For the past few months, I have switched up my morning routine quite a bit. Morning coffee used to be what I looked forward to. Something about sipping hot coffee with caramel creamer and a hot pastry or something sweet were so enticing to this night owl to finally crawl out of bed. The only problem is it never really gave me energy. When I HAD to change my diet with my pregnancy with my daughter last year (when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes), I started noticing how different I felt. It was and has been life-changing.
I started hearing about all these smoothies, first from the book Clean and then it sort of blew up in my face on Pinterest. Needless to say, I had to try it. I still drink coffee, but never in the morning and usually iced, more as a treat than a getter-upper.
Starting my day out with a good breakfast helps to keep my blood glucose levels balanced and gives me energy with crashing later (like sugar always did to me). For many of us, this also helps our hormone production and has been shown to reduce symptoms of PCOS. Simple changes like this have helped me clean up my diet.
One of the great things about smoothies is that you can vary them based on the fruit you have at home! I tend to always include at least half of a banana or avocado though – especially if they are frozen – as it helps give smoothies a nice creamy texture.
Green Breakfast Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 frozen banana
- 4-5 strawberries
- 2 kale leaves de-stemmed
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup almond milk or coconut milk
- 1/2 cup crushed ice
Instructions
- I put all my ingredients in my blender and mix away! It makes the perfect size serving for one smoothie.
Notes
Nutrition
Note of caution – if you do green smoothies every day, it might be wise to lightly steam the kale first. (greens contain oxalates when raw and may cause health issues)
Lately, I have been on a green smoothie kick and I am loving this one!
Do you have any favorite ingredients for your green smoothies?
For more amazing drink recipes, follow our whole foods board on Pinterest!
Franchesca
Healthy Fats Fire up Male Fertility
How do you feel about raw kale in regards to keeping the thyroid going well. From what I’ve read, any cruciferous veggies can make the thyroid slow down. Thyroid health is key when it comes to fertility and healthy hormones. Do you agree?
I don’t necessarily think that it’s a simple yes or no. 🙂 Each person’s body chemistry must be taken into consideration as well as their thyroid health. Usually the recommendations are that RAW cruciferous veggies aren’t consumed as the cooking or steaming reduces compounds that may slow thyroid.
But from my own experience, I don’t see that eating cruciferous veggies or greens raw negatively affects my thyroid and neither do a lot of other women, especially those who do not have thyroid issues. What’s important is to make sure that it’s not always the same greens and if someone has known or suspected thyroid problems (especially major ones) that these might be limited or thoroughly cooked before consumption.
I don’t think that the type of veggies we eat necessarily effects the thyroid more than our overall diet (processed foods, refined flour and sugar, etc), but it is something to look at if healing the thyroid is not working with other dietary changes.
http://www.naturalfertilityandwellness.com/how-to-eat-your-veggies/