Question?
Kevin, If a young working adult wanted to make a daily morning shake on a budget, what are the absolute essential ingredients and supplements you would include that don’t break the bank and ensure that I am getting the essential nutrients?
What Are The Essential Ingredients Of The Shake On a Budget?
If you follow my blog you know that I believe if you do nothing else for your health, you should start the day with the “Morning Shake”. I promise this one step will lead you down the path to better health and will also lead to other positive health changes down the road. It is an amazing way to start your day and “supercharge” your body with amazing nutrients and cell building foods all at one time. A good way to look at it is even if you don’t eat the healthiest the rest of the day, you are way better off as you have already put these amazing healing foods in your body. For my full recipe on the Morning Shake, you can access it here:http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/the-morning-shakenew-recipe/
I was sent the above question and it is a great one as it may be a budget issue, a time issue or not wanting to purchase so many ingredients for the shake. I often scale down my ingredients to the “essentials” when travelling as it is difficult to bring all of my regular ingredients on a trip.
I will split my answer into 2 parts based on whether you exercise or not. The reason I am splitting it this way is I suggest adding a few key ingredients for recovery if you have a workout.
Basic Shake for Non Exercise Day
1.Frozen Fruit – I alternate between different fruits such as Strawberries, Blueberries, and Mixed Fruit
2.Veggies – I use different vegetables such as spinach, kale, spring mix or any veggies I have on hand. Sometimes I throw in my leftover salad or veggies from the night before.
3.Protein Powder – I typically use one scoop of a Plant Based protein.
4.Healthy Fats – Chia Seeds, Hemp Seeds, Flax Seeds – I typically use one or two of these and rotate them. I usually include a Tablespoon.
Fill the blender to the top and blend away and enjoy!\
Added ingredients for recovery from Exercise
One of the most important components of exercise is recovery. Recovery comes from sleep but also comes from consuming the right ingredients following a workout. I often wonder how I can feel so good and recover the day after a really intense training session. I find that if I have good recovery through sleep and diet, I am able to have another great high performance workout the following day.
1.Glutamine – this assists in recovery and I typically have a 5 gram scoop.
2.Tumeric – this is proven to reduce inflammation and aid in recovery. I typically have 1 or 2 tablespoons in my shake daily.
3.Maca Powder – to aid in recovery and I typically just have one scoop
Some of these ingredients appear to cost quite a bit however since I incorporate such small quantities as outlined above, they last for months before I need to replace them. I also suggest purchasing some of these items in bulk where possible as you will pay much less for the ingredients.
If you visit my full daily shake recipe, you will see that I have eliminated many ingredients in the above outline however I believe these are the essentials that are affordable and won’t break the bank as our reader had asked.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have regarding the shake.
Wilson enjoying his Shake!
I have shared a picture of our dog Wilson that has been joining me in my morning shake for years. He is now 17 years old and still going strong!
Yours in great health, Kev
