocado

salted almond butter

(1/2 inch) piece peeled ginger

chia seeds,

Place kefir in a blender. Add cherries, spinach, avocado, almond butter, ginger and chia seeds; puree until smooth. Pour into a glass; garnish with more chia seeds, if desired.


So I try to use the base of recipes and use what I have on hand (to save on costs!)

I am lactose intolerant and try to stay away from dairy as much as humanly possible, so I skipped out on using any. I did buy flax milk to try that on the next go around however. 

I used 1c cherries, 1c spinach, 1 banana, 3/4 c pineapple juice, 1tbsp almond butter, 3/4 c water, and a dash of honey and garnished with chia seeds. This turned out MUCH better than I anticipated (although it wasn't a bright pink, more like a murky darker red) and left me feeling very full and satisfied! Hopefully this kept it as close to a Mediterranean diet recipe as possible, always appreciate feedback.

1 cup of my recipe: Cals 226, Total Fat 5.2g, Sat Fat .5g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 15mg, Total Carb 45.9g, Dietary Fiber 4.2g, Total Sugars 32.1g, Protein 4g, Calcium 45mg, Iron 3mg, Potassium 617mg

This is my go-to morning smoothie. The ginger adds a very refreshing taste and it s filled with very healthy ingredients. If you like ginger hope you ll give it a try.

Full of goodness. I won t say it s delicious but it s not bad. You gotta love all of the ingredients. I used very little almond butter-too much makes it bad to me. I also used a mini avocado. Make sure to use the 1% Kefir. 5 stars for nutritional content and 3.5 for taste. The ginger makes it!

If you don t like kefir (which I don t) substitute almond or coconut milk. I also added 2 scoops of vanilla pea plant protein powder in place of the avocado which makes it a little sweeter plus pack a bigger protein boost. It was good and probably will be even better using chocolate protein powder rather than vanilla!

Anti-Inflammatory Cherry-Spinach Smoothie

Total: 5 minutes

Author : Jamie Vespa MS RD

Ingredients

Instructions

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