February Smoothie Month finishes up with my favorite brain-boosting smoothie. This brain-boosting Blueberry Matcha Smoothie is loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and healthy fats to support the nervous system and brain function. Plus, it takes less than 5 minutes to make. Start your morning with this great smoothie!
What About the Brain?
Before I break down the reasons to start your day with this Smoothie, I’ll talk a little bit about the brain. I’ve learned sooooo much about the brain from my ordeal with an autoimmune illness that ran rampant in my brain. You can read more about my story here and more about Vasculitis here.
Inflammation and the Brain
It seems like these days everyone knows someone or has a family member with some sort of autoimmune illness or inflammatory condition. Besides Vasculitis, that includes Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Lupus, Crohn’s Disease or IBD, Asthma, even Cancer plus more. Inflammatory Disease is on the rise.
So What Can you Do?
You can take care of yourself, your brain, and your nutrition. You can play an active role in making healthy food choices that support local farmers with antibiotic, pesticide-free food instead of big multi-conglomerates. I digress – I’ll save that for another blog post.
The Power of a Plant-Based Diet
A few years ago when I writing and publishing my memoir about my ordeal with Vasculitis, I decided to go vegan for 10 months. All my inflammatory “flare-ups” stopped. I’ve always been the “Healthy” one in the family, but the fact that a plant-based diet eliminated my symptoms? This blew my mind. Since then, I’ve tapered to about 95% plant-based and haven’t had a “flare” since.
Your Hungry Brain
The brain is one of your hungriest organs in the body. It will literally soak up hydration and your nutrition. Your brain is about 2% of your body weight but takes up 20% of your body’s oxygen and calories burned. It’s like an expensive car…if you fill it with low-grade fuel, the gas mileage will be poor and it won’t perform well. It might even break down.
Your Brain on Premium Fuel
Your brain needs premium nutrient-rich fuel too. Eating high quality foods rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants will nourish your brain and protect it from oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is basically “waste” or free radicals produced when the body uses oxygen. Free radicals damage cells and can lead to things like cellular overproduction of cancer cells.
Your Brain on Sugar
Also, a diet too high in sugar can lead to inflammation and oxidative stress, along with an inability to regulate insulin (leading to diabetes). Studies have even shown brain insulin resistance to be linked to major depression.
Your Brain and How you Feel
Start paying attention to how eating different foods make you feel. Do you feel anxious, depressed, or foggy when you eat certain foods? Is your sleep affected? Serotonin is a chemical that helps regulate your sleep and appetite, plus controls moods, and inhibits pain. Serotonin is the “feel good” chemical and 95 % of it is produced in your gut.
Since 95% of your “feel-good” Serotonin is produced in the gut, then it’s safe to say your digestive tract controls and guides your emotions besides digesting food.
Also, the production of serotonin is highly influenced by the “good” bacteria in your gut that make up your microbiome (fancy word for a collection of bacteria). Besides influencing serotonin production, the “good” bacteria in your gut help create a barrier against bad bacteria and inflammation. Good bacteria affects how well you absorb nutrients from your food and activate the nerve pathways the go-between the gut and brain. This is called the gut-brain connection.
Brain-Boosting Smoothie Nutrition
This brain-boosting smoothie is a fantastic way to kick start your day with all the nutrition you need to support healthy brain function. That said, the key to absorbing that nutrition is to have a healthy gut.
7 Ways this is a Brain-Boosting Smoothie
Spinach
Leafy greens like spinach, kale, and collard green are rich in brain-healthy nutrients like vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta carotene. Research shows these plant-based foods may help slow cognitive decline.
Frozen Blueberries
The key to blueberries’ impact on the brain is the high antioxidant content. Studies have shown the antioxidants in blueberries may affect areas of the brain and neural pathways that are essential for intelligence. Also, the antioxidants combat oxidative stress which may negatively affect the brain’s aging process.
Matcha Powder
The caffeine in matcha or green tea has been shown to boost brain function, improve memory, alertness, and focus. Besides the caffeine, there’s another ingredient called L-theanine, an amino acid that can help you feel more relaxed yet stay focused.
Bananas
Bananas are rich in magnesium and potassium which help give the brain energy and sharpen focus.
Collagen
Collagen, specifically Collagen IV has been shown to create a barrier that protects the brain against the proteins that are believed to cause Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia. Recent studies have also shown collagen’s potential to repair and regenerate the Central Nervous System (CNS).
Hemp Seeds
These seeds might be little, but they are powerful. Hemp seeds are one of the best plant sources of protein. They also antioxidants and omega fats. Last but not least, the fiber in hemp is a prebiotic fiber.
Walnuts
Research shows that eating nuts can improve your heart health which in turn can improve your brain health due to the healthy fats, antioxidants and vitamin E. Walnuts have the edge over other nuts for brain health because they also have omega-3 fatty acids.
Brain-Boosting Blueberry Matcha Smoothie
This Blueberry Matcha Brain-Boosting Smoothie has the nutrition you need to fuel your brain and be your best!
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- 3/4 cup frozen organic blueberries
- 1 frozen banana
- 6 walnuts
- 1 scoop collagen powder or collagen protein powder
- 1 tbsp matcha powder
- 1 tbsp hemp seeds
- 1 1/2 cups coconut water
Instructions
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Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend on high until smooth. Scrape down the sides then blend for 30 seconds again.
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Pour into a glass and sprinkle with desired toppings. Serve immediately.
