Boost your energy and health with this antioxidant-packed Green Tea Smoothie! Made with nutrient-dense spinach and mango, this smoothie is the perfect way to meet your nutrition goals! It’s a great source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Potassium. This Green Tea Smoothie is also ideal for mornings, with just the right amount of natural caffeine from the green tea.
I never really drank coffee in high school, but I started getting a cup every morning from my dining hall at college. Being in the honors program at my school, I faced a lot of pressure academically. So of course, I didn’t think anything of downing several cups of coffee every morning. But during the summer after my freshman year, I stopped drinking coffee cold-turkey. Why? Because I never thought to! I had never gotten into the habit of making coffee at home, so I didn’t start up again over summer break. And boy, was that a mistake. I had the WORST caffeine withdrawal – migraines, nausea, sleep difficulty. Even though I was an honors student, I was still 18 and pretty dumb. It took me a while to connect my symptoms with the fact that I had stopped drinking coffee abruptly #embarrassing.
Now, as an adult with their pre-frontal cortex fully developed, I have a much healthier relationship with caffeine. However, one thing I’m still bad about is drinking caffeine on an empty stomach. That’s a sure-fire way to get anxiety and jitters. But then I thought to myself – what if I intake food AND caffeine simultaneously? And that’s how this Caffeinated Green Tea Smoothie was born!
With this recipe, you get about 25-45 mg of caffeine from the green tea, and an additional 50-150 mg from the matcha if desired. But more importantly, the blended up mango, spinach, and chia seeds help regulate your body’s absorption of caffeine. Instead of getting the coffee jitters, drinking caffeine with food allows for a more controlled absorption. Enjoy!
Green Tea Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Frozen Mango
- 1/2 Banana
- 1/2 Cup Spinach
- 1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
- 1 Tbsp Matcha Powder optional
- 1 Cup Green Tea
- 2 Ice Cubes
- Water to thin as needed
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients into your blender and blend on high until completely smooth and creamy. Add in water as needed to thin if your blender gets stuck.
Notes
- Add in matcha powder for extra antioxidants and caffeine, if you’d like!
- Also feel free to sub in coconut milk or almond milk instead of water, to thin the smoothie if needed.
- If you don’t like bananas, add in 1/2 cup frozen pineapple instead.
Nutrition
Green Tea Smoothie FAQs
Can I put caffeine in a smoothie?
Yes! If you’re someone who likes to have caffeine in the morning, adding caffeine into a smoothie is a great option. Drinking caffeine on an empty stomach can cause digestive issues for many people. You can solve this problem by “eating” as you’re drinking caffeine – like in a smoothie!
Are green tea smoothies good for you?
Yes! Green tea is an incredibly nutritious food. It contains a type of polyphenol called catechin, which is a form of antioxidant. Among its benefits, green tea has been touted to aid in weight loss, help prevent certain types of cancer, promote anti-inflammatory activity in the body, and help prevent heart disease.
Is drinking a green smoothie everyday healthy?
It depends on the smoothie, but generally yes! Drinking a whole food smoothie like this one is your best bet. Unfortunately, many smoothies made at smoothie shops are made with added sugar. I really dislike that because fruit is naturally sweet in and of itself! This Green Tea Smoothie, for example, has a half banana, which is an excellent source of plant-based glucose. But unlike processed sugar, the banana has fiber to help regulate the body’s blood sugar levels.
What can make a smoothie unhealthy?
Added sugar! Like I said previously, adding sugar to a smoothie can rack up its carbohydrate level significantly, and unnecessarily. Sometimes I’ll add a small drop of honey or maple syrup to a smoothie if it’s made with really tart fruits, like cranberries or grapefruit. But in a smoothie like this that contains banana, extra sugar isn’t needed.
What fruits should not be mixed together?
I have drank hundreds, if not thousands, of smoothies by this point in my life. And I have yet to come across a fruit combination that doesn’t go well together!
P.S.
For more plant-forward recipes and New England lifestyle inspiration, be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok! If you make a recipe, please tag me in the photo and use the hashtag #wellandfull so I can see! I love seeing your creations!
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