The Rhonda Patrick Smoothie and 2 Tasty Variations
Smoothie recipes are magical.
Truly…
By what other procedure can you to consume so many micronutrient-dense foods in so little time in a way that tastes so good?
Throw some spinach, kale, carrot, vanilla whey, and almond milk into a blender and suddenly you have a drink that tastes as super as the nutritional value of its contents.
But there is a problem:
Too many smoothie recipes have way too many ingredients. And some of the tastiest ones lack nutritional value, whereas some of the most nutritional ones lack taste.
I love smoothies for their simplicity, but the sheer number of smoothie recipes available used to give me paralysis by analysis. I was too stuck for choice and used to just throw together random “health foods” in a homemade concoction and hope for best.
It didn’t always work out so great.
To counteract this overwhelm, I set out on a search to find the 3 best smoothie recipes so I could easily memorize them and be done with it. I wanted each recipe to offer something unique beyond taste, and I wanted all of them to contain fairly regular ingredients I could easily pick up at the supermarket.
Here are the three best smoothie recipes I found:
Smoothie Recipe #1: Alan Aragon’s Mocha Protein Shake
Alan Aragon is one of the most trustworthy, rigorous, educated figures in the health and fitness industry. For anyone who wants to learn more about the latest research without having to spend hundreds of hours pouring over academic papers, his monthly research journal is a must.
This Mocha Protein Shake recipe is the one Aragon uses himself most mornings. He revealed to Men’s Health, for whom he is an advisor, his following smoothie recipe:
What you’ll need:
- 1 1/2 cup room-temperature or cold coffee (make this the night before)
- 1 large frozen banana
- 1 cup ice
- 1 heaping Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
- 6 Tbsp. chocolate protein powder (Aragon uses Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Whey)
- 1/4 cup halved walnuts
How to make it:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until you hit your desired consistency. If you want a thicker shake, use 2 cups of ice.
Per serving: 528 calories, 22 grams fat, 44 grams carbs, 8 grams fiber, 48 grams protein.
Smoothie Recipe #2: The Dr. Rhonda Patrick Smoothie
Rhonda Patrick has a PhD in biomedical science. She has done extensive research on the role micronutrient deficiencies play in inflammation, metabolism, and aging and has investigated whether supplementation can reverse DNA damage. This is the Rhonda Patrick smoothie that she and her husband drink every day.
What you’ll need:
- 8 kale leaves
- 3 cups of flax milk
- 4 rainbow chard leaves and stems
- 3 cups of baby spinach
- 1 medium tomato
- 2 carrots
- 1 apple
- 1 large avocado
- 1 cup of blueberries
- 1 banana
- 1 shot glass of flax seed
How to make it:
Place the 8 kale leaves and 3 cups of flax milk in the blender and pre-blend. Then add everything else.
Per serving: 1101 calories, 45 grams fat, 149 grams carbs, 57 grams fiber, 32 grams protein (view extensive breakdown here).
Smoothie Recipe #3: Matt Ogus’ “Popeye Shake”
Matt Ogus is a YouTube fitness figure and bodybuilder. Even though he’s a fun character, he takes his training and nutrition very seriously and is well connected with some of the smartest people in the fitness industry. He has been coached, for example, by Eric Helms, PhD., whose training and nutrition books I recommend all the time.
What you’ll need:
- 1 banana
- crushed ice
- water
- 2 scoops of whey protein powder
- 5g of creatine
- 100g raw spinach
- 50g of frozen blueberries (my addition)
How to make it:
Put it all in a blender and blend.
Per serving: 312 calories, 4 grams fat, 31 grams carbs, 6 grams fiber, 42 grams protein.
What did you think of the list? Do you have any go-to smoothie recipes? Leave a comment and let me know.