My kids leave for school at all hours in the morning so my goal is to make them something quick and healthy! Smoothies are the ultimate way to jam pack as much nutrition as possible into one drink. These 6 Superfood Smoothies are the perfect meal and full of vitamins which will keep them energized and their minds sharp. The key is the smoothies must taste amazing or my kids won’t drink them! I sneak in handfuls of spinach without them even detecting it since it has such a mild flavor yet is such a nutritional powerhouse.
Since smoothies are full of fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein — the options are endless. We mix it up with lots of variety so the smoothies don’t get boring. I am posting our fabulous six superfood smoothies which are filled with superfoods that will start your mornings off right.
MY HEALTHY JOURNEY:
Here is where I am going to get a little personal. I was a healthy and active girl when I got hit with an autoimmune disease that rocked my world. I visited the doctor and he performed an insane amount of blood tests to figure out what was going on with my body.
I was dealing with the debilitating effects of several autoimmune diseases — rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis diseases, among others.
I didn’t think I would be dealing with arthritis in my 30’s! My weight had even skyrocketed for no apparent reason (which will put any woman in a tailspin).
After many blood tests confirmed I was dealing with several autoimmune issues, I was referred to both a rheumatologist and endocrinologist to deal with the effects of my immune system going haywire. The specialists wanted to put me on a host of medications to help with the swelling and inflammation, all with a list of negative side effects. I felt as if I was ALWAYS at the doctor. I didn’t want to just put on a band-aid.
I went home and my husband and I just sobbed together on the couch (which he may not like me admitting publicly since he is not a crier), afraid of what the future might hold. After a good cry, I felt determined to figure out what the ROOT cause of my health issues were. I started studying like crazy. I began driving around to every library in town, picking up stacks of health books, and researching everything I could about my disease. I became a full-on nerd!
I kept reading over and over about the powerful healing powers of whole foods. After much research, I decided to implement a 30-day healthy food plan. It included only cold-pressed juices, whole food smoothies, vegetables, fresh fruit, fish, and chicken. Nothing else.
Being the baker that I am, it just about killed me! Okay truth be told….in reality, it gave me new life! I supplemented my diet with a whole host of herbs that help with inflammation and autoimmune disorders. I filled my refrigerator with the freshest ingredients and spent hours at a time creating smoothies and filling glass jars with them. I drank everything from raw fermented beet juice to cleanse my liver to lemon turmeric drinks to help calm my inflammation.
Here is a photo that was taken in Texas of a week’s worth of healthy whole foods that I ate to try to heal myself and relieve some of my symptoms. It’s amazing at what happened after going 30 days eating this way!
After several weeks, my swelling drastically improved and I was able to move around with ease. The best part was going to visit the doctor for another round of blood tests and finding out that the most alarming results were reversed! I still had a long way to go but this was a start. I still have to treat my Hashimoto’s thyroiditis disease with Synthyroid but I have found some natural supplements to help me feel better. I am not a doctor but will share some things that have helped me.
Here are some of the healing vitamins, herbs and supplements that have helped me with my autoimmune diseases:
(click on the links to purchase supplement for a discounted Amazon.com or Vitacost.com price)
Tumeric or Tumeric Force— for reducing inflammation
Stress Reduction Herbs — Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, Astragalus, Siberian Ginseng, Perfect Calm Multivitamin. Holy Basil— helps calm, reduce stress and adrenal support
Vitamin D — immune support and energy
Vitamin B12 — natural energy booster
Magnesium — natural relaxer, calms nerves, good for ADHD.
Vitamin C — immune system booster
Selenium — very helpful if you have a thyroid disorder
Probiotics or Refrigerated Probiotics — the gateway to gut health. Helps to rebalance gut flora.
Fish Oil or Whole Fish Oil— a great source of omega-3’s.
Fermented Foods — Kefir, Kimchi, Sauerkraut
Bone Broth — helps with gut issues
L-Glutamine, Berberine, Digestive Enzymes
Vital Proteins Collagen or Unflavored Collagen Protein — good source of protein and helps the gut lining repair.
There are so many out there dealing with the effects of autoimmune diseases and I would LOVE to hear your story and what has helped you. Please feel free to leave a comment below and share your story. I believe we can all learn from each other. Knowledge is power and when we take our own health into our hands, we can invoke a healthy change.
I LOVE to read, study, and learn from the experts in the industry. I have found several books that are very helpful and will share my favorites. Click on the link below for more information.
An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases,
Hashimoto’s Protocol: A 90-Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back
If you would like to know specifically what I did to help mine and what I continue to do to stay off medication (besides my thyroid medication for Hashimoto’s disease since my thyroid no longer functions), you can reach out to me at melissa@modernhoney.com.
If you would like to sign up for my newsletter, I will include the specific things that have helped me in my health journey. You can find me on instagram @modern_honey.
Here is a list of the nutritional perks in these Healthy Superfood Smoothies:
- Kale – insanely low in calories, powerful anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory properties, and helpful for arthritis and autoimmune diseases
- Spinach – the beauty of spinach lies in how easy it is to disguise the taste. It’s mild tasting yet packed with vitamins, has anti-cancerous properties, and is one of the healthiest foods on the planet
- Blueberries – one of the highest antioxidant capacities of all fruit which helps to combat free radicals in your body
- Strawberries – just one serving provides more vitamin c than an orange while being low in natural sugars
- Greek Yogurt – double the protein and half the carbs as regular yogurt
- Cucumber – since it’s 95% water, it’s an incredible detoxifier and helps with liver and kidney function
- Lemon – one of the most important items to stock in your kitchen as it’s a highly effective cleansing agent and cuts through the bitterness of greens
- Banana – an essential in smoothies as it adds creaminess, a touch of sweetness, and helps you feel full longer plus, it’s rich in potassium and fiber and gives you natural energy
- Turmeric – anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties
- Ginger – aids in digestion and supports the immune system
- Chia + Flaxseeds – rich is Omega-3 and fiber benefits
After years and years of my mother-in-law telling me that the Vitamix is the greatest appliance ever made, I bit the bullet and bought one. I am so grateful because I use it every single day. Plus, it purees the spinach so much that you can’t taste it at all. It’s seriously amazing! You can buy one here.
For extra detoxification benefits, a lemon turmeric flush first thing in the morning will do the trick. This isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s super simple.
Lemon Turmeric Flush Drink:
- 2 cups Water
- 1 Lemon, squeezed
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)
- 1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Stevia or 1 Tablespoon Honey or Real Maple Syrup
- Serves 2
Mix together, water, lemon juice, turmeric, ginger, cayenne pepper (optional) and cinnamon. Add stevia, honey or maple syrup to taste. The cayenne pepper adds a kick to it so not everyone can handle it.
If I am suffering from anything – from allergies to autoimmune issues to overeating the night before, this helps to clean out my liver and belly. I woke up this morning with swollen eyes caused by allergies and this drink helped the swelling go down quickly. You can drink it heated up or drink it cold straight out of the refrigerator. We make a large pitcher and keep in the refrigerator to last a week. We give it a good stir and guzzle it down.
- The Babe Ruth Smoothie:
- 1 cup Strawberries
- ½ cup Pineapple
- 1 Banana
- 2 cups Orange Juice
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt
- 1 cup Spinach (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon Chia or Flaxseeds (optional)
- Ice
- Sweet Cherry Almond Smoothie
- 1½ cups Cherries, frozen
- 1 cup Almond Milk
- 1 scoop Protein Powder
- 1 Banana
- Ice
- Optional: top with unsweetened coconut flakes + almond butter
- Lovely Greens Smoothie:
- 1 cup Pineapple
- 2 cups Spinach
- ½ cup Grapes
- 1½ cup Orange Juice
- 1 Banana
- Ice
- Chocolate Powerhouse Smoothie:
- 1 cup Coconut Milk
- 1 scoop Chocolate Protein Powder
- ½ cup Blueberries
- 1 cup Spinach
- 1 Banana
- 1 Tablespoon Almond Butter
- Ice
- Youthful Glow Green Smoothie:
- 2 Handfuls (approximately 2 cups) Kale or Power Greens Mix
- 2 Handfuls (approximately 2 cups) Baby Spinach
- 2 cups Pure Apple Juice
- ½ Cucumber
- ½ Lemon, squeezed (for extra benefits, use the juice from an entire lemon)
- 1 Banana
- Ice
- Optional:
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Ginger, grated
- https://www.modernhoney.com/youthful-glow-green-smoothie/
- Peachy Mango Smoothie:
- 1 cup Peaches
- 1 cup Mangoes
- 1 Banana
- 1 cup Orange Juice
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon Ginger
- Add ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Add ice depending on temperature preference.
- Frozen bananas work best in smoothies. Peel, slice in half, and place in a large Ziploc bag in the freezer overnight.
- Add more spinach and kale to increase nutritional benefits.
I would LOVE to hear from you about how you have benefited from drinking smoothies or juices and how you like these 6 Healthy Superfood Smoothies. Share with your friends on Facebook, Pinterest, and Yummly. Thank you, as always, for your support. xoxo
Happy Blending!
You can also find a recipe for my pitaya dragon fruit smoothie bowl HERE.
Do you use fresh Tumaric and ginger or powdered?
And thanks for sharing your story! So interesting! You are amazing!
Thanks so much, my friend! I use powder for the most part for ease. I do love the flavor of fresh ginger so I use that half of the time. I add more tumeric to my smoothies than I put in the recipes just because it helps me so much. Great question Robin! 🙂
Is there a recipe for the lemon tumric flush?
Hi Diane! Yes! I do have one and since so many people have been asking for it, I will update my website later this afternoon with the recipe. You can also sign up for the newsletter to get more information as well. Thank you for visiting!
Hi Melissa I have been to knee doctors for the pain in my knees. One says artiritis, one says inflammation. Got an injection that lasted 3 days. lm still hurting and knee swollen. Can’t sleep at night for the pain, feels like something pulling in my knee, sometimes makes a popping noise.hurts to turn feel like it wants to snap into. In the daytime when I sit for a while, it hurts so bad when I get up to walk.Please help in terrible pain. Thank you.
I am so sorry that you are experiencing so much pain. It can be debilitating and frustrating. I dealt with popping knees for awhile and the crackling sound was so loud. I was able to turn it around. I am not a doctor but I can give you some advice that I hope can help you. I would suggest tumeric which helps with inflammation. You can buy it in the capsule form and swallow it with water. You can also add ground tumeric into your smoothies. Another thing you can try is called, Celadrin and it’s specifically for joints. You can buy it online or at Costco. High quality fish oils can be incredible for joints to help lubricate them. Also, food can be extremely healing so try to fill your diet with leafy greens (you can try my youthful green smoothie), vegetables, fruits, lean protein and try to stay away from gluten, dairy, fried foods, and sugar. Give it one month of taking those supplements and changing your diet and see how you feel. I wish you the very best and hope and pray that you get feeling better. Thank you for reaching out.
I may try the cherry smoothie today! Being obsessed with your youthful glow green smoothie I HAVE noticed a difference. (I add a tsp of honey for add’l sweetness – doesn’t need it, but my sweet tooth likes it) First of all, I crave it morning and night, and I feel great knowing I can drink a salad twice a day. Great job on your website, Melissa! Your pictures, recipes, and blogs are fantastic!
You are my inspiration! Love that you keep on drinking it. I feel incredible when I am consistently drink the youthful glow green smoothie too. xo
Cute spelling of your name!
Thank you Melissa! I suffer from these issues too and I can’t wait to try them and begin to feel better!
So if you make a pitcher of the lemon turmeric drink, what quantities do you use of each item? Sounds interesting. (And the smoothies look amazing!)
What is pure apple juice? Do I have to get it at a special store? Also do you use a fancy blender? I heard someone say that only the fancy blenders get the spinach fine enough that you don’t taste the bits of spinach. I want to try this green smoothy cuz I never eat spinach or kale, but know how good they are for you.
Hi friend! It sounds so fancy but it’s really just apple juice you pick up at the grocery store such as Tree Top or Mott’s. You absolutely can make this in a regular blender! You may need to blend it a little longer to make sure the spinach gets nice and smooth but it will still do the job. Start with using all spinach in the recipe, instead of 1/2 spinach and 1/2 kale and see what you think. Drink this down so you can eat a cookie after lunch is my motto. xoxo
It’s so refreshing to visit a site like this and NOT see the proprietor pushing high end / high cost gadgets and supplements. For that alone, you would have my respect even if your recipes weren’t delicious and healthy, which definitely isn’t the case. Thank you! Emma x
I love the glasses! Where did you get them? They make these healthy smoothies look spectacular!
Thank you! I fell in love with them and had to have them. They went on sale and I snatched them up. They are still available at Cost Plus World Market. You’ve got great style! 🙂
Melissa is mt niece but I am NOT bias at all! She is amazing like her mother when it comes to food and flavor. I just tried the Red Velvet sugar Cookie bars. They were awesome. They are a different texture than Red Velvet cake, a little thicker, but they taste just like it. And the frosting…well who doesn’t like cream cheese frosting??? Melissa you are amazing and I’m so glad you are sharing your talent with all of us!
Oh thank you, my wonderful Aunt Cindy! That is so unbelievably sweet of you to say. Thank you so much! I love you. 🙂 – Melissa
Do you use fresh fruit for these smoothies or frozen?
These are super smoothies. I like them. I drink Turmeric- Lemon almost everyday first thing in the morning, with bit of pepper to ensure absorption of Curcumin in the Turmeric. Lovely.
Nimal Fernando, Sri Lanka
Are you still on a “healing” protocol diet or more just “healthy” protocol? Have you dealt with any anxiety along your path? How do you still implement all your yummy foods in your healthy diet? And lastly, what supplements do you feel like have made the biggest difference in your energy levels? I’m on my own healing journey for an auto immune disorder and it can be so overwhelming. Thanks in advance! Love, Kristina
I would love to know more specifics of what you did to help heal yourself. I too suffer from many chronic, debilitating diseases. But I’ve tried every anti-inflammatory diet out there and don’t see much improvement. I do have many many health conditions I deal with though. Maybe I’m a lost cause- haha! But I’m not giving up. Maybe I need to try different supplements. Anyway- would love to hear more. Should I email you? Thx so much. This post was inspiring and gave me hope.
I would love to hear more about how to get my fridge looking like yours did (picture of your weeks of eating). Did you make your smoothies ahead of time? How far in advance can you make them and how do you keep them from loosing nutrients (or do they)?
I have unexplainable health issues (headaches, fatigue, aches and pains) and my physical came out with me being perfectly healthy. I need my energy and strength back for the sake of our little kids. I feel whole foods diet might be the best thing to try to remedy some of this. But with three little ones I need to be very prepared or eating healthy goes out the window.
Thank you for the Tumeric drink recipe. I just prepared a jug this morning and look forward to adding it to my morning regime.
Thank you for sharing your story. My 7 year old daughter was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and it has set me on a path similar to yours. I have Made a beets, kale, Swiss chard, chia, wheat grass and pineapple, and blueberry smoothie every morning. I am Going to try all of your recipes. Yesterday, we went to The doctor and to everyone’s surprise, her symptoms are gone Afro now!!! I believe In The whole food diet.
Do you make any of these and store them in the fridge in a mason jar? How long do they stay good? Any of them that discolor or separate too much to store?
I AM GOING TO TRY THE SMOOTHIES AND OTHER RECIPES THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS MARY RODRIGUEZ
Hello! The wine glases are sooooooooooooo cute. Thanks for sharing.
I was wondering in your Pinterst picture with the mason jars….Did you make each juice separately and then combine them depending on the recipe?
Hi Melissa, I came across this just looking for some nice summer smoothie recipes, and then I read your story. It resonated with me because I have been dealing with a lot of pain and inflammation, seen all kinds of doctors and gotten no answers. I’ve begun looking into changing my diet. Eliminating gluten first, then maybe sugar and dairy. But of course, I love all of these things! I’m curious to know if when you started the whole food diet as you call it, and started feeling a difference, you stopped eating sugar and gluten altogether? You seem to be such a baker and have so many delicious looking sweets on your blog… do you ever still indulge?
Hi Melissa!
I found your blog while looking up some great smoothies as my 13yo son & I are trying to eat more healthy as I am also trying to avoid going on medication for cholesterol. I also have several auto immune disorders and so your post was just what I needed. I do have a questions that someone asked, but I did not see a reply. How long do these last if made in advance (like in your picture) and did you drink one for b-fast & lunch and then have a regular meal for dinner consisting of healthy items?
Thank you for your blog as I loved learning about the herbs & vitamins that can help with some of my issues.
Look forward to reading more from your posts.
KSue
I started making these for my kids snacks twice a day. They slurp them down and I love that they are getting all of there fruits and veg for the day. So whatever they eat with meals is a bonus vitamin intake. Thanks so much. They love the green goddess.
I’m so glad I found this site! Just a little back ground on me, I’m a 30 yr old woman, never had any health issues, always active. March 2017 my mom passed away at age 52 of a massive heart attack in her sleep. It wasn’t a good place for me. Fast forward to a year later, February 2018 I went to the dr for the first time since 2013, I had a over all Check and a ekg, my heart was good… my blood work, not so good. My thyroid levels were super high..TSH-<0.01,T4 Free- 3.78,T3-389.1
I was referred to the endocrinologist, end of April, she did more lab work, sent me for a ultrasound, put me on methinzole The ultrasound cane back with a nodule, 2 wks later went for a biopsy, it came back benign.
I don’t want to be on meds my whole life! I’m looking for great recipes in smoothies! Thanks!
Hyperthyroidism.. Graves’ disease.. it takes over my life, some days I feel like I have no energy, no drive. Some days I’d rather stay in bed.. thank you for your encouragement!