Name: Bursting with Energy Smoothie
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 2 cups Coconut water; 1/2 Avocado; 1/2 Lemon (de-seeded); 1 tsp Beet powder; 2 cups Raspberries (frozen); 1 serving Fermented Vanilla Vegan Protein Powder (I use Genuine Health brand); 1 Tbsp Chia seeds

I order to love how you feel, you need to really understand what your body needs. The energy we feel from food is dependent on so many factors, including how we digest/absorb/assimilate the food, the right micro-nutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc), and the right proportion of macro-nutrients (protein, fats, carbs).

It’s also dependent on bio-individuality, what works for one person, may have the opposite effect on another. The health of your body will of course play a role in how much energy you feel throughout the day. If you find that your energy hasn’t improved with diet, you need to further investigate your nutrient imbalances (like iron levels), as well as your glandular health (adrenals, thyroid) and digestion.

That being said, the more nutrient packed and easily absorbable food you eat, the more energy you will feel. Below are 3 steps to increase the energy you feel from food:

Adding more whole foods to your diet is a great start. Whole foods, like an apple, come with it’s own set of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes to help the body not only digest the food but ensure we are adding to our micro-nutrient reserve. Processed foods, on the other hand, are depleted of naturally occurring micronutrients, leaving your body to compensate and use it’s own reserves.
Fermented and sprouted food are other steps toward making it easier for your body to use the energy from food as it can unlock the nutrients and provide the enzymes that help facilitate the breakdown of food. Fermenting and sprouting also increases the nutritional value of food, so you get more bang for your buck! Raw fermented foods also contain important bacteria and prebiotics that help with nutrient breakdown and your body’s ability to produce it’s own nutrients (like biotin and vitamin K).
Nutrient dense superfoods like bee pollen, which contains every vitamin, mineral and amino acid, are excellent ways to naturally ensure your body has all the vitamin nutrients it needs in order to feed your ever demanding energy cycle. The mitochondria is where it’s at, when it comes to energy production on a cellular level, so we need to continually supply them with B vitamins, magnesium, amino acids and so on. Other energy superfoods are medium chain fatty acids like coconut oil, high quality protein, and dark leafy greens for their magnesium and beets (whole, powdered, juice). Beetroot can increases energy and stamina by increasing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and has also been found to reduce the amount of oxygen that muscles require in order to function optimally.

Below you will find my nutrient packed energy bomb smoothie, which is an excellent starting point!

Bursting with Energy Smoothie

You can make this smoothie for breakfast, lunch or snack. It's easily digestible, so you can have it pre or post workout as well.