5 Minutes
Cook Time:
None
Serves:
1 or 2 Servings, depending on whether you want to split it up into 2 meals
Level:
Beginner
The Best Protein Shake in the World
Prep Time:
About the Recipe
The FUEL Nutrition System is built on the philosophy that supplements are, for the most part, wholly unnecessary. We teach that natural, whole foods can supply just about all the nutrition even the hardest-training athlete needs.
There is, however, a place for protein shakes - actually, meal replacement shakes - in the System.
That's because they're quite handy. They can save you a lot of time, require almost no prep or cleanup time, and are fairly transportable.
They're also quite nutritionally sound, when made with quality ingredients.
If you use a high-quality meal replacement, or better, use the recipe below, you'll get a solid, decently-balanced dose of protein, good fats, fiber, and high-octane complex carbs for fuel.
That increases your odds of getting enough good stuff in to promote healing and recovery from hard training each day. And that’s a very good thing if you want to train hard and get as much benefit from your training as possible.
Ingredients
3/4 cup (about 4 servings, or 1/3 carton) organic, cage-free pasteurized Egg Whites; OR,
1 scoop (21 grams protein) FUEL Whey- or Plant-based Protein Powder
1/4 cup raw organic Oatmeal (I just throw in a handful of dry oats, you don't have to be really precise)
2 tablespoons raw Flax Seeds (or other nuts. or nut butters - ..this is for and some extra protein to both feed and provide satiety)
1 cup organic frozen Wild Blueberries
1 cup organic frozen Broccoli
1 cup Organic frozen Spinach
1 Medium Banana (6")
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon Cinnamon (depending on taste)
1 teaspoon raw Honey (optional, I don't need it but some like it sweet)
Some fresh Mint Leaves (also optional, but it helps to cover up the broccoli flavor if it’s too strong for you)
1/4 teaspoon, or a cap-full, Vanilla Extract (optional, sometimes I like it more, sometimes less)
About 8 ounces (1/2 cup) filtered Water (more if you're using a protein powder)
Get all the ingredients, the prep tools, and even the appliances you need for this recipe, delivered to your door in as little as 4 hours, in one click!
Preparation
Check out the stats on the nutrition summary on our shake, below - so much goodness in such an easy meal.
Egg Whites - Nature's Perfect Protein Shake
Our shake recipe uses egg white as its protein source - which turns out to be one of the most bio-available sources of protein on the planet. That is, as long as it's pasteurized.
Raw egg whites' protein peptide bonds are quite difficult for digestive enzymes to break down. Heating, even the gentle heating of pasteurization, takes egg white protein from as low as 55% bio-availability to upwards of 94% - a huge gain in digestibility and absorption. So, don't use raw egg whites. You're wasting almost half the food when you do.
Another benefit of using egg whites - it turns out they make a very nice shake! When you blend whites they liquefy, eliminating any weird sliminess that you might expect from egg whites. The other ingredients blend in to make a very smooth, rich shake that has a nice, clean mouth feel.
Protein Powder - A Great Alternative If You Just Can't Do Raw Egg Whites
I get a lot of push-back when I try to get some people to try this recipe, because they’re afraid the egg whites will be gross. What I tell them is this: I'll bet you fifty bucks you can't tell they're in there. And I win that bet every time (nobody's ever taken it :).
If you really can't stomach eating pastuerized but otherwise raw egg whites, you can simply substitute our protein powder. The whey version is sourced from grass-fed New Zealand cows, or try our plant-based powder, made from whole,
plants and botanicals.
It’s also (understandably) hard to imagine how anything with broccoli and blueberries could possibly taste good.
But it does taste really good. You’ll have to try it for yourself to verify that these shakes are actually quite delicious. And, you really won’t be able to tell the egg whites are in there, I promise!
The Recipe
The recipe below is for a basic meal replacement-type shake. You can add or switch out whatever you like to this basic recipe - we'll suggest some good stuff at the end of the article.
Directions: Combine all ingredients in your Vitamix or blender. Blend until the oats and flax seeds are completely blended in. Flax seeds in particular need to be broken down well – they won’t digest otherwise.
You may have to push down the frozen ingredients to get them to mix – you can add a little more water to help your blender mix everything.
Macronutrient Breakdown
(% Carb/Fat/Protein): 56/17/27
Things You Can Add
Greek yogurt works really well to make this even more creamy and delicious, if you can tolerate the dairy. Instead of the frozen blueberries, try any other frozen fruit - Costco has organic frozen cherries that are incredible (and affordable), as well as pineapple, pears and peaches.
You can use any green you like to replace the spinach - to either change the flavor or the nutrient content.
If you want to reduce the calories a bit, use just a half a banana and use Stevia instead of honey. You can also reduce the oats by half if you want fewer carbs, or just eliminate them all together if you're having some other starchy carb with your meal.
You can substitute other good fats for the flax seeds - try hemp hearts. They're packed full of nutrition, taste great in a shake (they're pretty subtle, in fact), and add an additional dose of protein if you need more than this shake already has. Any other seeds or nuts will do well too. Peanut butter is also crazy good in this.
Or, you can eliminate the fats all together to bring the calories way down – the flax seeds by themselves are 118 calories. Just beware not getting enough good fat in your diet. Later in the day, make up for taking it out here if you need to.
At more than 500 calories, you can divide this into two small meals over the course of 5 or 6 hours, and get super-high nutrition for very little caloric intake if you’re trying to drive fat burn.
Either way, if you down just one of these per day, you’ll go a long way toward ensuring you’re getting maximal nutrition every day, whatever the rest of your daily diet looks like.
That shouldn’t be too hard to do. These are easy to make, fast, store well (even overnight), and they taste a lot better than you would think, given the somewhat unusual (kind of weird, even, I admit) combination of foods.
Eat one or two of these a day, and I guarantee a noticeable improvement in your training, recovery, and general well-being. They'll set ya free!
