Souped-Up Smoothies

Inflammation Tamer

Navitas Organics Essential Superfood Blend Cacao & Greens

With a mixture of plant protein sources like flax, hemp and pea protein, an array of digestive enzymes and probiotics as well as antioxidant-rich greens such as kale and spinach, this blend accomplishes a lot. This mix in particular contains cacao, which contains antioxidant flavonols that are known to help reduce blood pressure and act as an anti-inflammatory and vasodilator, which means they open up the body’s blood vessels and arteries. A 2018 study in The FASEB Journal showed that cacao increases neuroplasticity through improved brain wave function, which affects memory, recall and cognition. Plus, no smoothie mix is complete without a dash of adaptogens — compounds that help you manage, or adapt, to stress. This blend contains maca, a root from Peru where it has been used for centuries to support energy, hormone balance and libido. $30, navitasorganics.com 

Energizer

Om Cordyceps

A sprinkle of ’shrooms will give any smoothie a superfood edge. Widespread in Eastern medicine, medicinal mushrooms are just recently becoming commonplace in North America – so much so that you’ll see them popping up in everything from drinks like smoothies and lattes to baked goods. While there are many varieties of mushrooms each with various effects, cordyceps is especially suited to a morning or pre-workout smoothie because of its energizing properties. In fact, a 2010 study in the Journal of Complementary Medicine showed that supplementation with cordyceps in older adults improved exercise performance. This particular brand is fermented, which helps increase digestibility. $25, ommushrooms.com

Gut Helper

Amazing Grass Green Superfood Detox & Digest

This superfood powder contains eight varieties of greens including wheatgrass, an edible grass from the wheat plant that is rich in antioxidant nutrients vitamins C and E and flavonoids. Added to the mix is a variety of nutrients to support gut health including enzyme-rich pineapple and licorice, used in Chinese medicine to boost digestion. It also contains fructooligosaccharides, or FOS, prebiotics that act as food for the healthy bacteria in the intestines, and acidophilus, a type of probiotic. $30, amazinggrass.com 

Free-Radical Fighter 

Barlean’s Antioxidant Seed Blend

This antioxidant blend contains a trifecta of vitamin C–rich heavyweights including acerola, or acerola cherry, from a shrub grown in South and Central America as well as acai and camu camu, both berries from the Amazonian rainforest. While they are all considered superfoods, camu camu is particularly potent – in fact, it’s the richest in vitamin C of any known food and high in carotenoids, including beta carotene and zeaxanthin. The blend also boasts flaxseeds, which adds a dose of fiber and coconut, a source of lauric acid, which has both antibacterial and immune-boosting properties. $12, barleans.com