Smoothies are an excellent way to do some at-home wellness, and while they can be on the pricier end depending on the ingredients, chances are that they’ll be worth your while.
From smoothies packed with greens and antioxidants to fruity ones that taste like nothing you’ve ever had before, your blender is practically your oyster.
The varieties are endless, and it’s up to you to explore them.
However, you can’t just wander aimlessly and look for the tastiest smoothie concoction out there, because you should be focusing on finding a smoothie that you need, rather than the one you want.
However, even that is possible considering each smoothie, for the most part, has a specific purpose, and while some are meant to help you relax, others will pack you full of energy and make you ready to seize the day.
Keep on reading and find out which smoothie fits which occasion, and which ones you can make right now.
Stress relief
Green is commonly considered to be a relaxing color, and it’s partially due to how our brains work, as our eyes simply love looking at it.
This feature comes with our genetics, but there’s a whole lot more to the color green, one of the major things being that we connect it with nature and a feeling of freshness.
In line with this, some foods that can actually help you when dealing with a stressful situation just happen to be green, and if you can fit it in a blender, chances are you can make a smoothie out of it.
Spinach is the first thing that comes to mind, as it’s packed with iron, and Vitamin B and it helps your body produce both dopamine and serotonin, two chemicals commonly tied to a state of relaxation and happiness.
Avocados, bananas, nutmeg, and many others are also things that you can put into this smoothie and enjoy in the comfort of your own home.
Of course, don’t forget that this can’t help solve all your problems, but it can help you find the strength to begin dealing with them one at a time, and sometimes, that’s all you need.
Anti-depressant smoothies
More often than not, our mood depends on our environment and the people around us, largely due to how great of an impact both of those can have on our emotional health.
Despite this being a wide-known fact, more than 150 million people across the globe deal with depression on a daily basis, and the numbers are only going up.
However, not all hope is lost, and sometimes a change in your diet is all you need to get back on track, something that you can easily do with a tasty smoothie that you can toss into the mix every so often.
Before opting for therapy, it’s always better to try some natural solutions, as most anti-depressants can be extremely damaging to both your mind and body, so why not approach this issue with a healthier solution?
For example, Chia seeds are incredibly useful for helping your brain release chemicals such as serotonin into your system.
Brazillian nuts are another great addition to your anti-depressant smoothie as they’re rich in selenium, an element that seemingly helps you fight off depression, at least according to behavioral studies on people that regularly consumed these nuts.
On top of this, you can toss in some pumpkin seeds, as they’re packed full of Zinc, a metal crucial for staving off depression and anxiety.
Energy boosting smoothie
Of course, it’s not all about the downs, and sometimes you want to get yourself going as soon as possible, and there’s no better way to do it than the natural one.
Why put your body through the struggle of digesting energy drinks packed full of sugar and artificial sweeteners when a fully natural smoothie can give you the same kind of boost?
Healthy fats and protein are crucial to getting you going on the slowest of days, and a good combination of the two is found in a peanut butter banana smoothie, which offers a slow, but stable boost while also giving you some extra carbohydrate energy throughout the day.
Tropical smoothies, on the other hand, are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants which will help you feel good in the face of all odds.
The most common tropical blend you could do is using equal parts of pineapple, mango, and orange juice.
If you’re consuming this before a workout, you can also toss in some protein powder to help increase your gains, although you could choose a more natural protein source than the standard whey powder.
Eggs would be one way to go about it, but you shouldn’t go for this if you’re too squeamish about the texture of your smoothie.