Red grapes are rich in antioxidants including resveratrol. Chia seeds provides a rich source of ALA omega-3′s. This smoothie contains 10.2 healthy grams of fiber.

This recipe makes about 22 ounces.

Red Grape and Beat Green Smoothie Recipe

• 2 small bananas, peeled
• 1 cup red grapes
• 2 teaspoons chia seeds, soaked for 10 minutes
• 1 cup beet greens
• 4 to 6 ounces of filtered water

Add all the ingredients except for the greens to your blender, (I use a Blendtec) and hit the “pulse” button a few times. Next, add the greens and blend on high for 30 seconds or until the smoothie is creamy.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 330
Fat: 3g
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 77g
Fiber: 10.2g
Calcium: 7% RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)
Iron: 1.1mg
Vitamin A: 8% RDA
Vitamin C: 38% RDA

This smoothie is also a rich source of folate, vitamin B1 – B6, vitamin K, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and potassium.

Browse more green smoothie recipes.

“What can I put in my green smoothies if I’m battling candida?”

The recommendations for which foods to eat and avoid on the so-called “candida diet” are all over the place. Experts can’t even agree as you’ll find websites with conflicting information.

The information in this post deals with candida overgrowth. I’m not necessarily referring to conditions like oral thrush (candida in the mouth) or a yeast infection which is easily treatable. What I am referring to is so-called “systemic candida overgrowth” which is frequently diagnosed in the natural health and the raw food movements.

Systemic candida overgrowth is said to be a condition where the naturally occurring candida albicans microorganism normally living in the human digestive tract undergoes a population bloom and moves into other parts of the body including the blood stream. Various candida diets, lifestyle protocols, supplements and cures are often prescribed to treat the problem.

Acceptable Fruits For The Candida Diet

The general consensus is that you want to limit fruits. Although some prominent natural health experts say that candida is not a fruit problem, but a fat problem, meaning that a diet that is too high in fat (typical raw food diet) leads to blood sugar problems and systemic candida overgrowth.

There are some people who clear up a candida problem with a high-fruit, low fat diet while others clear it up with a no or low fruit diet (5% or less of total calories).

One thing that most candida experts agree on is that citrus fruit is okay and may even help alleviate candida problems. So that means a green smoothie with oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes are good.

Leafy green and other vegetables are on the list of okay foods as well. So it looks like our Orange-Kale smoothie may be candida diet approved.

Another general consensus among candida experts is that berries such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and cranberries are acceptable on the candida diet because these berries have a higher fiber to sugar ratio.

Now here is where it get’s tricky. On one candida website, it says to avoid all stemmed fruit including apples, cherries, pears, plums, peaches and grapes. Since stems can protrude into the flesh part of the fruit and contain microscopic yeasts, molds and fungi, they can complicate candida problems, they say.

Another website says that pears are actually okay.

One website says that high fructose fruits like bananas, mangoes, pineapples, apricots and apples should be avoided while another website says that pineapples are acceptable.

To complicate matters further, yet another website claims that oranges are actually to be avoided.

As far as how much fruit is okay to eat if you have candida, some experts advocate a low carbohydrate, fruit-avoidance diet (which results in a dramatic increase in fat consumption). Other experts advocate a fruit-based diet that is low in fat (they claim that fat is the root cause of candida overgrowth, not fruit sugar).

A Candida Epidemic Among Raw Foodists and Natural Health Enthusiasts

It is interesting to note that those who follow the raw food diet or have an interest in natural health tend to be the ones who are the most concerned about candida. It’s as if a systemic candida epidemic is running rampant among the raw food community while ignoring most everyone else.

Could it be that the typical raw food diet, being so high in fat, makes people more susceptible to the health problems and symptoms that are often attributed to candida?

Or it could be that the symptoms of systemic candida overgrowth are so vague and can apply to a lot of people who may or may not even have a candida problem. And such vague, common symptoms can be capitalized upon by those wishing to make a profit selling candida-related products to people who may not have a real candida outbreak.

No Evidence That Candida Overgrowth Is A Common Medical Condition

Systemic candida overgrowth is not widely accepted as an actual medical condition by most medical doctors. Naturopaths tend to diagnose it more frequently to treat vague health issues with no overt, underlying cause. Self diagnosis is common and encouraged online as people who think they have systemic candida overgrowth are more likely to buy supplements, e-books and other candida cures that are profitable.

There is no scientific evidence that support claims made by candida experts about how widespread this condition is said to be.

The symptoms of systemic candida overgrowth are so vague in that they can pertain to a variety of unrelated health problems, or stress, and such symptoms can be easily cleared up with a healthy change in diet and/or lifestyle…no candida cure necessary.

There is so much conflicting information about systemic candida overgrowth on the web and many sources supply only anecdotal evidence, no health studies and no information from peer reviewed journals.

The fact that most doctors and some natural health practitioners do not recognize systemic candida overgrowth as a common problem tells me that many people who think they have it probably do not.

Furthermore, it could be dangerous to follow strict fruit-avoidance candida-diet protocols found on the web if you do not actually have candida.

So before you go cutting all healthy fruit out of your diet, be sure that you do, indeed, have a systemic candida problem. The only way to accurately test for it is to have your blood tested and have it sent to a lab. If the diagnosis is confirmed, then seek out qualified nutritional and diet advice by a licensed, medical professional for treatment.

Chia seeds provide an excellent boost in healthy fats as well as 153% of your daily recommended value of omega-3s in this recipe. Red grapes add resveratrol and contain a boost of cancer-fighting antioxidants.

Overall, this is a super-powerful smoothie that will fuel your morning!

Mango-Mamey “Mamango” Meal Replacement Smoothie Recipe

• 1/2 mamey, peeled and pitted
• 1/2 mango, peeled and pitted
• 1 cup red grapes
• 2 teaspoons chia seeds, soaked for 10 minutes
• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 6 ounces of tangerine juice (substitute orange juice if you can’t find tangerine juice)

Add all the ingredients except for the greens to your blender and hit the “pulse” button a few times. Next, add the greens and blend on high for 30 seconds or until the smoothie is creamy.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 554
Fat: 6g
Protein: 14g
Carbohydrates: 126g
Fiber: 23.2g (77% RDA)
Calcium: 31% RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)
Iron: 8.2mg
Vitamin A: 1878% RDA
Vitamin C: 306% RDA

This smoothie is also a rich source of folate, vitamin B1 – B6, vitamin K, copper, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.

Browse more green smoothie recipes.

Acai berry is a good source of antioxidants and lends a distinctive flavor, often described as a blend between dark chocolate and red wine. Acai is native to Central and South America, commonly imported to the United States and Europe from the Amazon region of Brazil where it grown abundantly.

Red Grape and Acai Berry Smoothie Recipe

• 1 3.5 ounce (100 gram) serving of frozen acai puree (we like Amafruits.com) or 3 tablespoons acai berry juice
• 1 to 2 sprigs of fresh mint (to taste)
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup organic red grapes
• 1 small head of organic romaine lettuce
• 2 ounces filtered water if needed

Add everything except for the lettuce to your blender and pulse the ingredients until they are roughly blended. Now add the lettuce and blend on high for 30 seconds or until smooth. Just about any leafy green will go well in this smoothie but to preserve the complex flavor combination of acai with fresh mint, stick with mild-flavored greens such as leaf lettuce, romaine or baby spinach.

Nutrition Information*

Calories: 420
Fat: 2g
Protein: 11g
Carbohydrates: 101g
Calcium: 19 % RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)
Iron: 7.2 mg
Vitamin A: 1826 % RDA
Vitamin C: 208 % RDA

This smoothie is also a rich source folate, vitamin B1 – B6, vitamin K, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and potassium.

* The nutrition information for this smoothie recipe is approximate. Since acai berry hasn’t been extensively studied and does not appear in the USDA Nutrient Database, it was not included in the nutrition information above. Acai berry powder, juice and whole, fresh acai berries will have different nutrient profiles due to differences in processing and freshness.

Browse more green smoothie recipes.

Even if you have a high-speed blender, you’ll want to remove the cactus pear seeds before making this smoothie. The seeds will make a “gritty” smoothie even with a Vita-Mix or Blendtec. Blended seeds become sharp and can scratch your throat.

To remove the seeds, simply cut the fruit in half and empty the seeds in a strainer and smash them with a spoon to help remove the pulp and juice clinging to the seed. Make sure you place a metal bowl under the strainer. The juice stains, so be careful! I also add as much of the fruit pulp to the smoothie as I can.

Cactus Pear and Acai Berry Smoothie Recipe

• 1 cup cactus pear juice and pulp with seeds removed
• 100 gram serving of frozen acai berry puree
• 1 large banana
• 1/2 head organic romaine lettuce
• 1/2 cup organic red grapes
• 2 to 3 ounces filtered water

Add everything except for the lettuce to your blender and pulse the ingredients until they are roughly blended. Now add the lettuce and blend on high for 30 seconds or until smooth.

*NOTE: Be careful when handling the cactus pear. You can use a potato peeler or paring knife to remove the needles from the cactus pear with but remember that there are tiny needles under the big needles that need to be removed as well.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 271
Fat: 2g
Protein: 6g
Carbohydrates: 64g
Calcium: 17% RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)
Iron: 4.0mg
Vitamin A: 915% RDA
Vitamin C: 127% RDA

This smoothie is also a rich source of folate, vitamin B1 – B6, vitamin K, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and potassium.

Browse more green smoothie recipes.

Grapes and acai berry are high antioxidants which help fight against free radicals.

This is a sweet smoothie so I wouldn’t recommend adding a sweetener. You can add two apples if you want more thickness to the drink, but I like it as is.

This recipe makes about 10 ounces, so it’s just enough for one person.

Check out our new Glass Dharma glass straw in the photo! If you’ve never used a glass straw, you’re missing out. We LOVE them! Look for a writeup on them soon!

Red Grape and Acai Berry Smoothie Recipe

• 3 tablespoons of acai berry juice or 100 grams of frozen acai puree
• 2 cups organic red grapes
• 1 large organic apple

Blend on high for 30 seconds or until smooth.

If you add greens to this smoothie, stick with non-bitter ones like leaf lettuce, romaine or even fresh baby spinach.

You can thicken this smoothie by adding a banana to it.

Nutrition Information *

Calories: 324
Fat: 1g
Protein: 2.8g
Carbohydrates: 85.5g
Calcium: 4% RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)
Iron: 1.4mg
Vitamin A: 11% RDA
Vitamin C: 48% RDA

This smoothie is also a rich source of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and K as well as copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and potassium.

* The nutrition information for this smoothie recipe is approximate. Since acai berry hasn’t been extensively studied and does not appear in the USDA Nutrient Database, it was not included in the nutrition information above. Acai berry powder, juice and whole, fresh acai berries will have different nutrient profiles due to differences in processing and freshness.

Browse more green smoothie recipes.

Nutrition and Health Benefits

Acai berries are praised for their super high antioxidant content and possible disease-fighting phytonutrients. However, the wild claims from supplement makers that acai juice and powders can reverse diabetes, cure cancer and promote weight loss are unfounded and overhyped. When it comes to the antioxidant load of acai juices and powders, they are well within the range of other local fruits. Studies have shown that the juice from concord grapes and black cherries, as well as red wine, contained more polyphenol antioxidant content than acai juice.

Acai berries are low in sugar in their whole form which is good news for those of you on a low glycemic diet.

You won’t find acai in the USDA nutritional database and so conclusive information regarding the nutrition content of acai berries are limited. Various freeze-dried, powdered mixtures show good levels of protein, calcium and vitamin A. The best way to benefit from the full nutrition of acai berry (or any whole food), however, is to eat it fresh or as minimally processed as possible.

Unfortunately, for those of us who live in North America and Europe, acai berries are not available in the produce section. Instead, we have to rely on juices, extracts and powders, often sold in the supplement section of certain health food stores. Since juices are not a whole food and powders are highly processed, the nutrient content of acai has been significantly altered and reduced in these products. The potency and flavor does not justify the price you pay.

For this reason, I recommend seeking out a source of acai berry purees, which should come frozen. I’ve used puree products from Amafruits.com and have found them to be very high quality and delicious. They come in 3.5 ounce (100 gram) packets. Simply take one out of the freezer and add it to your smoothie. You’ll get a real serving of acai and a chilled smoothie all at once!

How To Use Acai In A Smoothie Recipe

Acai is typically available as a frozen puree, juice or powder. I would choose purees over juices and powders because there is less processing and oxidization. You’ll also get a better price for a whole food acai puree over “supplemental” acai extracts, powders and juices.

I don’t recommend using acai juice as the smoothie liquid because the flavor is pretty strong. Pouring in 4-6 ounces or more of acai juice might make a pretty potent, hard-to-drink smoothie. Plus the juice is expensive. A shot of pure acai juice will be enough to flavor a smoothie nicely, but you won’t get the health benefits in such a tiny dose.

Acai, with it’s “red wine and chocolate” flavor mixes well with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, cranberries and pomegranates. Apples, pears and red grapes also blend well with acai. Add cacao (raw chocolate) for a decadent, rich indulgence. Try young coconut in an acai smoothie too. For base fruits, I recommend sticking with apple, pear and banana. You can experiment with mango, but that flavor combination might not work for everyone.

Acai Berry Recipes

Acai-Pomegranate Smoothie

Acai-Apple-Red Grape Smoothie

Acai Berry and Mint Smoothie

Acai-Strawberry/Blueberry Blend Smoothie

Find more acai smoothie recipes here!

Acai Scams

There are a lot of acai berry scams out there, especially online with many people complaining of multiple charges on their credit cards after signing up for a free trial. For this reason, I recommend not purchasing acai products online unless it is through a trusted retailer and never sign up for a “free trial”. One trusted company I found is Amafruits.com, which sells quality acai purees that I have use and recommend in green smoothies. This is the best way I have found to eat acai as it was intended to be eated – as a whole food and not a supplement.

You can purchase acai products at health food stores. However, the price of even a 4 ounce bottle of acai is hard to justify, especially when you consider that there are many fresh, ripe, whole-food, organic fruits and vegetables with the same, if not more, nutrients, antioxidants and health-promoting benefits for a lot less money than a powdered or juiced product.

I’d stick with fresh (if available) acai or a frozen puree and only use a high-quality juice product for a flavor indulgence only.