hormone loving smoothies
Why do we love smoothies so much?
Smoothies are super easy to make, never ending flavour options, they’re portable, bursting with nutrients, delicious, and when made correctly keep you full for several hours. What’s not to love? Smoothies are great for a quick on the run breakfast, can be made the night before ready to go in the morning or even just a snack throughout the day.
What a smoothie should include:
Protein
Protein is important for the transport of hormones and neurotransmitters around the body. A high quality protein powder such as organic grass fed whey or organic rice, pea or hemp. Alternatively, adding protein rich ingredients like hemp seeds, chia seeds, peanut butter, almond butter, or tahini can be beneficial as they provide not only protein, but a source of fibre and healthy fats
Fats
High quality fat is required for the creation and regulation of our hormones. Eating good quality fats will reduce the bad fat from circulating in our blood stream. Hemp seeds, chia seeds, nut or seed butter, avocado, coconut oil, MCT oil and all excellent choices of healthy fats you can include in your smoothies.
Fibre
Dietary fibre is needed to support our digestive function, so we are able to excrete hormones out of our body through our bowels. Including ground flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, dates, oats, fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables are great sources of fibre.
Other elements to include are of course a liquid base. Nut or oat milk, water and coconut water are always excellent choices. Avoiding dairy for your hormones is important as it is highly inflammatory and can disrupt the gut and regulation of hormones.
These 3 different smoothies are nutrient dense, full of flavour, satiating, and filled with hormone loving goodness to help balance your menstrual cycle, sexual function and overall well-being.
Tahini raspberry:
This beautiful pink burst of flavour is packed with antioxidants, fibre and hormone loving maca.
Maca’s primary action is adrenal gland stimulation and increasing sex hormone secretion. This root is powerful for hormone balancing. Maca has traditionally been used as an aphrodisiac and fertility enhancer for women. Maca can also help manage symptoms of menopause - it reduces hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruptions and regulates mood.
1 frozen banana
1 tbsp unhulled tahini
½ cup frozen raspberries
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1 tsp maca powder
1 cup coconut milk (if you are using canned coconut milk, use ½ cup with ½ water)
Ice
Seeing green:
This green smoothie includes many liver supporting elements to help get our hormones back on track. Broccoli sprouts when consumed release a compound called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane has shown to support the liver in detoxing excess amounts of oestrogen that can become harmful when out of balance.
1 frozen banana
½ cup broccoli sprouts
½ spinach leaves
¼ avocado
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 medjool date (pitted)
1 cup oat milk
Ice
Spiced cacao:
1 frozen banana
¼ cup rolled oats
2 tbsp walnuts
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp cacao powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp cordyceps mushroom powder
1 cup almond milk
Ice
Who doesn’t love a chocolate smoothie, and for this we have literally spiced it up. Cacao is high in magnesium and when we are stressed, fatigues or about to get our period, we require a lot more magnesium. This is usually why we find ourselves craving chocolate just before we get our period. Cinnamon and ginger are wonderful at increasing warmth and circulation throughout our body, that along with cordyceps mushroom, can help stimulate your sex organs and boost your libido.