While this winter was not as bad as the last winter I experienced, February certainly came with a lot of freezing temperatures and snow falls for one month. When you live somewhere where the weather hurts your face because of the wind you have to find many ways to keep your immune system strong. With chilly weather follows thoughts on hibernation (for me, at least) and while that may seem like a great idea at the time, it’s not reality. Counting down the days until Spring is fun, but it’ll go by quicker when you live through the winter season healthy and happy! ALOHA said it right when they explained they believe that “happiness can be attained through a balance of eating thoughtfully, exercising regularly, embracing mindfulness, maintaining meaningful relationships, and pushing oneself mentally.”
Of course, to keep warm I bundle up and drink copious amounts of tea. Tea is almost always labelled with all the health benefits it comes with so I guess that’s the perfect bonus for this season. I find that when winter comes around so does consuming more comfort type foods especially since it’s harder and often more expensive to get fresh produce. While that may be okay from time to time, it’s important to include many vitamins and nutrients into your day as well. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring. You will absorb health benefits from a meal more if you actually enjoy it.
This Kiwi Lime Ginger Matcha Smoothie not only sounds good, it is good. So good. It is filled with antioxidants your body needs any season. Protein powder is added for, of course, protein but I used Vega One as it is plant based and it is also filled with 6 servings of green! If you do not have any on hand you can omit but I encourage you to try it one day.
This smoothie incorporates tea in two ways: Kiwi Lime Ginger from Tea Forte and Matcha (green tea powder). In addition to the tea, the flavours and benefits are enhanced by two of the healthiest spices out there: turmeric and ginger (yes, more!).
Matcha can quickly calm/relax you and it may decrease risks of high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or strokes. I feel like there is so much I can say about Matcha but I want to leave you with one thing especially: make it how you will love it so you can experience this form of tea. Adding it to a healthy recipe, like this smoothie, is a great start to your matcha journey. If you are going to use matcha primarily for smoothies and in recipes then look into getting a culinary grade as it is less expensive than ceremonial and does the trick!
Turmeric has been labelled as the most effective nutritional supplement in existence before. While I do not have much facts on that matter I do know that studies show it has major benefits for your body and brain. It has powerful anti-inflammatory properties and is a very strong antioxidant.
Ginger is loaded with nutrients and bioactive compounds. Like turmeric, it’s a great anti-inflammatory and can help fight infections. I know there is technically ginger already added into the herbal tea used for this smoothie but I wanted it to shine a bit more through the other ingredients so I added more ginger powder or you can use fresh grinds.