Because smoothies contain more antioxidants and fibre than juices, they come with a lot of benefits your health!

Here are 10 tips to elevate your smoothie game and make them as nutritious as possible!

1. 50/50 Solid-liquid: Smoothies should have some thickness to them with ideally some tiny little bits for some chewing. The more liquid the more easily the blade will grind away all the fibre of your fruit/vegetables. Going half on liquid and adding more according to your taste, will avoid a too watery consistency and preserve the nutrients in your smoothie.

2. Healthy fat & fibre are as important as protein: We need substance to fuel our day and feel full longer. Think flaxseed or oil, chia seeds, avocado etc..

3. Don’t over do it with the fruit: If your smoothie is too sweet try adding a squeeze of lemon, lime juice or a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. A dash of acid will counteract the excess sweetness. You can also balance out flavours by adding one or two vegetables: Celery, cucumber, avocado, ginger and even steam cauliflower can bring texture and a package of vitamins to your smoothie!

4. Avoid liquid sweetener: For extra sweet note prefer a squeeze of fresh orange juice or moderately play with sweeter fruits like Medjool dates, pineapple etc.. if you really love sweeteners, adding monk fruit, coconut sugar or stevia to your smoothies is one healthy way to help sweeten them without spiking blood sugar.

5. Enjoy variety: A smoothie is basically a (fruit) salad that you can eat through a straw! Try recipes containing ingredients like parsley, spirulina or turmeric. Smoothies can also contain( exotic) fruit that is difficult or impossible to juice, like jackfruit, avocado and banana. Moreover it is easy to add in Hawaii grass-fed collagen, cacao powder or other superfoods to boost your metabolism while thickening the mix for a dreamy, creamy smoothie.

6. Preferably use ripe and fresh produces to make the most out of their nutritional value. To avoid warming up fresh ingredients you can add some ice cubes to the mix.

7. Check the ingredients list: From the milk to some (Protein) powders on the market full of fillers, artificial sugar and nasty things harmful for your body. Prefer products low on GI index, organic and unprocessed as much as you can.

8. Do not drink any smoothie faster than it would have taken you to eat the raw ingredients.Fibre is an incredibly important dietary component helping with daily digestion and feeding our gut bugs. One of the most important things to remember is that the amount of fibre in our food is what dictates how long it takes us to eat them. Think of all the chewing needed to eat a raw carrot: If you are putting lots of raw vegetables(=huge amount of fibre) into your super high speed blender and drink your smoothie in 2 minutes, you might feel digestive discomfort later because of the lack of time for your body to break down all the fibre ingested.

9. A good blender dictate the smoothness of your smoothie! You don’t necessarily need the most powerful machine on the market but at least one that can crush ice into a drinkable slush and mix through the stringiest fruits or vegetables.

10. Find yourself a green smoothie recipe! Daily or at least weekly, your body will thank you for it! Some varieties (like mustard greens, dandelion greens, and broccoli) are way too bitter to use raw in a smoothie, milder leaves like spinach, leafy green, romaine, Swiss chard or curly kale will addd to the freshness

*Using water or (vegetal) milk?

Both are great! Water is the safest, easiest, calories-free option to add to your smoothie, just be aware that it can make your smoothie less creamy as well as the flavour of your individual ingredients more evident (which can be good or bad depending on the result you want to get).