Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie

You've gotta have a blender with really sharp blades in order to get this smoothie right. Other than that, it's a piece of cake. The typical Jamba Juice/chain restaurant smoothie is either full of non-vegan yogurt or has the consistency of a runny frozen fruit soup. This smoothie is actually creamy like a shake and will fill you up without spiking your blood sugar and leaving you starving again in an hour. Avocado is the secret ingredient. It blends in perfectly and you don't actually taste it. Even if you're an avocado hater, you're still gonna like this smoothie.

Cooking Soundtrack: Iron Maiden - Flash of the Blade

Ingredients:

8 oz. fresh strawberries (half of a standard 16 oz. carton)

6 oz. fresh pineapple (about 5 large chunks of cut pineapple)

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (any brand except Pacific)

1 1/2 teaspoons agave nectar

½ avocado

8-10 ice cubes

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together and serve immediately.

I'm putting the spotlight on fruit! Check out the nutrition facts below to find out why you need to eat more raw fruit.

Ingredients Profile:

Strawberry Heath Benefits:

High in Vitamin C and polyphenol antioxidants and phytochemicals, including anthocyanins, ellagitannins, flavonols, terpenoids, and phenolic acids.

Pineapple Health Benefits:

Bromelain is an enzyme found in fresh, raw pineapple that is known to reduce multiple types of inflammation in the body, including swelling and inflammation due to injury and surgery, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and ulcerative colitis. It can be used as an alternative to NSAIDs.

Avocado Health Benefits:

Good source of Vitamin C, Folate, Vitamin K, Potassium, and mono and polyunsaturated fat, contains 18 amino acids - including the 8 essential amino acids used for protein synthesis.

Sources:

Bromelain as a Treatment for Osteoarthritis: a Review of Clinical Studies.

Dietary supplementation with fresh pineapple juice decreases inflammation and colonic neoplasia in IL-10-deficient mice with colitis.

Strawberry and its anthocyanins reduce oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells.

Impact of postharvest methyl jasmonate treatment on the volatile composition and flavonol content of strawberries.

** Additional reading at: altmedicine.about.com and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov