Pregnancy Smoothies for Growing a Healthy Baby

The Best Healthy Smoothies for Pregnancy

Do you know what the healthiest foods are for pregnant women? It’s not hard to guess, but do you know how to best blend them together so they can be most easily digested and provide the needed nutrients?

This article will teach you about protein-rich smoothies that can help you grow a more healthy baby, fuel your body with nutrients, and even reduce morning sickness. You’ll also find recipes with ingredients like ginger, turmeric, honey and cinnamon which have all been scientifically proven to ease nausea in pregnancy.

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 a smoothie that is specially designed with a pregnant woman’s and/or her growing baby’s nutritional needs in mind. There are all kinds of smoothie recipes out there.

Some are just as bad for you as having a huge bowl of ice cream while others are loaded with more easily digestible nutrition than you could ever manage to get into 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 healthy and delicious smoothies that you can drink during your pregnancy. But there are a few special ingredients that you should add into every pregnancy smoothie that you make so that you and your growing baby are getting optimal nutrition in every glass.

 

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 recommend leaving this special pregnancy smoothie ingredient out is if you are suffering from nausea. Though spinach is typically pretty tasteless in smoothies, there’s a good chance you’ll notice it with the enhanced sense of smell and taste during pregnancy.

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 added to every pregnancy smoothie. Our bodies use protein to create new cells, including those for your baby. We require a lot of protein to grow a healthy baby and protein powder is an easy to stomach way to get there. Many women are turned off by meat (especially in the first trimester), though it is important to include in your prenatal diet anyways.

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.

1. I recommend adding the wet ingredients first because the dry ones have a tendency to stick to the edges otherwise.
2. Another tip is to add and frozen fruit after the wet ingredients and to chop it small. This helps to prevent the blades getting stuck as they chop up the frozen fruits.
3. You can always add water to these recipes until you get your desired consistency if they are too thick.
4. Conversely, if you prefer a thicker smoothie, add ice cubes and blend until smooth.
5. You can always add a healthy sugar alternative to these smoothies as well. That refers to anything that is not artificial. The best choices are stevia, monk fruit, and xylitol.
6. If you let the chia seeds sit for a few minutes (up to 10, before or after blending they will thicken the smoothie as well.

 

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. 

While on a nutritional standpoint I ALWAYS suggest putting chia seeds, a spinach puck, and protein powder into your pregnancy smoothies I change that suggestion when dealing with morning sickness. Or all day whenever it wants to strike sickness 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.

 

Wrapping Up the Best Healthy Pregnancy Smoothies

Pregnancy can be a time of increased cravings for sugary foods, but if you are eating healthy pregnancy smoothies, then there’s no need to worry. Healthy fats like chia seeds and omega-3 fatty acids in your vegan protein powders will help keep your blood sugar stable so that you help grow a healthier baby and have 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!

 

More Prenatal Nutrition Articles You’ll Love

• The Pros and Cons of Drinking Shakeology While Pregnant
• 5 Surprising Foods You Should Avoid Eating During Pregnancy
• Surprising Drinks to Avoid While Pregnant