Best Seeds For Smoothies: 7 Healthy Choices

If you are just getting serious about making smoothies and are wondering how to better enrich them with extra nutrients, you are probably thinking about adding some seeds. That’s definitely a good way to go, but what are the best seeds for smoothies?

For that matter, why would you even add seeds to a smoothie? Well, because seeds are packed with an extraordinary amount of goodness in their tiny little bodies. A smoothie without seeds is like a salad without dressing or a pizza without toppings. There is a reason so many people call them “super seeds.”

Let’s take a look at the best ones.

Chia Seeds

Interestingly enough, people are not the only ones who can benefit from chia seeds. These tiny little pebbles of nutrients are more and more becoming a staple in horse diets because they have a lot of health benefits. Chia seeds can easily be ground into a smoothie, a milkshake, a sauce, and they have almost no taste.

Chia seeds are a great source of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and protein. Plus, chia seeds give you a lot of energy, which makes them great inside early morning shakes for an added boost before the day starts.

Sunflower Seeds

I’m sure we have all spent a lazy afternoon cracking open sunflower seeds and stuffing them into our faces, but did you know that you can use sunflower seeds in a smoothie to get extra nutrients? You don’t even need to break open the shell since you can just blend them in the blender.

Sunflower seeds will add an abundance of vitamin E to your smoothies. Sunflower seeds are also rich in selenium and magnesium, and can altogether help to lower a person’s cholesterol.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are definitely my favorite of all the seeds. Not only do pumpkin seeds come around at the best time of year, along with all the pumpkin spice beverages, but they are absolutely delicious when cooked. There is nothing I like more than snacking on a whole sheet of baked pumpkin seeds.

In your smoothie, pumpkin seeds add zinc, good carbohydrates, plenty of antioxidants, and even offer anti-microbial benefits. This means that pumpkin seeds can help your immune system and keep you from getting sick. Not only are they delicious, but they are so good for your body.

Another thing pumpkin seeds do is reduce high blood pressure and bring your cholesterol levels down. Pumpkin seeds are double trouble. They can keep you from getting sick while decreasing your chances of getting heart disease. How incredible is that?

Read More: 6 delicious pumpkin juice recipes

Sesame Seeds

You probably think about sesame seeds on your bagel, but I highly suggest adding sesame seeds to the next smooth you make. These are tiny little seeds that may seem insignificant to the untrained eye but are actually quite rich in magnesium, zinc, and copper.

What do these three minerals do? They can provide relief for painful arthritis, they can support respiratory health, take care of your bones, lower cholesterol, and even maintain proper blood sugar. Sesame seeds also have lots of fats and proteins to keep you healthy.

Hemp Seeds

Hemp seeds are so healthy, they even look healthy. So many people are now putting hemp seeds in their salads, sprinkled on top of their smoothies, and even mixed in with their oatmeal and granola. That is because hemp seeds are a great source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and omega-6 fatty acids.

For people who really enjoy getting plant-based protein, it does not get much better than a full serving of hemp seeds. They also contain vitamin E and potassium, along with an entire list of other great nutrients.

And even if you don’t like the way hemp seeds taste, that is the beauty of smoothies. You can easily blend a handful of hemp seeds into your smoothie and never know the difference.

Flaxseed

Flaxseed is the definition of a superfood. Just like chia seeds, flaxseed is super common to feed horses because of its extreme health benefits. And while you can easily purchase flaxseed crackers and muffins at your local store, you can also blend flaxseed into your smoothies for a tasteless boost of healthy nutrients.

Because flaxseed has so much fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, you can use it to drastically improve your digestive health, to lower your high blood pressure, and to fix your poor cholesterol. Many specialists are saying that flaxseed also has benefits for people who suffer from diabetes.

Wheat Germ

Wheat germ should really be called wheat seeds, seeing as they are seeds that come from wheat. But these little seeds are much more appetizing than eating a stalk of wheat. Wheat germ is packed full of vegetable proteins, vitamin E, potassium, zinc, fiber, and so much more. You can easily blend wheat germ into any kind of smoothie or shake.

Wheat germ can help reduce the number of free radicals in your body. And, thanks to the abundance of antioxidants in each serving of wheat germ, these little seeds suddenly become great disease preventers. They can also boost your immune system and keep your heart healthy and pumping strong.

Read More: Can Cherry Pits Kill You?

Everyone Should Eat Whole Grains

It is important to understand that when I’m talking about seeds, I’m really talking about whole grains. Seeds fall into the whole grain family, which also consists of things like oatmeal, buckwheat, barley, and brown rice.

But a lot of things can be made from whole grains. You can get whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, and even whole grain popcorn. And while different seeds offer different benefits, most overlap, and all of them are pretty similar. Similar in the way vegetables are all fairly healthy for you, most berries offer the same boost of antioxidants, and all chocolate is delicious.

Best Seeds For Smoothies: Final Thoughts

Whole grains, and specifically seeds, are one of the most important staples in any diet. They consist of everything we need to keep our bodies healthy, like B vitamins and riboflavin, iron, and magnesium, and so much more. Lowered blood pressure, a healthy immune system, reduced risk of heart disease – the list goes on.

For vegans and vegetarians, these seeds are absolutely critical to maintaining a healthy diet. By adding them to your fruit and veggie smoothie, you are getting a huge boost of daily nutrients that you otherwise might have missed.

I highly suggest experimenting with all the seeds on this list to see which ones you like the best. Just chuck them into your blender with other ingredients and enjoy a healthy smoothie.