Strawberry Vanilla Chia Smoothie

Valentine’s day is definitely considered a chocolate holiday – but if your Valentine isn’t into sweets, there are many other food options to treat them with. How about raspberry lemon muffins, or heart-shaped pancakes? Or, this pink-hued smoothie, perhaps? Sure it’s healthy, but that doesn’t discount its natural sweet flavour and milkshake texture (without the ice cream and added sugar of course).  It’s a true love potion for the heart; tastes delicious and has effects on the body…great effects!

As relayed in this article, on the benefits of chia seeds, the Cleveland Clinic found that chia seeds have been shown to improve blood pressure in diabetics, and may also lower total, LDL, and triglyceride cholesterol, and raise good HDL cholesterol. That’s good news folks.    

And the benefits of chia seeds doesn’t stop there! Here are five more reasons to add them to your smoothies and your diet in general.

5 More Reasons to Add Chia Seeds to Your Diet

  1. Fiber: An excellent source of fiber, chia seeds provide 10 grams in only 2 tablespoons
  2. Antioxidants: Chia seeds are rich in antioxidants that help protect the body from free radicals, aging and cancer
  3. Blood Sugar Regulation: Shown reduce insulin resistance and decrease abnormally high levels of insulin in the blood.
  4. Omega-3 Fatty Acids: The omega-3s in chia seeds can help reduce inflammation
  5. Calcium: A serving of chia seeds has 18 per cent of the recommended daily intake for calcium  

(source 1, source 2)

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Strawberry Vanilla Chia Smoothie

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  • Author: Emily Smith
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
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Description

A creamy, nutritious dessert-like smoothie.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 frozen strawberries
  • 1 cup of vanilla almond milk (or choice milk)
  • 2 Tbsp of ground chia seeds
  • 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
  • 6 ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Combine strawberries, almond milk, chia seeds, vanilla and ice. Blend until smooth. Pour into two large glasses and serve. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 5

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 2

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Have you tried chia seeds? Are they something that you already eat? This yummy smoothie is a great example of how easy they are to sneak into your regular eating habits. You can also try them as an egg replacer, or to make pudding. Enjoy!

Emily Smith
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25 Comments

  1. I recently tried chia seeds and was amazed by how much I liked them. I always thought they would be too slimy or gummy, but the texture wasn’t bad at all.

    This looks amazing. I love the combination of strawberry and vanilla (cherry and vanilla rocks too). I wouldn’t have even known there were chia seeds just by looking at it.

    Reply

    1. I absolutely want to make a cherry-vanilla smoothie…I’ve been CRAVING it!! No fresh cherries in the market though, and I haven’t found any frozen packages either…so I’ll have to wait until they come into store…but I agree, I love that combo. For this smoothie, I used ground chia seeds – so I use a coffee grinder to grind them. It’s a little bit less seed-like in the smoothie and adds almost a nutty flavour. If I don’t have time to grind them, I’ll just use them whole. They are a great add in!

      Reply

  2. If you ground the chia seeds, does that keep them from becoming little jello like balls? I’ve put them in my greek yogurt, but I have to eat it really fast because I don’t like the jello texture.

    This smoothie sounds really good! I love adding vanilla to smoothies.

    Reply

    1. Yes, the ground chia seeds have a way different texture – they add a nutty flavor to the smoothie, and don’t have the jelly effect on regular chia seeds. I do recommend buying them whole and grinding them at your leisure. If bought purchased ground already, they have a shorter shelf life!

      Reply

  7. Wow, this sounds and looks yummy. I have never been one to put chia seeds into my smoothie but it seems like you’ve convinced me! Thanks for including it in this post.

    Reply

  11. I’ll have to look out Chia seeds, as I’ve not come across them before. This sounds and looks delicious. Must get out my smoothie maker again – it’s languishing in our larder.

    Love your blog design by the way! #SITSBlogging

    Reply

    1. Oh, I hope you try it…I love smoothies, can you tell? Is it bad that I had to look up ‘larder’ in my dictionary? In Canada, I guess we refer to it as the pantry. But I do love learning new words! Thanks for visiting!

      Reply

  12. I haven’t tried chia seeds, but I usually put ground flax seed in my smoothies for extra fiber. I wonder if they’re comparable? This flavor combo sounds great, and it’s easy to keep frozen strawberries on hand in the winter.

    Reply

    1. I think they are both great add-ins for smoothies (and baking too!) – I would say they are comparable for fibre, but have different health benefits in of themselves, so it would be great to do both 🙂 I agree, frozen strawberries are a staple for the winter – especially when we’ve had a good summer season. Thanks for visiting Gina!

      Reply

  14. This looks delicious! I love chia seeds…and I love smoothies. I prefer coconut milk but, otherwise, wonderful.

    Thank you

    best,
    diane

    Dropping by from SITS girls today.
    #SITSBlogging

    Reply

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