Ease Your Joints with this Carrot & Turmeric Smoothie
By Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD, CSO, LDN; Reboot Nutritionist
Spring has finally sprung! This sunny afternoon we’re rejoicing with a not-so-sweet but super potent smoothie. Turmeric has many amazing health promoting properties like anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, even linked to helping ease symptoms of colitis and reducing the risk for certain cancers. Adding fresh ground black pepper can help increase the absorption of some of turmeric’s naturally occurring phytonutrient compounds, like curcumin, by as much as 1,000 times. While black pepper certainly isn’t your average smoothie ingredient, in a small amount it’s not noticeable in this smoothie. Even my 5 year old liked it! Read more on the amazing benefits of eating more turmeric.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 ml) carrot juice, made fresh in your juicer
- 1 cup (150 g) frozen mango
- 1 frozen banana
- 2 in (5 cm) piece of fresh turmeric root, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp honey (optional)
- 1 in (2.5 cm) piece of ginger (optional)
- 1 pinch fresh ground black pepper (optional)
Directions
- Wash all produce well.
- Juice carrots (as an alternative, you can chop and blend)
- Peel and chop turmeric.
- Add carrot juice, frozen mango, banana, turmeric, chia, cinnamon, honey, ginger and pepper to blender.
- Blend for 45 – 60 seconds until smooth.
- Garnish with chia, pepper, cinnamon if desired.