Smoothies-  Its about balance 

What could be easier than throwing a few things in a blender, adding your protein powder then gulping down your breakfast in the car.  It isn't a glorious breakfast but it is better than the average American who skips breakfast- that is if your smoothie is made the correct way.

 Sorry to burst anyone's bubble but there is the right and then the wrong way to make a smoothie if you are wanting the nutritional benefits of a balanced breakfast to kick off your day.  It is more than throwing what frozen fruits or welting veggies from the back of the fridge in a blender and covering up the taste with added fruit juices.

Here are some Do's, Don'ts, Tips and Tricks:

First, you need to figure out which flavors you enjoy or textures you can handle.  Such as raspberry, blue berries, and black berries leave a gritty consistency and different types of kale have different types of bitterness where some are easier to mask than others. 

Raw is best-  Raw nut butters, veggies, fruit, etc.

Always follow the Ratio Rule:  2:1   greens:fruit 
    Follow the link below for more detail;
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-rider/green-smoothie_b_5018176.html

Choose Hearty nutritional Greens-    Purple Kale
               Spinach-  high in calcium
               Swiss Chard- Rainbow Chard
               Parsley-  high in iron
               Cilantro-  natural chelator
               Collard Greens-  high vit. C 
https://greenblender.com/smoothies/777/smoothie-greens-guide

Nut Butters-  Add nut butters for a smoother taste and to mask the unwanted harshness of greens and root vegetables

    AVOID PEANUT BUTTER------ High in saturated fat, low nutritional value, often having more fungal properties and made with undesirable  oils 
    AVOID SUNFLOWER BUTTER-----  

    Benefits of different nut butters shown here:   https://www.botanical-online.com/english/nuts-properties.htm

	CALORIES	SAT FAT	USATURATED FAT	PROTEIN	FIBER
ALMONDS	170	1.2g	13.0g	6.0g	3.0g
PISTACHIOS	162	1.6g	10.8g	6.0g	2.9g
HAZELNUTS	183	1.3	15.6g	4.3g	2.7g
CASHEWS	163	2.6g	10.0g	4.3g	0.9g
WALNUTS	182	1.5g	15.0g	4.1g	2.0g
PECANS	201	1.8g	18.3g	2.7g	2.7g
MACADAMIA NUTS	203	3.4g	17.3g	2.2g	2.3g

   Almonds- high in Omega 9s ( increases good cholesterol HDL, lowers the bad LDL)
   Walnuts-  rich in Omega 3's --- anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular health, arthritic joint pain, menstrual pain
   Cashews- high in proteins, healthy carbs/fats, magnesium, iron, vit. E 
   Pistachios- high in protein, potassiu, and betasitosterol--- prevents cholesterol from being absorbed 

Link explains the difference between Omegas and their benefits:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/omega-3-6-9-overview#section4