St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Matcha Green Tea Smoothie
Happy St. Patty's Day! For most of the population this day gives everyone the excuse to drink some green beer, but for me it is an excuse to make a delicious green smoothie! If you do decide to down some booze drink this smoothie a couple hours before or after to get in your greens which will help replenish some of the nutrients lost from alcohol consumption.
Lately I've just been in a smoothie craze. Life is is busy and I just have not been as hungry for lunch or dinner lately so smoothie makes for a quick meal that I am able to pack in lots of nutrient dense foods. I always recommend a whole meal, but when you don't feel like cooking or you are super busy smoothies are a great tool to use! This smoothie specifically uses matcha green tea powder which is super antioxidant rich and naturally detoxifying for the body. I rarely drink coffee now because of my adrenal and gut issues, so matcha has been a great alternative.
I love matcha for a couple of reasons. First because of it has such a high antioxidant content. Matcha powder contains specifically high concentrations of the antioxidant EGCG which has been shown to be amazing for skin health by reducing free radical damage and also boost your metabolism naturally. Some studies show that matcha green tea powder contains more than 60 times the antioxidant content of spinach and 7 times the antioxidant content of dark chocolate!!! Crazy huh? Just that in itself should be a good excuse to try it out if you haven't already. I also love matcha because it contains L-Thienine which is an amino acid that is shown to have calming properties so it counteracts the caffeine content in the tea. I personally have been able to drink matcha later in the day and still not have a problem going to sleep later on probably due to the L-Thienine. I also never feel jittery or the overstimulating affects that coffee gives me at times.
I still would not drink this smoothie at night just because you will be getting some caffeine and everyone responds differently. I also wanted to mention that if you feel like you want some protein add in some collagen peptides or some high quality whey protein if you can handle dairy. I hope you all love the taste and creaminess of this smoothie as much as I did and it brings a little festivity into your life!!
Servings: 1 16 oz or 2 8 oz Smoothies
Ingredients:
- I cup Full fat Coconut Milk
- 1/2 cup Frozen Organic Spinach or 1.5 cups Fresh
- 1/2 Avocado
- 1/2 cup Ice
- 1.5-2 TBSP Raw honey
- 1.5 tsp Matcha Green Tea Powder (preferably organic)
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Directions: Add your coconut milk first then add the rest of the ingredients into your blender and blend until completely smooth and creamy!
Enjoy :)
