The cheap, unprocessed longevity smoothie a Blue Zone nutrition expert makes every morning
Breakfast smoothies are a hit with many longevity experts.
A Blue Zone doctor shared one of the simplest recipes: a blend of leftover fruit and nuts.
His technique takes minutes and doesn't involve any expensive powders or green drinks.
Dr. Joan Sabaté views breakfast as a daily opportunity to fuel up on some of the most important nutrient-dense food groups that support healthy longevity. His strategy is cheap, too.
Sabaté, a healthy-eating expert who was on the advisory committee that helped develop the US federal dietary guidelines for 2020-2025, said that a healthy breakfast doesn't have to be time-consuming or expensive. He lives in Loma Linda, California, the only longevity Blue Zone in the country, where local regulations have limited the sale of alcohol and slowed the rise of fast-food restaurants. Sabaté is also a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, a religion that prioritizes healthy eating habits and encourages its members to adopt plant-based diets.
Sabaté and his wife of 45 years have developed a trick for making effortless, nutrient-dense breakfast smoothies. His "fruit shake," as he calls it, involves a few leftovers, protein, and healthy fats that keep him going for hours.
"What we have is basically a simple meal," Sabaté, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health, told Business Insider. "It is not sophisticated — we don't eat ultra-processed foods."
A blender full of fruit and nuts is his longevity recipe
Sabaté's fruit-shake recipe fluctuates depending on the season and what's available at his local markets. But it always involves two core ingredients: leftover fruit (especially the overripe stuff that's about to go bad) and two heaping handfuls of nuts.
He usually chooses walnuts, a favorite of many longevity experts because they're rich in fatty acids, which are good for your brain and heart. He also tends to include a little bit of fresh-squeezed orange juice to get the mixture just right.
"That's a quick way to eat a lot of fruit, and maybe two servings of nuts," he said. Throughout the day, he rounds out his diet with vegetables, whole grains, and legumes like beans, which are another Blue Zone staple.
Sabaté knows science backs up his strategy. He has pioneered decades of clinical research demonstrating how nuts can improve heart health, and he's researching how nuts may also ease other chronic issues, including the inflammation and cognitive decline that often come with aging.
And he says fruits are nutritional powerhouses that can support healthy aging. Studies suggest that regularly eating berries may even help combat cognitive decline. The benefits of these foods go beyond what's listed on a back-of-the-box nutrition panel and can't be divided up neatly into the three basic macronutrient categories of carbs, protein, and fat.
"We don't eat macronutrients," he said. "We eat foods, and the foods carry with them many other nutrients."
Nuts contain lots of healthy monounsaturated fat, plus a good dose of protein.
"Besides that, they have minerals, they have vitamins, and they have phytochemicals," he said.
Nuts are nature's protein powder
To keep things interesting, Sabaté's wife likes to top off their smoothies with a sprinkle of crunchy cacao nibs for added texture and flavor.
Sometimes he'll add a dollop of yogurt for a calcium bonus, but he never boosts his smoothies with protein powders, supplements, or vitamin mixes. He's confident he can get what he needs from eating whole foods rich in protein and filled with fiber and other health-enhancing properties.
"We don't use soy protein or any of these foods that are already powder," he said. "Just nuts as nature has created it and fruit."
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