7 incredible reasons to add raisins in your kiwi smoothie

This incredibly easy and healthy yogurt smoothie will be perfect for your breakfast! It's packed with healthy fats and proteins and heaped up with lots of fiber to keep you satiated the whole morning.

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Smoothies are always ideal drinks to take while in the run, and you want to boost your vitamin intake, go slow on digestion or even improve your bowel movements! 

They're quick to prepare (especially when you have a good blender) and very filling while you have your vegetable intake to begin your day.

In this kiwi yogurt smoothie with raisins, I'm proposing you a smoothie that's full of health benefits, the kind of smoothie that's sweet yet doesn't spike your blood sugar!

I know you might be wondering how a smoothie with raisins could be healthy, right? We all know that raisins are high in sugar! 

Keep on reading to discover 7 incredible reasons to add raisins to your daily menu. They're great to snack on, to add to your smoothies, and to replace sugar like in this parsnip pancake recipe. 

Sometimes I get people asking me how to make a smoothie without bananas. Bananas seem to be the easy-to-go fruits for sweetening smoothies, but you can substitute them with other fruits like mangoes or pineapples.

I do love bananas, but I like using raisins in my smoothies even though they don't lend the smoothies creamy as bananas do.

However, I add yogurt, avocado, chia seed, or even spinach for creaminess. This kiwi smoothie is creamy and not overly sweet because I heap up my blender with greens.

The advantage of using raisins in your smoothie is that you will just need a few raisins, whereas you might need 2 bananas to sweeten the same smoothie recipe.

7 incredible reasons to add raisins to your diet

Despite being high in sugar, you'll be surprised to learn how beneficial it could be to add some raisins to your diet;

1. Raisins are high in dietary fiber, rich in minerals like iron, copper, and potassium. They're high in vitamins B1, B2, and B6. I compared dates with raisins, and I found that raisins are higher in most nutrients than dates,
2. They're rich in polyphenols and phenolic acids, which offer you antioxidants that can reduce inflammation. 
3. Raisins are a source of prebiotics like inulin which promotes gut health by feeding your gut microbiome and can also help prevent colon cancer.
4. Raisins have low to moderate GI (Glycemic Index) depending on if you're active or living a sedentary lifestyle. The GI can range from 50 to 69
5. Furthermore, studies done on people with diabetes on a low GI diet conclude that including raisins in these people's diet did not raise their blood glucose levels!
6. Several studies conclude that "raisin intake is accompanied by reductions in serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and oxidized low-density cholesterol values. Thus, raisins have the potential of significantly reducing the risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular disease." Pubmed
7. One clinical study documents that raisin intake over 12 weeks is accompanied by a significant reduction in blood pressure.

Ingredients to substitute for this kiwi smoothie

• Flax seeds; you can use chia seeds.
• Almond; go for cashew nuts or walnuts.
• Bok choy; replace these with kale or lettuce.
• Mint; if you love parsley or cilantro, go for them, even though mint has a specific flavor that you won't get with other herbs.

As you can see, this kiwi yogurt smoothie with raisins can be a great healthy breakfast even for someone with diabetes. I hope you'll love it as I do and reap all its benefits.

Let me know your thoughts by commenting here below, till next, stay well.

You've the power to heal yourself, Githu.

Enjoy these super healthy smoothies

• Delicious cherry chocolate smoothie
• Protein rich vegan smoothie
• Zucchini oat meal smoothie for breakfast

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 11 votes

7 incredible reasons to add raisins in your kiwi smoothie

This incredibly easy and healthy yogurt smoothie will be perfect for your breakfast! It's packed with healthy fats, proteins and heaped up with lots of fiber to keep you satiated the whole morning,

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Total Time10 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Drinks

Cuisine: American, anti-inflammatory, French

Diet: Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: avocado smoothie, kiwi smoothie, no banana smoothie, smoothie with mint, smoothie without banana, spinach smoothie, yogurt smoothie

Servings: 2 people

Calories:

Author: Githu

Cost: 5$

Equipment

• A high speed blender
• A knife
• A chopping board

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons flax seeds
• ½ cup almonds (soaked and rinsed)
• ½ cup raisins soaked in a cup of water
• a handful of fresh spinach leaves
• 2 small bok choy leaves only
• 2 kiwifruit (peeled and cut into quarters)
• 1 medium avocado (skin & seed removed)
• 100 grams yogurt
• a few mint leaves
• ½ lemon (squeezed to obtain its juice)
• water as much as you need

Instructions

• Clean all the veggies and fruits
• Put in your blender the flax seeds and blend them alone
• Add the raisins in their soaked water plus the rinsed almonds, blend
• Bring the rest of the ingredients, add 2 cups of water then blend
• Keep on adding little water a time until you get the consistency that you want. Less water will yield a creamy smoothie while extra water will give a running smoothie
• Serve immediately and enjoy

Notes

• Soaking time is not included in the preparation. Soak the almonds and raisins separately for a minimum of 30 minutes, otherwise, soak them overnight.