Healthy Pina Colada Smoothie
Recipe Guide

Benefits of a Healthy Fruit Smoothie. A healthy pina colada smoothie recipe will make you one of the most nutritious — and delicious — meals on earth. Healthy fruit smoothies are loaded with phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes that come in a whole-food form.

The fruits and vegetable blended together in healthy smoothie recipes provide vitamins, minerals, enzymes and fiber that will do wonders for your health — and build up your body’s defenses against disease.

In addition, when fruits and vegetables are blended, the plant fibers are broken down just like when you chew them; the blender literally does most of the “chewing” for you. And chewing food more thoroughly means that you'll absorb more of the nutrients.

Healthy fruit smoothies retain the fiber from the fruits and the vegetables you use. The fiber works to improve digestion and helps your body naturally rid itself of toxins. Fiber also helps you feel more satisfied, and maintains that feeling longer.

The main ingredients in a pina colada smoothie recipe — pineapples, bananas and coconuts — have plenty of nutritional benefits. The pina colada has been around for long enough to be considered a classic. This tropical recipe has a very enjoyable taste that makes for great healthy fruit smoothies as well.

Pineapples have exceptional juiciness and a vibrant tropical flavor that balances sweet and tart flavors. They are second only to bananas as America's favorite tropical fruit. Pineapples are an excellent source of manganese and vitamin C.

Bananas are one of the best food sources of potassium — the average banana contains 467 mg. They're also excellent source of vitamin B6, vitamin C and fiber.

Coconuts are nutritional gold mines. You can use coconut in any of its forms as ingredients in your smoothies. There's coconut water from young green coconuts, coconut milk, meat or coconut oil. Don't be concerned about coconut's high fat content — these are healthy fats, full of rare medium-chain fatty acids that are very beneficial. Coconut meat is also very high in fiber.

Orange Juice. Some pina colada smoothie recipes call for the use of orange juice. You should know that there are a lot of inferior orange juice products on the market, and you'll want to know how to choose the best ones if you want to create a health smoothie.

I've devoted an entire page on the processing of orange juice that you don't want to miss — it exposes the truth about the quality and freshness of the juice in your store. Read it here: Orange juice Facts

The pina colada recipes below use whole orange pieces instead of orange juice; that way, you get an unprocessed product and the beneficial fiber from the orange pulp as well.

Chilling Your Pina Colada Smoothie Recipe

There are two ways of chilling your healthy smoothie recipes: using frozen fruit — or adding ice cubes.

• Ice Cubes — a good way of thinning down a smoothie that's too thick and chilling it at the same time.

• Frozen Fruit — has the advantage of not diluting the taste, and also giving your smoothie a creamier texture. It's also very convenient to store cut-up fruit in your freezer, so you always have some on hand.

Optional Ingredients
for Pina Colada Smoothie Recipes

Protein Additives

Adding a quality source of protein turns your smoothie into a complete meal. I recommend raw organic eggs or a protein powder made from hemp, rice, peas or whey.

Hemp protein powder is a great way to add healthy omega 3 fats and fiber to your smoothie as well.

Undenatured whey is another excellent source of protein for your smoothies. Both whey and hemp protein are very mild tasting; the hemp powder is not as concentrated and will thicken up your smoothie quite a bit more than the whey protein will.

I don't recommend using cheap protein powders, especially any with artificial ingredients. The whey protein should be cold-processed (undenatured) and derived from grass-fed cows, free of hormones and chemicals. Cold-processing whey protects the nutrients in their natural state.

Antioxidant Superfoods

Green superfood powders like chlorella and spirulina make any smoothie a super-nutritious green smoothie. They give you the equivalent of several full-size servings of dark green leafy vegetables in just one tablespoon.

Superfood supplements like maca root, raw cacao, hemp, flax, chia seeds and others increase the antioxidant content and nutritional benefits of your smoothie in their own unique ways.

Antioxidant superfruits like acai, goji, mangosteen and noni, available as concentrated juices or powders, add lots more antioxidants and a natural fruit sweetness to your smoothies.

Other Great Additions for Your Healthy Smoothie

Coconut Oil is the healthiest fat there is. It contains lauric acid, a rare medium-chain fatty acid (also found in mother's milk) that has many health-protecting properties. Coconut oil gives your healthy smoothie a richer, creamier texture. Because coconut oil is solid below a temperature of 76 degrees F, it doesn't work as well in cold smoothies.

Herbs and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves have higher concentrations of antioxidants than any fruit or vegetable, and add a warm flavor to your healthy smoothie recipe.

Pina Colada Smoothie Recipes

Start by pouring the liquid ingredients for each smoothie recipe into your blender. Use fresh fruit or frozen. Add any of the optional ingredients recommended above, if you like — then blend!

Add more liquid to reduce the thickness, ice to chill it, or more fruit to thicken your blueberry smoothie. Substitute ingredients at your whim — it's fun to experiment!

Pina Colada Smoothie Recipe No. 1
1/2 cup frozen diced pineapples
1/2 cup coconut meat
1 frozen sliced banana
1/4 cup coconut water
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup ice

Pina Colada Smoothie Recipe No. 2
1 cup frozen pineapple pieces
1 frozen sliced banana
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup orange pieces
3 tbsp coconut meat

Pina Colada Smoothie Recipe No. 3
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 cup coconut milk
1 frozen sliced banana
1/4 cup ice cubes
2 teaspoons honey

Pina Colada Smoothie Recipe No.4
1/2 cup orange pieces
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 frozen sliced banana
1 cup frozen pineapple chucks