Ginger Strawberry Smoothie

Love strawberries, ginger, and making breakfast in 2 minutes? Great, we got you covered!

Strawberries scream summer to me, they’re sweet, in season, and rich in vitamin C an antioxidant we know helps our bodies reduce inflammation, improve immune function, and boosts collagen production — hello beauty food!

Busy mornings are no excuse to skip breakfast, especially when you have such a simple recipe that takes under 5 minutes to make and clean up since you only dirty one dish, two if you’re counting the cup you’re drinking from. All in all, try this quick and energizing breakfast the next time you have fresh or organic frozen strawberries on hand.

Why Should We Eat Red Fruits and Vegetables?

Whole foods (i.e. fruits and vegetables) that are naturally red in color are loaded with antioxidants, but most notably lycopene (a carotenoid) and anthocyanins. Lycopene is most famously associated with tomatoes, but did you know it’s present in the following red whole foods too? Lycopene has been studied and shown to help fight a variety of cancers (1), help to improve circulation, decrease high blood pressure (2), reduce cholesterol (3), reduces cardiovascular risk (4), and reduction in metabolism syndrome (5). But why are antioxidants important?

Think of antioxidants as being the protectors our bodies need an added bonus, they’re abundant in the whole foods we eat. Our bodies need antioxidants to fight off free radicals. Free radicals can damage our healthy cells causing oxidative stress, which may cause harm to our hormones, blood vessels, proteins, lipids, and genetic code; causing cancer, inflammation, pain, degenerative diseases, heart disease, and aging itself.

PIN IT

Stripped

Fiber

In 1 cup of fresh strawberries, you’ll get about 3g of fiber, which isn’t much compared to how much you need in a day, but for a shake, that’s a great start! To boost the fiber, read the optimizer option below.

Vitamin C (and more antioxidants!)

Strawberries are a great source of vitamin C, in just 1 cup of fresh strawberries there’s about 149% DV of vitamin C- which is important in our overall health from fighting inflammation, collagen production.

Including phytonutrients like anthocyanins, tannins, anthocyanins, flavonols, resveratrol, ellagic acid, catechins from the strawberries alone.

Optimizer Option

For a protein boost, add a scoop of your favorite plant-based protein, you can try both a vanilla or chocolate flavor. For a boost of fiber, try using frozen chopped zucchini for a low sugar option or 1 cup frozen raspberries for a lower sugar slightly tangy flavor but loaded with fiber!