For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed my ever increasing smoothie posts that have been uploaded as of recent. Busy Burgher’s like myself often find themselves in a time crunch when it comes to meal prep. Since I normally hit Primal Fitness Pittsburgh in the wee hours of the morning, I often prepare my breakfasts in a slurp-able form to have readily available after wrapping up my morning sessions with my clients. I received a comment not too long ago from one of my followers asking me why I put Grassfed butter in my smoothies. I know. . .it DOES sound kind of odd, but there IS a bit of nutritional science behind this grass fed butter in my smoothie thing.
Allow me to elaborate.
From a fat-burning burning perspective, Grassfed butter is arguably one of the best fat sources you can eat. REAL TALK! The reason for that is because Grassfed butter is loaded with something called Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA for short). CLA has been proven to reduce body fat levels while preserving lean muscle mass. This is EXACTLY what you want to happen to your body when you are training hard at Primal Fitness Pittsburgh. Less fat and more muscle means a leaner you, and this will also add to that whole “looking good naked” bonus as well!
The CLA content in grassfed butter actually supports heart health! All the low fat nonsense that has plagued our society is finally starting to dissipate. Your heart needs healthy fat to keep your arteries in check. In case you don’t believe me, please take a look at this study. Not only can we burn more fat when we eat fat, but we can also keep risks of heart disease very low as well. I call this a healthy 1-2 punch!
Grassfed butter just plain tastes good! If you want a rich, creamy texture to your smoothie, try adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of grassfed butter to the mix. I promise you that you will be pleasantly surprised by how decadent your smoothie will turn out.
my go to grassfed butter these days is Kerrygold Irish butter. You should be able to pick this up at any local food market like Giant Eagle, Trader Joes, or Whole Foods. Now that we have some solid reasoning behind putting butter in your smoothie, check out this recipe below for a tasty on the go meal.
Strawberry Banana Butter Smoothie
1 banana
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 scoop formulx (vanilla or chocolate. your choice)
1-2 TBS Kerry gold Irish Butter
5 ice cubes
Directions: put all of the ingredients in a blended and mix well. Prep time should take a MAXIMUM of 5 minutes. Done!
Pro tip: Have this smoothie pre-workout. You will have a solid carb load before exercising and the butter will help slowly release the stored carbs for a nice, even fuel during your training. Last Saturday I had this exact smoothie before my RKC snatch test practice. I nailed 100 reps of 16kg snatches in 4 minutes and 27 seconds within an hour after consumption of the beverage. Previously, my time was 4:35. New personal record right there! I am telling you! It was the smoothie! I was stunned by the time!
Let me know what you think about this smoothie guys! Give it a try! I would LOVE to hear your feedback on this! Let me know what some of your favorite smoothie recipes are too! Until next time. . .
Master your instincts!
