Smoothies with blueberries: benefits, harms and popular recipes
On hot summer days, you really want to treat yourself to delicious and refreshing drinks. Cocktails made from berries awaken energy, give strength, quench thirst well, and in some cases also saturate. One of the best berries for making refreshing smoothies is blueberries. Useful drinks based on it, we will consider in this article.
Benefit and harm
Such a berry as blueberries is familiar to every person since childhood. It serves as a tasty additive for pies, cakes, excellent compotes are cooked from it, jam, jelly are made. However, this berry is not only tasty, but also very useful. Let's see what qualities she is most valued for.
- Blueberries contain almost all groups of vitamins, in addition, there are many trace elements. A smoothie prepared on the basis of this berry will give the body a huge vitamin charge and will help maintain immunity at the proper level.
- Blueberries contain tannins and pectins, which help to normalize digestion and stool. And this means that smoothies will be useful for overweight people, because when digestion is normalized, metabolism is also restored.
- Blueberry smoothie is also very useful for women. The substances contained in the berry rejuvenate the skin, give it a healthy look, radiance and freshness.
However, there are still some contraindications to its use. And the first of these is allergies. Blueberries are a fairly strong allergen, so even healthy people should use them with caution.
It is not recommended to drink smoothies from this berry all the time, it is better to alternate it with other berries or fruits.
In addition, blueberry smoothies are also contraindicated for people with pancreatitis and urolithiasis, it can worsen the patient's condition. And the last thing: blueberries are able to absorb everything from the environment, it absorbs both useful and harmful substances, including radiation. That's why picking berries along polluted roads or suspicious objects is not recommended.
Cooking features
To make a smoothie, you need to buy or make your own large and very ripe berries. It is important to check them carefully, removing rotten, spoiled and crumpled berries. Most of the vitamins and nutrients are in fresh fruits, but in winter, many housewives prepare a drink from frozen blueberries.
For a delicious and rich smoothie, You will also need a blender. This device will grind the berries, allowing you to save both the juice and the pulp. In addition, it will be possible to achieve a homogeneous thick consistency and an unusual purple color.
However, if there is no blender in the house, you can use a meat grinder. Thanks to this solution, the smoothie will also turn out, but will be less homogeneous.
One of the popular ingredients to add is milk or another product based on it, such as yogurt or fermented baked milk. The proportions will not always be unambiguous, since everyone has different tastes. For example, if you just want to give a blueberry smoothie a slight milky note, then you need to put quite a bit of milk, just for taste. And if, on the contrary, you like milkshakes with different berry flavors, then the dairy product should become the basis here.
In addition to milk, many other ingredients can be added to blueberry smoothies: peaches, bananas, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and mangoes, apricots, cranberries, wild strawberries. Most people like a fresh, minty aftertaste, so a few mint leaves won't hurt. If you want to make a very cold drink, crushed ice can be added to the smoothie. After preparing the drink, it must be served beautifully. Large fresh berries, cocktail umbrellas are often used for decoration. Also in drink must have a tube. Blueberry smoothie is served in both tall and short glasses.
Best Recipes
Blueberries can be used to make a variety of delicious and refreshing smoothies. Consider some interesting recipes that can be easily implemented at home.
Classical
This is the simplest drink option that can be made from blueberries. It is very nutritious and it is quite possible to replace it with breakfast. It will take about 200 ml of milk and 100 grams of berries.
For those who are sticking to PN or trying to lose weight, it is important to remember that milk should not be full fat.
Milk and berries are mixed in a blender and then poured into glasses. Vitamin breakfast is ready.
with banana
Banana is a product that contains a lot of carbohydrates. It is great to use as a light afternoon snack. Yes, and cocktails that have it in their composition get a more delicate, pleasant texture. To make a banana and blueberry smoothie, you will need to take one glass of milk and berries, as well as two ripe bananas. Berries and banana are mixed with milk until smooth. The resulting mixture is poured into glass goblets, garnished with whole berries and mint.
With yogurt and milk
It is difficult to overestimate the benefits of dairy products for the human body.They are involved in the formation of the skeletal system, strengthen teeth, hair and nails, improve digestion. And in combination with blueberries, the benefits increase significantly. If you have a desire to experience the effect of such a cocktail for yourself, while being satiated and receiving a lot of pleasant emotions, mix 150 grams of yogurt and berries with half a glass of milk. The blender must work as powerfully as possible so that the drink is without lumps.
With oatmeal
Oatmeal is the product that many people start their day with. Being saturated with a huge amount of useful substances, it will give the necessary boost of vivacity for work or study. This smoothie is ready in no time. Mix half a glass of oatmeal with 200 ml of plain yogurt and refrigerate overnight. With the onset of the morning, a glass of milk and berries are added to the mixture, and everything is mixed in a blender.
with grapefruit
Fans of proper nutrition know how effective grapefruit is in the process of losing weight. It not only burns excess fat, but also normalizes metabolism, boosts immunity. The disadvantage of grapefruit is bitterness, but it is easy to remove by removing the peel and all white membranes from the fruit. A small fruit is mixed with a glass of kefir and the same amount of berries. It will turn out a soft pink delicious smoothie with a pleasant sourness.
with apricot
Apricot is the perfect fruit for those who find blueberry smoothies sour. It will give the necessary sweetness, and you do not have to use additional sugar. Ten sweet apricots should be mixed with 100 grams of blueberries and a glass of milk. You can add a little honey to the finished mixture. Decorate the resulting drink with rosemary, mint or ice of an unusual shape.
Strawberry with ice cream
Summer and ripe strawberries are one of the most popular berries on hot days. Both adults and children like it, and its scope during the summer months is huge. As for ice cream, its taste and aroma will emphasize the freshness and sourness of the berries.
To prepare the drink, one glass of strawberries and half as much blueberries is taken, combined with a glass of milk and 100 grams of ice cream (the best option is ice cream without additives). Everything is mixed with a blender. Additionally, you can use crushed ice, thanks to which the drink will quench your thirst even better and refresh.
By the way, for those who are already tired of strawberries, you can replace it with strawberries. The taste of the smoothie will be just as rich.
with ginger
Blueberry smoothies with ginger will appeal to those who are actively losing weight, because ginger is incredibly useful product for burning fat. In addition, it helps to cope with autumn and spring bouts of blues and depression. Half of the ginger root should be finely grated and mixed with two ripe bananas mashed with a fork. The resulting mixture is supplemented with 100 grams of blueberries and mixed well in a blender.
With nuts and apple juice
Quite an unusual combination that will delight you with a pleasant taste and aroma. Nuts can be chosen to your taste, it can be either ordinary walnuts or peanuts, or more interesting types such as hazelnuts or cashews. Nuts are crushed and chopped by hand, and then put in a blender along with 150 grams of blueberries and one glass of natural apple juice. You can decorate such a smoothie with halves of walnuts, mint or an apple slice.
With orange juice and avocado
These two products, like grapefruit with ginger, can provide excellent support for losing weight. Cocktail invigorates, energizes for the whole day. You need to start cooking it with an avocado. The product needs to be cut in half, remove the bone. The extracted pulp is combined with a glass of orange juice and half the amount of blueberries. You can also add grated orange zest to enhance the taste and benefits.
On kefir
This smoothie will become a real lifesaver for those who are already tired of nightly bouts of hunger. The main thing is to choose low-fat kefir, and then you can drink the drink before going to bed. One glass of kefir is poured into a container with blueberries (the optimal number of berries is 150-200 grams), then a little honey is added. Mix in a blender and pour into glasses, decorating with whole berries or mint.
Cinnamon
Like ginger, cinnamon is a spice that increases appetite but is effective in burning fat. Take for cooking 200 ml of natural yogurt, mixed with half a glass of blueberries and a teaspoon of blueberries. Mix it all with a blender and pour into glasses.
To burn extra pounds even faster, the drink should be cool, but not icy.
With mint
Gentle and delicate taste can give cocktails mint. This fresh plant is used not only as a decoration for various dishes, including smoothies, but also as an ingredient. To do this, mint is torn into small pieces, mixing with the rest of the ingredients. Recipes may vary.
For example, it will be very tasty, if you mix 100 grams of blueberries with 150 milliliters of soy milk and add mint and some ice. Another recipe includes 100 grams of blueberries, one banana, a teaspoon of honey and mint. Everything is mixed, then crushed ice is added to the smoothie.
Helpful Hints
Making smoothies is pretty easy, and it's hard to mess anything up.But it never hurts to learn something new and adopt some good rules in order to be sure of the result of your work.
- If you bought or picked blueberries yourself, don't wash them right away. Such a berry will quickly deteriorate, and it will be impossible to make a smoothie out of it. Berries should be washed immediately before use.
- If you need to make a smoothie from frozen blueberries, then the berries should be allowed to stand. It should thaw a little, but not completely.
- When adding other ingredients, keep an eye on their fat content and calorie content, especially if you are following a BP. After all, a healthy drink, if it is prepared with full-fat milk, and even with sugar, is unlikely to please with its effect.
- Be careful when combining blueberries with other berries. The taste will be amazing, but you can’t drink many of these cocktails. Berries, connecting with each other, can cause allergies and indigestion.
You can find another interesting recipe for a healthy blueberry smoothie in the next video.