Peppery goodness

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of hemp seeds

1/2 cup of cucumber

1/2 cup of green bell pepper

3 stalks of celery

1 medium banana (frozen)

1 cup of water

1 tomato

Nutrition

Calories: 225

Protein: 7 grams

Carbs: 41 grams

Fiber: 8 grams

Sugar: 22 grams

Fat: 5 grams

This smoothie is ideal for consuming at lunch or dinner time as an on-the-go, healthy alternative to a cooked meal thanks to the combination of savoury ingredients it contains. It is a very good source of vitamins C and K for healthy skin and blood, as well as potassium for a healthy heart and bones. The high levels of magnesium and zinc from the hemp seeds also make this smoothie a good immune system booster.

To make the smoothie, add all the ingredients to a blender and process until smooth.

Banana

Adding a banana to this smoothie will give it a nice thick consistency, as well as a slightly sweet flavour. Bananas are well known for being mood boosters and help you to have a good night’s sleep thanks to the tryptophan they contain. And because of their good levels of potassium, bananas help to maintain a healthy heart by lowering blood pressure, as well as being able to replenish stores of potassium lost through sweat.

Celery

A single serving of celery, which guidelines recommend is about 110g, contains as much as 40% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin K. It is essential for helping blood to clot properly and also plays a role in the healthy formation of bones. Celery also provides some good amounts of most other vitamins and minerals including 10% of your daily allowance of folate and vitamin A, 8% of your daily requirement of potassium and 6% of your vitamin C needs per serving.

Cucumber

It is common knowledge that cucumber consists mostly of water and, therefore, can help keep you hydrated. It also helps relieve heartburn and can help keep your kidneys happy and healthy by reducing the levels of uric acid in the body. A half cup serving of cucumber will also provide around 11% of your daily requirement of vitamin K, which is very important for clotting blood and building healthy bones.

Green Bell Pepper

Bell peppers are amazingly good for your health, with a single cup of green bell pepper containing twice your daily requirement of vitamin C, 10% of your daily fibre needs and a good amount of most of the other vitamins and minerals you need to maintain optimal health. Bell peppers also contain a compound called capsaicin that is thought to help reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol and inflammation. Also, the sulphur they contain has been shown to help protect against certain cancers.

Hemp Seeds

By adding hemp seeds to this smoothie, you greatly increase the protein content since a 30g serving contains about 22% of your daily requirement of protein. The same sized serving will also add nearly half of your daily requirement of magnesium and nearly a quarter of your daily zinc needs. This makes hemp seeds an excellent food to eat if you wish to boost your immune system since it needs both zinc and magnesium to function well.

Tomato

The red colour of regular tomatoes shows that they are an excellent source of lycopene, which is a phytochemical that has been shown to be effective at protecting against prostate cancer. The high levels of vitamin C in tomatoes, on average a quarter of your daily allowance per average tomato, means that they also have a very good effect on health, including the production of collagen for effective wound healing.