5 Ultimate Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie Recipes
By Dr. Dan Adrian Oniga, M.D.
Symptoms of chronic inflammation
Tired? Fatigued? Daytime sleepiness? Night time insomnias? Joint or muscle aching? Digestive tract problems? These and many others might be a sign of your body reacting to a chronic inflammation.
Now, be honest with yourself, how healthy would you rate your lifestyle on a scale from 1 to 5? Is it comparable to the you from five years ago?
In most cases, the answer should be yes. Our body is an extraordinary machine capable of self-maintenance even through the so called “old age” if provided with the regular check-up, proper care and last but not least - quality foods.
How inflammation affects you
Before you get alarmed, let’s find out what inflammation actually represents. Inflammation is a process in which our body produces excessive amounts of white blood cells (called leukocytes) and other components to help protect our body from foreign organisms such as bacteria and viruses.
So, that sounds like a good thing, right?
Well, here’s the deal: although inflammation is the body’s natural response to infection or trauma, it can get out of control. This is one of the ways we can have an “autoimmune disease”.
Arthritis and joint pain
Have you ever heard of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)?
It’s an autoimmune disorder and it is a known fact that rheumatoid arthritis occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body's cells and tissues.
Compared to RA, what you should remember is that osteoarthritis is defined as the inflammation of one or multiple joints, even though there’s no autoimmune disease to cause it. You will most often find this in elderly patients, athletes or even after the occurrence of trauma.
Yes, I know that by now you’re probably asking yourself, “Why does this all matter?”
But there’s more.
The real story behind inflammation is that it’s defined by five cardinal signs: warmth, pain, redness, swelling and loss of function.
It’s important to know that pain intensity is a direct result of the amount of inflammation found in the tissue.
Furthermore, a worse news is that chronic inflammation is also known to cause destruction of set tissues which will in turn, lead to lack of function and therefore gradually increasing the pain levels.
Before thinking about anti-inflammatory medication that comes with other major side effects, mostly to the digestive system, it might be a good idea to also try a more natural and holistic approach.
It’s been proven that certain types of food, especially greens and fruits, contain large amounts of antioxidants that help reduce and prevent inflammation.
I have gone even further and composed my top 5 anti-inflammatory smoothie recipes that are quick and easy to prepare and - taste amazing.
My Top 5 Arthritis Fighting Smoothie Recipes
#1 Inflammation-fighting Breakfast Smoothie
Turmeric is the new wonder-child of the health world, in case you haven’t heard. Curcumin, a substance in turmeric, may help to reduce inflammation.
Several studies suggest that it might ease symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, such as pain and inflammation.
Other compounds in turmeric might also be medicinal. That being said, I’ve come up with the most delicious inflammation fighting smoothie recipe for you to properly start off your day with.
Ingredients
- 1 handful of kale or spinach
- ½ cup of frozen pineapple chunks
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon of ginger
- 1 pinch of black pepper
- 1 spoon of chia seeds
- 1 cup low-fat milk or almond milk
Instructions
Preparation: Mix all of the non-frozen ingredients in a blender with ½ cup of milk then add the pineapple chunks and blend until smooth, gradually adding more milk until reaching the perfect consistency.
#2 Pineapple Anti-inflammatory Smoothie
Pineapple juice is rich in pain-reducing enzymes, the most well documented one being bromelain.
Romaine lettuce, cilantro and ginger all have their individual anti-inflammatory properties, making this juice combo very effective to greatly reduce inflammation and pain.
Ingredients
- ½ pineapple
- 2 ribs celery
- 1 head of Romaine lettuce
- 1 handful of coriander
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
Instructions
Preparation: Pulse all of the ingredients in a blender, gradually adding water until reaching the perfect consistency for your liking
#3 Blueberry Kale Smoothie
Blueberries have been known for a while to be part of the superfood family. Studies have proven their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
That being said, the color alone of this delicious smoothie should be enough to get you rushing to the kitchen and get you trying this particular blend for yourself.
Ingredients
- ¾ cups blueberries
- 1 cup kale
- 1 banana
- 1-2 pitted dates (depending on how sweet of a taste you prefer)
- ½ tablespoon almond butter
- Add low-fat milk/almond milk until you reach the perfect consistency for your liking
Instructions
Preparation: Pulse all of the ingredients in a blender, gradually adding milk until reaching the perfect consistency for your liking
#4 Vanilla Matcha Protein Smoothie
Matcha, a powdered green tea leaf has been proven to contain higher concentrations of antioxidants than steeped green tea and may therefore reduce inflammation and slow down cartilage breakdown.
Ingredients
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 1 banana
- 2 teaspoons matcha green tea powder
- ½ teaspoon honey
- Fresh vanilla bean, scraped from 1 inch of a pod
- 1 cup low-fat milk or almond milk
Instructions
Preparation: Pulse all of the ingredients in a blender, gradually adding milk until reaching the perfect consistency for your liking. Top it off with matcha powder.
#5 Pain-free Arthritis Broccoli Smoothie
Recent studies have proven that broccoli, also a member of the superfood family exerts potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
Combining it with other superfoods such as kale and ginger and adding a hint of orange juice to the mix makes up a top of the heap, healthy, pain reducing smoothie.
Ingredients
- 1 handful broccoli
- 1 handful kale
- ½ handful of cucumber
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 2-3 ice cubes
- ½ cup apple juice
Instructions
Preparation: Pulse all of the ingredients in a blender and mix together until everything is smooth.
