Smoothies are health-friendly, fulfilling for the tummy, and a great food to facilitate weight loss. A lot of nutrients added to smoothies make them quite satisfactory. If you are having the green smoothie, loaded with vegetables instead of fruits, you are already doing good to your health. However, you can do better by adding a few amazing ingredients and take your green smoothie to another level. These superfoods, when added to your smoothie, will boost weight loss and cut your waistline down soon.
1. Turmeric
Turmeric is known for its antioxidants, antibacterial properties, and anti-inflammatory properties, which make it quite beneficial for the health. The antioxidants present in turmeric help the body in fighting free radicals and flushing out toxins as an excess of these can lead to weight gain, fatigue, arthritis, and several other issues such as allergies. When you add turmeric to your smoothie, you not only get a good dose of antioxidants, but you also fight any kind of inflammation in the body and helps you lose weight.
2. Lavender
Lavender is not just a pretty flower in gardens, but it also has amazing medicinal properties. Lavender helps one to relax the body and mind and has a calming effect, which is why it is widely used in perfumes, room fresheners, candles, oils, incense sticks, and even in bathing soaps. Lavender is found to be helpful in facilitating weight loss as well because when our stress levels go high, our body produces cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol helps us in coping up with stressful situations by offering a burst of energy and diverts this energy in the body to those areas which help us deal with stress, such as our pupils. However, continuous stress and the release of cortisol makes the body store fat. This happens because the body is assumed to not be in an optimal state to burn calories as it is dealing with a stressful situation and is going to need all your fat and calories, making the cortisol hold on to them. Using lavender as an ingredient in your smoothie will calm your body down and reduce the levels of stress. This will, in turn, reduce the release of cortisol as well and reduce the chances of storing excess fat in the body.
3. Moringa
Moringa is believed to be a very powerful superfood in the market today. Moringa has a lot of benefits and helps in boosting weight loss and improving our overall health. It contains a lot of antioxidants that help the body in flushing out toxins and reducing the risks of free radical damages in the body. Moringa is also an appetite suppressant, which means that it makes you feel full for longer and leads you to lose weight by eating less than usual. Since it is a leafy green, Moringa has a high fiber content as well, which helps you feel fuller than usual when you add it to your smoothie. The fiber content in Moringa also helps in digestion and effectively ensures the elimination of toxins from the body.
4. Matcha
Matcha is an alternative to caffeine and boosts energy in the body. It is made by grinding green tea leaves into a fine powder and dissolving them in warm water. Green tea is known for its high content of antioxidants that detoxify our bodies and aid in weight loss. The matcha can increase the basal metabolic rate of our body, which means that it increases the rate of our bodies’ ability to burn calories just by running itself. This means that even by sitting in your couch all day or sleeping on your bed, you burn more calories than usual. Matcha increases the rate of burning the calories by just keeping our vital organs like heart, lungs, tissues, etc. functioning and boosts weight loss.
5. Maca
Maca is a natural adaptogen that is derived from the root of the Maca tree found in the Andes Mountains. Maca maintains our body’s balance by focusing on the endocrine system, which is responsible for the release of hormones in our body that control our hunger and satiety and determine our energy level and mood in response to stress. When our hormones are balanced, our body too stays balanced as poor hormonal function like hypothyroidism causes weight gain and weight retention. Maca, when added to your smoothie, makes sure that your body’s weight is maintained well.