Mango Lassi Smoothies Fight Inflammation
Mango Lassi Smoothie: boost your immune system and fight inflammation with this twist on a traditional Indian beverage.
Ingredients:
1 5.3 oz container, plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cup frozen mango
6 oz. unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
2 tsp. grated ginger or 2 pods frozen ginger, such as Dorot crushed ginger
1 tsp. ground turmeric
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Makes 1 serving.
This sweet and tangy smoothie packs a nutritional punch and makes for a perfect quick breakfast or post-workout snack. The ingredients in this smoothie help fight inflammation and keep your gut healthy. Here’s how this smoothie combats inflammation and boosts immunity:
Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is yogurt that has been strained of most its liquidy whey to produce a thicker, creamier yogurt texture with more protein per delicious spoonful. Yogurt is the result of fermenting milk with bacterial cultures, such as Streptococcus thermophilus (S. thermopiles), Lactobacillus bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus), L. acidophilus, L. casei; L. rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium animalis (B. animalis, or sometimes just “Bifidus”), and B. bifidum. These bacterial cultures are also known as probiotics, or helpful bacteria that aid digestion and prevent infection. Your digestive system contains 200 – 600 million neurons, more than are found in your spinal column. These neurons are communicating your gut health to your brain and immune system. This gut-to-brain communication affects your mood, perception of pain, sleep and cognitive function. Research has found that about 70% of our immune cells reside in our gut. Your gut bacteria teach your immune system to recognize something as harmful and foreign, such as pathogen, without attacking itself (a hallmark of autoimmune disorders such as celiac disease and ulcerative colitis). Fermented foods such as miso, sauerkraut, kombucha, kvass, kimchi and kefir are also great sources of probiotics. Probiotics also break down lactose, making fermented dairy products easier to digest for people with lactose intolerance.
Mango: The fiber in mango acts as a prebiotic. Prebiotics are foods that help probiotics thrive in your gut. A cup of mango contains 100% of the daily value for vitamin C and 35% of the daily value of vitamin A, both essential for healthy skin and hair. Mangoes contain the antioxidant zeaxanthin, which may protect your eyes by filtering out blue light rays that are linked to vision damage and age-related macular degeneration.
Ginger: The medicinal properties of ginger root have made ginger one of nature’s oldest remedies. Ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties are proven to reduce progressive muscle soreness with as little as two grams of ginger per day. The same amount of ginger was also shown to reduce fasting blood sugar by 12%. Another study showed that consuming 1 gram of ginger in the first 3 days of your menstrual period may alleviate menstrual pain as much as ibuprofen. Ginger also contains the enzyme zingibain, which aids in protein digestion.
Turmeric: the most bioactive component of turmeric is curcumin, a powerful antioxidant known for to fight inflammation. Curcumin is shown to:
- Block NF-kb, a molecule that “turns on” genes related to inflammation in cells.
- Increase levels of BDNF, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a hormone that protects your brain against depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Protect the integrity of blood vessel walls.
- Reduce cancer cell growth in vitro, inhibit tumor growth in animal studies, and reduce the number of pre-cancerous colon lesions in humans.
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