Mixed Frozen Berry, Peach and Walnut Smoothie

This weekend I was rereading “Eat for Health” for the third time and it caused me to want to include more smoothies in our diet. If you haven’t read the book yet the doctor is a big proponent of natural food and particularly smoothies. The doctor explains that plants are composed of cells whose walls are cellulose that humans don’t have the enzyme to break down. This means that in order to get the maximum benefit from the foods you eat you need to chew your food until it has liquefied. Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t do this all the time. However, if you use a blender it does the work of breaking down the cell walls for you. Rereading this section of the book reminded me that I needed to use my blender more often for maximum nutrition. Expect to see more blended soups and vegetable drinks in the coming months.

I used a fruit combination to get the maximum amount of nutrition in today’s beverage. Dark frozen berries are packed with nutrition. In the book “Anticancer”, the doctor explains the benefit of eating berries in terms of their cancer fighting abilities. We try to keep a big bag of frozen berries in our freezer at all times for quick berry drinks and desserts. Oatmeal was included to thicken the beverage. Cinnamon and ginger were included for their antioxidants. Flaxseeds and walnuts were included for their omega 3’s.

I gave the nutritional numbers for three servings since my husband and I split this smoothie 2/3's for my hubby and 1/3 for me.

Mixed Frozen Berry, Peach and Walnut Smoothie
Serves 3

Ingredients:

2 peaches, peeled and pitted
2 cups of mixed frozen berries, unsweetened (raspberries, blackberries and Marion berries)
½ cup oatmeal, dry
½ teaspoon cinnamon, ground
½ teaspoon ginger, powdered
2 tablespoons golden flaxseed, freshly ground
1/3 cup walnuts
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
1 scoop of stevia, or to taste - optional

Directions:

Place everything in the blender and process until smooth. Serve immediately.

Nutritional information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 285.02
Calories From Fat (42%) - 118.4

Total Fat - 13.84g
Saturated - Fat 1.16g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 113.47mg
Potassium - 443.56mg
Total Carbohydrates - 37.45g
Fiber - 8.98g
Sugar - 16.55g
Protein - 7.15g

Comments:

This smoothie was tasty and filling. The peach flavor doesn’t stand up to the berries, but does help with the final texture of the smoothie. Berries were the dominant flavor in this smoothie. We like having a little cinnamon in our smoothies to assist in processing the natural fruit sugar more effectively.

I also like starting my day with almost 9 grams of fiber. If you don’t want to use oatmeal I have also included a small amount of cooked white beans in our smoothies in the past. Start with ¼ cup of cooked white beans and taste the smoothie before adding more. I have found ¼ cup isn’t noticeable in most smoothies and depending on the strength of flavor of the other ingredients you can frequently add more.