Adding nut and seed butters to your blends?

Some of us shy away from nuts and seeds given their high-calorie and fat content but it’s important to note that the fat they contain is monounsaturated, otherwise known as the “good fat”, making it heart-healthy!

Perfect for adding a little thickness to your smoothies, nuts and seeds also add flavor and texture and can be easily incorporated in your recipes since most of them can also be found in their own butter form. Just be sure to buy those with the single ingredient being the nut.

 

Nuts for you. 

1. Peanuts: In butter form, this is a basic staple in household pantries but peanuts are also good source of resveratrol, a polyphenol which has excellent antioxidant properties and can help protect us against a wide variety of diseases.
2. Almonds: Also available in butter form, almonds provide close to half of your daily Vitamin E requirement in just one-quarter cup, which is known to have many anti-aging and restorative properties. Almonds are best consumed with the skin on because it contains antioxidant properties that help the body to burn fat as fuel and increase our metabolism and muscle elasticity.
3. Cashews: Much lower fat content than most nuts, with three-quarters of it being unsaturated, cashews are an excellent source of minerals. They are high in magnesium, which supports carbohydrate metabolism helping to release energy when the body needs it, and in phosphorus, which the body uses to change protein fat and carbohydrates into energy.
4. Walnuts: High in Omega-3 fatty acids, this brain shaped nut, rightfully, supports brain function. Just one-quarter cup provides more than 90 percent of your recommended daily intake of Omega-3. Our body does not produce this fatty acid on its own so including walnuts in your smoothie is an easy way to get it.

 

Sowing the Seeds.

1. Sesame Seeds: Also in butter form known as tahini, sesame seeds are an excellent source of calcium which is important for bone health. Other minerals that you will benefit from when eating these wonderful seeds are iron and zinc.
2. Sunflower Seeds: Easily accessible, these little wonders are high in Vitamin E which supports immune function and inflammation.  Also high in Vitamin B1, as with other B Vitamins, it is mainly involved in the conversion of food (carbohydrates, fat, and protein) into energy.

 

We've included a couple of our favorite smoothie recipes with nuts below. Try them and tag us @mybevvo to be featured. Enjoy.

PB&J Smoothie

½ cup Strawberry low-fat yogurt

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup milk of your choice

½ cups frozen strawberries

 

Almond Fig Smoothie

½ cup plain non-fat yogurt

½ cup almond butter

½ cup dried figs

¼ cup shelled sunflower seeds

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 figs stemmed, diced and frozen

Almond Milk

 

Cashew, Mango Banana Smoothie

¼ cup cashew butter

1 cup low-fat yogurt

½ cup diced mango

2 tablespoons protein powder

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

½ cup of banana slices, frozen

 

Apple Walnut Raisin Smoohie

½ cup walnut butter

¼ cup vanilla low-fat yogurt

½ cup chilled unsweetened applesauce

1 sweet apple of your choice cored and diced

½ cup raisins

2 tablespoons protein powder

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

 

Sesame Papaya Smoothie

½  cup chilled papaya nectar

½ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup tahini (sesame seed butter)

1 cup frozen diced papaya

 

Sunflower Seed, Citrus Strawberry Smoothie

1 navel orange

1/2 red grapefruit

½ cup red orange juice

¼ cup red grape fruit juice

¼ cup shelled sunflower seeds

2 tablespoon protein powder

¾ cup strawberries – frozen