RawMatt | “Beegan” Smoothies for Weight Loss + Muscle Gain

Smoothies are a fast, easy, and nutrient-dense way to reach your health and fitness goals, whatever they may be. So here are some tips and recipes to get you going.

TIP 1. Use REAL superfoods. Natural medicine revolves around the use of wildcrafted, potent herbs and plants (not expensive imported powders) to assist the body in maintaining health and healing any issues. The same should go for modern life, especially since we live in a more polluted environment than our ancestors and could use the extra help. The following herbs (in their powdered form) can be easily incorporated into smoothies in their proper medicinal dosage (typically 1/4 tsp. - 1 tsp. per smoothie): milk thistle seed, dandelion root, licorice root, schisandra, eleuthero, fo-ti, jiaogulan, bamboo, and nettle root. Just don’t use all these herbs at once — go for 1, 2, or 3 per smoothie. Herbs are a great passion of mine, and I will go into greater detail about them in another post, but for now, this should get you started (especially if you’d like to research them).

TIP 2. Make your own multivitamin. By adding rice bran solubles and/or bee pollen to your smoothie, you’re in for a huge nutrition boost. Both contain substantial amounts of minerals and B vitamins, which are quickly drained from the body during stressful times or excessive indoor work under artificial lighting. Raw, unfiltered honey is another awesome food, as it contains a wide array of vitamins (even Vitamin C), minerals, enzymes (precursors to amino acids, which are proteins), and essential brain food (glucose). Drop 1 Tbsp. of all of them in your next smoothie and enjoy!

TIP 3. Chew. In order to gain the maximum benefit from the herbs and other powerful foods you just blended up, it is best to drink your smoothie slowly and “chew” it. If you chew, the nutrients will be coated by your saliva, enabling your body to digest and assimilate those nturients better than if you were to guzzle your smoothie in 45 seconds. So take about 10-20 minutes to enjoy your liquid meal.

On to the smoothie recipes!

NOTE: the recipes are not vegan, as they contain raw, unfiltered honey (they’re “beegan”), but you may replace that with stevia or brown rice syrup

SMOOTHIE FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Smoothies are great for weight loss because they are quick, satisfying, low-calorie, and cold. Cold drinks tend to make the stomach shrink and forces the body to burn calories to heat the liquid to a suitable temperature. The following smoothie contains all the essential weight loss ingredients: berries for a sweet, high-fiber antioxidant boost; herbs to release water weight and enhance nutrient absorption; RBS and honey for a vitamin and mineral boost without all the calories; and fiber powders to slow digestion and make you feel full longer (which helps shed weight).

Try blending the following to your desired consistency and taste preferences:

Filtered Water + Ice (I use my own harvested spring water, or my house filtration system from Environmental Water Systems)
Blueberries | Raspberries | Blackberries | or Cherries - 1/2 cup-1 cup
Licorice Root Powder - 1/4 tsp.
Dandelion Root Powder - 1/2 tsp.
Dandelion Leaf Powder - 1/4 tsp.
Rice Bran Solubles - 1 Tbsp.
Raw, Unfiltered Honey - 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp.
Stevia Powder or Stevia Liquid - optional, add a little if more sweetness is desired
Apple Pectin Powder - 1 Tbsp.
Acacia Fiber Powder - 1 Tbsp.

SMOOTHIE FOR MUSCLE GAIN
Now that I am back in training full-time,  I drink 3-5 smoothies per day. The following recipe is one of my favorites for gaining muscle mass. I drink it BEFORE a workout and it helps greatly — I have gained 10 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks, while maintaining single-digit body fat %.

Want to convert this smoothie for post-workout? Omit the apple pectin, licorice root, and the rice bran solubles. You want your post-workout smoothie to contain a simple, straight shot of protein and good carbs for muscle repair and glycogen replenishment, respectively.

Filtered Water + Ice (I use my own harvested spring water, or my house filtration system from Environmental Water Systems)
Blueberries or Cherries - 2/3 cup - 3/4 cup
Licorice Root Powder - 1/4 tsp.
Rice Bran Solubles - 1 Tbsp.
Raw, Unfiltered Honey - 1 or 2 Tbsp.
Stevia Liquid - optional, add a little if more sweetness is desired
Apple Pectin Powder - 1 Tbsp.
Protein Powder - 1 scoop (about 2 Tbsp.)

It’s important to rotate your protein powders so you do not develop an allergy and provide optimum amino acid ratios. Your body can hang on to amino acids for 24 hours, so if you are consuming two or three types of protein in that time, you will enhance your absorption and usage. As I am no longer vegan (I do not consume meat or dairy, but I do use bee products and non-vegan protein sources), I rotate between pea, rice, egg white, and whey protein — for example, pea on Mondays, rice on Tuesdays, etc. Make sure all your protein powders come from a clean source — no maltodextrin, aspartame, “natural flavors,” and other junk additives — and if you choose to consume egg white or whey proteins, make sure there are no growth hormones or antibiotics used.

On a sidenote, bee pollen is also a great source of protein and one that you do not need to rotate. As long as you do not have an allergy to it, start with 1/4 tsp. per day and work up to 5 Tbsp. per day. I normally take 5-10 Tbsp. per day. I even experimented by eating a pound of bee pollen every day for 5 days to see what would happen and I felt phenomenal. I’m not necessarily recommending you do that, but bee pollen is a nutrient-rich, natural food that, if ethically harvested, is a great addition to anyone’s diet.

Enjoy! If you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me from my website. Take care, everyone.

ABOUT RAWMATT + DOMINANT HEALTH: (RawMatt.com) RawMatt is a professional athlete, certified personal trainer, master herbalist, author, and ordained Essene minister. His innovative recipes have been featured in bestselling books by Dr. Craig Sommers and Dr. David Jubb and he is the author of the popular book, Dominant Health. He has formulated products for the natural product line, BodyForce and is currently writing his next two books, due out in Fall 2009. He also operates a personal project called Epic Elixirs, where his handmade, hand-harvested wild honey and herb blends have repeatedly sold out in stores.