Anti Inflammatory Smoothie Recipe

This anti inflammatory smoothie recipe combines super foods like cherries and flaxseed with tasty and nutritious strawberries and pineapple for an inflammation fighting and delicious smoothie! And with little to no prep, this pineapple cherry smoothie it makes great anti inflammatory breakfast or snack.

How The Ingredients Help With Inflammation?

Tart Cherries:	If you google ‘foods that can help prevent gout attacks’, tart cherries are pretty much number one. Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis that attacks the joints. Cherries have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, hypouricemic effects, and the ability to downregulate NFkB-mediated osteoclastogenesis (1). Thats one reason why this cherry smoothie recipe is so good!
Flaxseed Meal	Two tablespoons of flaxseed meal contains more than 140% daily value of the inflammation-reducing omega-3 fatty acids. They are also high in fiber and lignans. Lignans have antioxidant properties, and have been considered to potentially lower the risk of some cancers. (2)
Pineapple	Pineapple is LOADED with vitamin C! Pineapple also contains Bromelain, a protein digesting enzyme. Studies demonstrate that bromelain exhibits various fibrinolytic, antiedematous, antithrombotic, and anti-inflammatory activities. In laymen’s terms, pineapple helps to fight blood clots, edema and inflammation! It has even been shown to help relieve inflammation associated with arthritis and possesses some anticancerous activities! (3)
Strawberries	A study was done on the effects of consuming strawberries with diagnosed osteoarthritis. After consuming strawberries every day for an extended period of time, interleukin, a biomarker of inflammation and cartilage degradation, and matrix metalloproteinase, was significantly decreased, demonstrating improvements in arthritis associated inflammation! (4)

Citations:

(1) Collins, M. W., Saag, K. G., & Singh, J. A. (2019). Is there a role for cherries in the management of gout?. Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease, 11, 1759720X19847018. https://doi.org/10.1177/1759720X19847018

(2) Lowcock EC, Cotterchio M, Boucher BA. Consumption of flaxseed, a rich source of lignans, is associated with reduced breast cancer risk. Cancer Causes Control. 2013 Apr;24(4):813-6. doi: 10.1007/s10552-013-0155-7. Epub 2013 Jan 25. PMID: 23354422.

(3) Pavan, Rajendra et al. “Properties and therapeutic application of bromelain: a review.” Biotechnology research international vol. 2012 (2012): 976203. doi:10.1155/2012/976203

(4) Schell, Jace et al. “Strawberries Improve Pain and Inflammation in Obese Adults with Radiographic Evidence of Knee Osteoarthritis.” Nutrients vol. 9,9 949. 28 Aug. 2017, doi:10.3390/nu9090949

What This Means To Me:

So I don’t usually put any anecdotal writings in my recipe blog posts, because I know that is not what you are here for. But in this case, I figured I would.

I worked in physical therapy for the last 5 years. I have worked with people with HUNDREDS of injuries and illnesses, and have seen my fair share of pain and suffering. But one of the hardest diseases processes to attempt to help, for me, was arthritis. The inflammation associated with osteoarthritis causes SO much pain, and significantly debilitates people.

I had patients who had NO other health problems, ONLY arthritis, that were bound to a wheel chair. Every step we would try to take was a painful reminder of the constant state of inflammation in their joints. I could even hear their bones grinding together, as their cartilage had been eaten away by inflammation.

Researching the ingredients for this recipe has given me some hope. Knowing that there were studies that showed how daily consumption of strawberries, flaxseed, pineapple and tart cherries helped to relieve pain in osteoarthritis suffers is absolutely amazing. And seeing how the studies showed a decreases in inflammatory biomarkers in the patients blood, is just astounding.

Diet plays a HUGE roll in how our bodies react do different diseases processes. And while exercise and strengthening can help some, it is good to know that there are foods out there that have been PROVEN to aid in the pain and suffering of arthritis. That is why this quick anti inflammatory recipe means so much to me.

How To Make This Anti inflammatory Smoothie Recipe:

Just toss it all in a blender and blend away! Make sure to cut off the strawberry tops first, and if you are using fresh cherries, they need to be pitted (I know, such a tedious task). To save myself time, and the risk of ingredients going bad, I used frozen pineapple and frozen cherries!

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If you are in need of a new blender, this Ninja Professional 72 Oz Countertop Blender is the one I use. For the price, it is honestly the best blender I have ever tried!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do I have to use fresh fruit?	Not at all! Frozen saves a lot of time and reduces waste. I always have a bag of frozen pineapple and frozen cherries in my freezer for when I want a delicious smoothie, and you should too!
What is the difference between flaxseeds and flaxseed meal?	Flaxseed MEAL is ground up flax seeds. It has been suggested that flaxseed meal is better absorbed by the body, as whole flaxseeds can pass directly through our digestive tract. For this recipe, if you only have flaxseeds, just process them in a food processor until you get meal! Or don’t! It’s going to be blended in a blender anyway.
Can I make this a dairy free smoothie?	OF COURSE! Just swap out the milk for your favorite dairy free milk. Or substitute it for water!
What If I don’t have tart cherry juice?	Organic tart cherry juice can be hard to come by, trust me, I know. If you can’t find it, don’t worry about it. Just omit it from the recipe, no harm done.
Is this anti inflammatory smoothie LOW SUGAR?	No, unfortunately it is not low sugar. While there is no refined sugar in this recipe, the fruits themselves do contain sugar. 1 cup of pineapple alone has about 16 grams of sugar. So if you are on a low sugar diet, you might want to sit this one out.

Did you like this anti inflammatory smoothie recipe?! If so, you should go check out my healthy cherry mug cake recipe! It has a lot of similar ingredients!