A few weeks ago, I bought a juice from Vive Juicery (based in Salt Lake City) that had spirulina in it, and a little bit after that Nutrition Stripped (my favorite nutrition blogger) did a post on spirulina milk. I was so intrigued that I quickly went out and bought some spirulina and decided to experiment with it. For anyone who knows what spirulina is, they will know that it is not inexpensive. Luckily one of the Whole Foods at Salt Lake City had it in their bulk food section so that helped me save quite a lot of money as I didn’t need a whole tubful! And voila; this is how I came to create my super blue smoothie!
For all of you that DON’T know what spirulina is, no doubt you are wondering what it is and why I am experimenting with it!. Spirulina is a blue-green algae that is grown and harvested from alkaline water . It has a slightly nutty taste and has been said to have a variety of health benefits. These include protecting the liver, anti-inflammatory properties, and has even been said to help increase fat burning during exercise. Spirulina also has a ton of protein (57g of protein per 100g!), contains chlorophyll, iron and a ton of vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.
Hopefully that has convinced you to at least give it a try! A lot of people call spirulina a ‘superfood’ but I am not particularly fond of that name because it suggests that it is an almost perfect food which will magically make you healthier .. which is of course not the case. There is no one perfect food, and we should try and include as many nutrient dense foods as possible in our diet to become healthier.
Which is why I wanted to throw spirulina into a smoothie! I really wanted to make a ‘blue’ smoothie that would of course include blueberries (high in nutrients and low in calories) and other tasty fruits. Although it turned out more blue-green than blue, it is tasty and filled with lots of fruit. It is very refreshing and a little milky so feel free to sweeten it up with honey, maple syrup, stevia or whatever other sweetener you desire.
Super Blue Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cup of milk of your choice almond, coconut, cow's milk
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas slice some bananas and pop in the freezer the night before
- 1 tablespoon of spirulina
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Feel free to add any sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup if you wish.
Honestly yours,
Alice xxx
