Honest hour – I’m not a huge fan of smoothies. I mean, they’re fine. But I like to chew my food and sweet flavors don’t really jazz me, ya know? So when I’m gonna have a smoothie, I’m gonna have a SMOOTHIE. And by that, I mean it needs to be full of the good stuff. Not just a bunch of frozen fruit and almond milk.

By “good stuff” in this case, I’m talking about heavy cream. Stay with me.

We’re making a milkshake for breakfast.

Did you know that eating full-fat dairy has been shown to actually REDUCE your chance of gaining weight? And why? Because fat keeps you full. I talk all about why eating fat often is so important here and here, but I recommend getting a solid 1-2 servings with each meal and snack. That’s about 10-20 g of fat. And you may even need more.

Also, not only is full-fat dairy not “bad” for your heart, it’s been shown to actually REDUCE your risk of heart disease and raise HDL cholesterol (the good stuff). And if you’re lactose sensitive? Full-fat dairy actually has less lactose than low-fat dairy, so it’s more easily tolerated.

But what I love most about full-fat dairy, is that the more fat the dairy has, the less sugar it has, making it SO much better for blood sugar control. And better blood sugar control = a faster burning metabolism! Oh, and it also tastes a hell of a lot better than its low-fat or fat-free counterparts.The more fat, the better.

So, this is why you’ll often see me on my Instagram story pouring heavy cream into my coffee. When we’re talking dairy, the more fat, the better.

Also – while I don’t push buying organic and grass-fed meat because I know the price is not accessible to everyone, I HIGHLY recommend buying organic dairy products. Heavy cream and half and half are almost always available as organic, it’s not much more expensive, and organic dairy farms are required to use 100% organic feed, no growth hormones and no antibiotics. It’s just pure, fatty goodness. And if you can find cream from grass-fed cows, their milk will contain more omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which is so good for our hearts.

This creamy blueberry smoothie is packed full of protein, healthy fats and fiber-rich carbs.

Protein – good quality vanilla protein powder (I’ve been using this grass-fed whey) + full-fat Greek yogurt

Healthy Fat– heavy cream (plus some extra from the yogurt)

Fiber-rich carbs – blueberries

This blueberries n’ cream smoothie is so rich and creamy, and makes a great breakfast or midday snack!

Blueberry Cream Smoothie

Author: Megan Hansen, RDN, DL

Prep time: 2 mins

Total time: 2 mins

Serves: 1

This 5-ingredient, rich and creamy smoothie could almost pass as dessert. It’s low in sugar, rich in healthy fat and fiber and will keep you full all morning.

Ingredients

• 3/4 c frozen blueberries

• 1/4 c full-fat Greek yogurt (recommended: Fage)

• 1/4 c organic heavy cream

• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (recommended: grass-fed whey or vegan)

• 1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Instructions

1. Blend all ingredients.

Serving size: 1

Fat: 20

Carbohydrates: 21

Sugar: 15

Fiber: 4

Protein: 21

Notes

If you’ve only got half and half on hand, just use 1/2 c of half and half and 1/4 c of almond milk.

If you’re dairy sensitive, you can use coconut cream. Or, if you’re not dairy sensitive, coconut cream is really good in this recipe, too!

This is a fantastic “base” recipe, so any frozen fruit would go great in it.