Anti-Aging Smoothie REVEALED (2021)

Would you like to know my latest iteration of my yummy anti-aging smoothie?

I typically break my overnight fast around 1 or 2 pm with a nutritious smoothie chock full of organic greens and berries bursting with dense nutrients and antioxidants.

Keep reading to learn about the amazing ingredients I put in my anti-aging smoothie, the nutrients I use to feed my body and my perspectives on blending vs. juicing.

The Ingredients In Faraz’s Anti-Aging Smoothie:

Recipe:

2-3 cups of organic greens (consider rainbow chard, kale, celery, and sometimes spinach)

1 cup red cabbage

1 cup mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

1 large carrot

1 medium avocado

1 apple

1-2 scoops of protein powder

1 scoop of hydrolyzed collagen powder

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 teaspoon cacao powder

1 teaspoon ceylon cinnamon

1/2 inch ginger

Two to three cups of organic greens: I typically get organic greens from Whole Foods or Sprouts and I throw them liberally into a blender. These usually consist of rainbow chard, kale, celery and sometimes spinach.

Some cruciferous vegetable: I like to throw in a vegetable from the cruciferous family such as red or green cabbage. Just cut up a cup of cabbage and throw it into the blender. I do this to boost fiber and sulforaphane.

One cup of mixed berries: I get either mixed bags of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries or get them separately and add about a cup into the blender.

Red veggies and fruit: I usually cut up 1-2 carrots, an avocado and an apple and add them to the mix.

Protein powder: I like to mix about 25-30 grams of protein into the smoothie, so a protein powder works well for keeping my muscles mass. Adjust if you’re also using collagen powder below.

Hydrolyzed collagen powder: I add some hydrolyzed collagen to increase the amino acids my body needs, plus help out my collagen needs from the inside.

Seeds or ground powders: I typically throw in one tablespoon of chia seeds and a teaspoon of cacao powder/ceylon cinnamon.

Other ingredients: These depend on the day but I will sometimes add some chlorella tablets and half an inch of ginger in as well.

Nutritional Goals From The Anti-Aging Smoothie

Okay now that we have covered the gist of the ingredients that go into my anti-aging smoothie, let’s discuss why I am doing it this way.

Boost Flavonoid Intake:

Flavonoids are natural compounds found in fruits, vegetables and berries. Flavonoids are rich in antioxidant activity and can help your body fight the harmful effects of environmental toxins and stressors.

Flavonoids may also help slow down your anti-inflammatory reaction to common allergens, germs and toxins. Your body produces inflammation to fight off these invaders, but as you age your inflammation response usually goes into overdrive. This results in low level simmering inflammation that ages you from the inside.

Research shows a diet high in flavonoids may be an effective way to reduce high blood pressure. A high intake of flavonoids may also reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.

The more we learn about flavonoids, the more beneficial they seem to be. That is why getting a good amount of flavonoids in essential in my anti-aging smoothie.

Get Essential Daily Nutrients:

A variety of vegetables and fruits in the smoothie provide key vitamins and minerals that your body needs to boost it’s defenses and function optimally.

For example, magnesium is an extremely important mineral that is involved in 300 enzymatic processes in your body. It is estimated that nearly half the people living in the US do not consume the recommended daily allowance of magnesium in their diet. Dark green vegetables in this anti-aging smoothie are a great source for magnesium.

Kale is a good source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that are taken up by your eyes and serve as antixoidants to protect the rods and cones. This is important because they can stave off macular degeneration which is the leading cause of vision loss in older individuals. Carrots are also rich in lutein and zeaxanthin along with alpha and beta-carotenes that can be converted to Vitamin A.

Another great example is vitamin K which is present in rainbow chard. Credit to Dr. Rhonda Patrick for the inspiration behind chard. Vitamin K is essential for maintaining optimal levels of blood coagulation and preventing calcification of your blood vessels. It prevents calcification by pulling the calcium out of the bloodstream and into the bones where it can be used for healthy bone function.

Get Your Daily Fiber:

The anti-aging smoothie provides you with a good amount of fiber. Fiber is important because it slows down the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream and helps you stay more regular in the bathroom.

Many types of fiber serve to feed the colonies of microbiome living in your gut. Fiber serves as a prebiotic that bacteria in your gut feed on. It is recommended to get fibers from many types of vegetables and fruits.

Most people do not get the recommended amount of fiber, so this smoothie helps you accomplish that.

Improve Blood Pressure and Blood Flow:

Cacao powder is full of beneficial ingredients such as polyphenols and epicatechins. Cacao powder has shown to improve endothelial function and blood pressure in healthy individuals.

Stabilize Blood Sugar:

Keeping your blood sugar low is one my top tactics for making sure I incur the least damage from the foods that I eat. This smoothie contains two elements to help in that regard.

One study found that ceylon cinnamon can mimic the effects of insulin, effectively clearing the glucose from the blood without raising insulin levels. Another study showed that cinnamon can increase insulin sensitivity immediately after taking it, with the effects lasting for up to 12 hours.

Avocado is a great type of fat that helps fill you up without raising your blood sugar levels. This means you stay satiated for a longer time and don’t have the urge to eat as often. Eating less often is the key to a longer life in my book.

Ginger is another amazing food that may help reduce blood sugar, according to some recent research.

Blending vs. Juicing Your Smoothie

While juicing seems healthy at a glance, it misses a critical factor. Juicing removes all the fiber from the foods that you eat.

As we discussed above, fiber is extremely important for multiple reasons. It keeps you satiated for longer, slows down the absorption of sugars from your gut, feeds your gut microbiome and it moves things along in your colon to keep you regular in the bathroom.

Most Americans do not get enough amounts of fiber in their diet. This smoothie helps you achieve that.

Plus, try to always chew on your smoothie instead of drinking it straight down. The act of chewing releases saliva which assists your digestion process.

So use a blender or food processor, not a juicer!

Conclusion: Start Drinking The Anti-Aging Smoothie

I hope this post gives you a little bit of an insight into the benefits of this anti-aging smoothie. This is just one of the variations I use, and I am working on one that will take this to the next level in terms of anti-aging ingredients.

If you have amazing ingredients you use in your smoothies, feel free to share below.

Check out some of my other recommendations here.