Delicious Pregnancy Smoothies for Baby’s Development
The Best Nutritious Smoothies for Pregnancy
Are you aware of the healthiest foods for pregnant women? While it may be easy to guess, do you know how to blend them optimally for easy digestion and maximum nutrient absorption?
This article will guide you on creating protein-rich smoothies that can promote a healthier baby, nourish your body with essential nutrients, and even help reduce morning sickness.
You’ll also discover recipes featuring ingredients like ginger, turmeric, honey, and cinnamon, all scientifically proven to alleviate pregnancy-related nausea.
This post may contain links to items I own and love and am confident will benefit you immensely. Please read full disclosure here.
What is a Pregnancy Smoothie?
A pregnancy smoothie is specifically crafted to meet the nutritional needs of a pregnant woman and her growing baby.
While there are countless smoothie recipes available, some can be as unhealthy as a large bowl of ice cream, whereas others are packed with easily digestible nutrients that would be difficult to consume in a single meal.
Pregnancy smoothies keep the important aspects of prenatal nutrition in mind when their recipes are created. Things like the amazing tips and tricks to growing a more healthy baby that you can learn in The Perfect Pregnancy Plan.
The most revolutionary prenatal nutrition and fitness plan that is the only prenatal diet plan built around what we now know about epigenetics during pregnancy.
The Perfect Pregnancy Plan highly recommends including pregnancy smoothies into your diet and tells you all the tricks and tips to making the most healthy pregnancy smoothie, some of which I’ll share here!
How to Build the Perfect Pregnancy Smoothie
All the smoothie recipes in this post are both healthy and delicious, perfect for enjoying during your pregnancy. However, there are a few key ingredients you should incorporate into every pregnancy smoothie to ensure you and your growing baby receive optimal nutrition with every sip.
Add Chia Seeds into Your Pregnancy Smoothies
Chia seeds are good for you. They give you protein that is needed to grow a healthy baby. Chia seeds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, dietary fiber, calcium, folic acid.
Chia is a vegan source of omega-3 fatty acids which provide similar benefits for pregnant moms as fish oil does. But they sure are a lot easier to stomach.
Chia seeds are one of the top 5 foods that you should be eating daily while pregnant.
Add a Spinach Puck into Your Pregnancy Smoothies
A spinach puck is a way to add more nutrition to your smoothies. Pucks can be made by first cooking spinach, then blending it together, then placing the spinach into an ice cube tray. From there they can be stored in a bpa free freezer bags or bpa free tupperware in the freezer and added into your smoothies.
Why cook the spinach?
When spinach is cooked you absorb more of the nutrients in it. And spinach packs a TON of nutrition into it’s little leaves.
The only time I would suggest omitting this special pregnancy smoothie ingredient is if you’re experiencing nausea. While spinach is usually quite tasteless in smoothies, your heightened sense of smell and taste during pregnancy might make it more noticeable.
RELATED: a Dozen Moms Weight in on the Best Tricks for Morning Sickness
Add a High Quality Protein Powder to Your Pregnancy Smoothies
Protein powder should be included in every pregnancy smoothie. Our bodies need protein to create new cells, including those for your baby. To support the growth of a healthy baby, a substantial amount of protein is required, and protein powder is an easily digestible way to meet this need. Many women find meat unappealing, particularly in the first trimester, though it’s essential to incorporate it into your prenatal diet.
Additionally, smoothies tend to become loaded with sugar (even natural sugar can spike your blood sugar) as we add in various fruits. Frequent spikes in blood sugar can be detrimental to your growing baby.
Adding protein and healthy fats to the smoothies helps your blood sugar to elevate at a slower and remain at a more sustained level for longer.
But you can’t drink just any protein powder while pregnant. Be sure you are choosing a high quality protein powder perfect for pregnancy.
The Best Healthy Pregnancy Smoothie Recipes
Instructions and Tips to Making the Best Healthy Pregnancy Smoothies:
All of these these smoothies are super fast and simple to make and have the same instructions. So I’m just going to add them in once.
Add all items into a blender like my favorite Ninja and blend until smooth.
- I suggest adding the wet ingredients first because the dry ones tend to stick to the edges otherwise.
- Another tip is to add frozen fruit after the wet ingredients and to chop it into small pieces. This helps prevent the blades from getting stuck while chopping up the frozen fruit.
- If the smoothies are too thick, you can always add water until you reach your desired consistency.
- Conversely, if you prefer a thicker smoothie, add ice cubes and blend until smooth.
- You can also add a healthy sugar alternative to these smoothies, as long as it’s not artificial. The best choices are stevia, monk fruit, and xylitol.
- Allowing the chia seeds to sit for a few minutes (up to 10) before or after blending will also help thicken the smoothie.
1. Pineapple Sunrise Pregnancy Smoothie
- 1 cup of Greek Yogurt
- 1/2 c. milk of choice
- 1/2 cup of ice
- 2 tbsp. of chia seeds
- 2 spinach pucks
- handful of fresh mint leaves, stems removed
- a few pineapple chunks
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2. Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pregnancy Smoothie
- 2 cups of milk of choice
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 tbsp. of vanilla extract, or almond extract– whatever you prefer!
- 2 tbsp. chia seeds
- 2 tbsp. natural peanut butter
- 1 spinach puck
- 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
- 3-5 ice cubes
3. Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pregnancy Smoothie
- 1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries
- 1 cup of milk of choice
- 2 oz of a baker’s chocolate bar
- 1/2 frozen banana
- optional: 1 scoop of baker’s cocoa
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 spinach puck
- 1 scoop of vanilla OR chocolate protein powder
4. Frozen Avocado Cherry Bomb Smoothie
- 1 cup of fresh or frozen cherries
- 1/4 frozen avocado
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 spinach puck
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 8 oz. milko of choice
- water/ice to taste
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
5. Morning Sickness Smoothie from Plant Based Juniors
6. Pineapple Ginger Morning Sickness Smoothie from Salty Canary
This tropical smoothie is fresh and super cold because you freeze most of the fruit. It is super refreshing and should calm that morning sickness with a delicious healthy option.
From a nutritional standpoint, I ALWAYS recommend adding chia seeds, a spinach puck, and protein powder to your pregnancy smoothies. However, I modify this suggestion when you’re dealing with morning sickness or all-day nausea during pregnancy.
I would leave out the extra nutrition and focus on following these recipes to aid nausea. However, if they do not include any protein powder I would definitely add a scoop of vanilla protein powder in. The boost in protein can aid morning sickness as well.
7. Orange Anti-Sickness Smoothie from Meraki Lane
I really like the inclusion of coconut water in this pregnancy smoothie recipe. Chances are that if you are suffering from morning sickness there has been some puking going on. Stripping your body of electrolytes. The absolute best way to replenish those in a healthy way is through coconut water. There are a lot of really beneficial drinks for pregnancy like that that are amazing to include in your prenatal diet.
RELATED: More Pregnancy Smoothie Recipes that Are Super Healthy
Wrapping Up the Best Healthy Pregnancy Smoothies
Pregnancy often brings increased cravings for sugary foods, but with healthy pregnancy smoothies, there’s no need to worry. Healthy fats, such as those from chia seeds and omega-3 fatty acids in your vegan protein powders, will help stabilize your blood sugar. This not only supports the growth of a healthier baby but also provides you with more energy during this exciting time.
When making these delicious drinks, try adding spinach pucks and healthy fats for an added nutrient boost to every sip!
Remember when choosing your ingredients that it is best to use high quality ones with no artificial additives–you’ll want food sources rich in nutrients for both you and your growing baby. These recipes should give you plenty of ideas on how to start mixing up some new favorites!
