10 Smoothie Ingredients Nutritionists Want You to Use ...

If you're going to make a healthy smoothie, you need to put the right ingredients in it. What should you be using? Well, according to Real Simple, here are a few smoothie ingredients suggested by nutritionists:

1 Fresh Sweet Cherries

Try making a smoothie with avocado, spinach, lime, and some fresh cherries.

2 Wild Blueberries

Try using skim milk, low fat cottage cheese, baby spinach leaves, wild blueberries, flax seed, and maple syrup.

3 Ginger

You should put together vanilla soy milk, vanilla whey protein, fresh cut ginger, and lime zest.

4 Kiwi

Try using vanilla almond milk, a banana, spinach, mint leaves, lime juice, kiwi, and nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt.

5 Almond Butter

Use unsweetened chocolate almond milk, raw cacao powder, frozen banana, chocolate whey protein powder, and almond butter.

6 Carrots

Use frozen pineapple, a banana, orange juice, Greek yogurt, and chopped carrots.

7 Dragon Fruit/Pitaya

Put together some bananas, pineapple, vanilla yogurt, water, trail mix, and dragon fruit.

8 Apricots

The first fruit that comes to mind with smoothies is bananas, however, apricots should definitely be in your smoothie supply. Apricots are great sources of potassium which can help lower blood sugar and decrease bone loss over time.

9 Citrus

We all know citrus fruits-oranges, lemons, grapefruits-are packed full of Vitamin C; but did you also know they contain folate and fiber in vast quantities as well? Well now you do! :) Great for GI Health, muscle/collagen repair, and body cell production, you can't go wrong with citrus in a smoothie.

10 Flax Seed

Flax seed is great if your an athlete looking to fight inflammation with your morning smoothie. Even if you're not an athlete flax seeds can help build your immune system as well. Just grind up before throwing in your smoothie and you're good to go!

What do you usually put in your smoothies?