This smoothie recipe is quick to make, full of energizing ingredients and is a delicious way to start your day. It makes a healthy replacement for your morning coffee and, while a superfood omelet like this is even better for long-lasting energy, this smoothie can give you a quick boost when you need it.
Energy Smoothie Ingredients
Banana
It’s no surprise the athletes like tennis players often snack on bananas during their matches. The fruit gives a fast and satisfying energy boost and is full of healthy nutrients for this breakfast smoothie.
Bananas are particularly rich in potassium for regulating blood pressure and proper heart function. They are also a good source of dietary fiber that soothes your digestive system and contain other valuable minerals like magnesium and manganese as well as vitamin C and B vitamins for energy production.
Grass Fed Whey
Your body needs protein to operate at its best but many people get insufficient amounts or use poor protein sources like processed meat. Grass fed whey is an excellent source of protein and is particularly high in lactoferrin.
The substance lactoferrin is up bioactive compound that helps regulate iron homeostasis within your body and combats fatigue and lethargy associated with low iron levels. There is minimal lactoferrin in cheap heat processed whey protein but this organic and low temperature filtered grass fed whey I use is full of it, along with other healthy nutrients like immunoglobulins, conjugated linoleic acid and cysteine for glutathione production.
Matcha Green Tea
Matcha is a powdered version of green tea that is made from specially shade grown young tea leaves and is incredibly high in antioxidants like epigallocatechin gallate for improving circulation as well as cleansing and energizing chlorophyll. Many people drink it on its own but I’ve found matcha to be great in smoothie recipes, particularly for breakfast.
Matcha green tea has about half the caffeine of coffee but also contains high levels of l-theanine. This special amino acid moderates the caffeine in green tea and prevents it from stimulating excessive stress hormones like cortisol. Instead the combination of caffeine and l-theanine in matcha provides a more gentle, balanced and longer lasting energy than coffee or other caffeinated products.
Coconut Oil
The medium chain triglycerides in coconut oil are an excellent source of slow burning energy and add a creamy texture to this energy smoothie. A heaped tablespoon of this extra-virgin and organic coconut oil goes into all of my smoothies, both for the healthy fats and to gently slow down the rate at which the body uses the smoothie and provide a longer lasting and more stable energy source.
Cinnamon
The spice cinnamon adds a wonderful aroma and taste to this smoothie but its real purpose is to regulate blood sugar levels and prevent insulin spikes. It’s recommended to add a teaspoon of real Ceylon cinnamon like this one to any smoothie recipes with banana or other fruits with reasonably high levels of natural sugars.
Ingredient List
- 1 banana.
- 30 g of grass fed whey protein.
- 1 teaspoon of matcha green tea.
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.
- 1 teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon.
- Healthy milk of your choice such as half coconut milk and half water, hemp milk, almond milk or kefir. Coconut water with its natural electrolytes would be particularly good.
How to Make This Breakfast Smoothie Recipe
This breakfast smoothie is designed to be quick and simple and has fewer ingredients than most of the other smoothie recipes on Superfood Profiles. If you’d like to make it for two or even three people you could double the ingredients and add extra milk.
You could also make it up as a breakfast shake if you like by mashing the banana and coconut oil well with a fork in a bowl and then adding them and all the other ingredients to a shaker bottle. I’ve always prefered the well blended texture and taste of a proper smoothie though so the instructions below are for making this recipe with a blender.
- To begin, peel and break up your banana and throw it in along with your whey, matcha, cinnamon and coconut oil.
- Top up your blender jug to about two fifths up with your coconut water. Switch on your blender and blend until it’s all mixed together. Pour it into a tall glass and enjoy immediately.
When to Drink This Energy Smoothie
Morning is the best time for this particular smoothie recipe, ideally as a breakfast replacement. With the small amount of caffeine from the matcha and natural sugars in the banana it’s not really an evening smoothie unless perhaps you plan on a big night out on the dance floor.
With a bit of practice you should be able to make it up in under a minute, with another minute for a quick wash of your blender. Even the busiest person has time for that in the morning and it certainly beats sugary cereal, both in terms of taste and nutrition.
I’d appreciate your comments if you make up this breakfast smoothie for yourself and any other ingredients you’d suggest adding to it. If you’ve never tried matcha green tea in your smoothies before I think you’re going to love the way it makes you feel.
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