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Smoothies are easily one of my favorite things to make and are firmly ranked as one of my go-to recipes.
How smoothies can help your gut.
Smoothies are so much more than a quick morning breakfast that can ft in your car’s cup holder. They are a great way to pack in fruits and veggies which are two really important components to your smoothie.
Packing a smoothie with fruits and veggies means you get a ton of fiber without having to resort to eating salads all day long. Fiber is magic for our gut. It really helps for easy, effortless poops and a healthy gut that doesn’t feel bloated plus fiber can lower our risk of colon cancer.
Think of fiber like that dreaded chore of sweeping the kitchen floor. They’re both something we should be doing more often.
If smoothies make your stomach hurt.
Not everyone’s stomach does well with smoothies. If you’re the person scratching your head wondering why smoothies hurt your stomach instead of helping it then there could be two big reasons why.
One big culprit could be adding too much fruit in your smoothie. Fruit is good but there should be a limit. Smoothies make it easy (sometimes too easy) to get a lot of fruit at one time. Fruit has the natural sugar fructose which in large amounts can cause stomach upset. Try scaling back how much fruit you add and see if that helps. I wouldn’t add more than 1 cup of fruit for one serving of your smoothie.
The second biggest culprit is adding an ingredient that you could have a food sensitivity to. The hard part with food sensitivities and smoothies is pinpointing which ingredient is the culprit. Smoothies have tons of different ingredients so if you think you might be sensitive to one of the ingredients try taking that out of your morning smoothie. Make sure to keep the rest of the recipe the same, this way you can test to see if it was that ingredient making your stomach hurt.
Make sure to do this when you make your smoothie.
There are tons of smoothie recipes out there with tons of different ingredients. Make sure to always put something in there that you enjoy. Don’t force yourself to drink something just because you think its good or “healthy” for you. The best foods are the one you eat and enjoy.
The 5 things that should be in every smoothie.
Use this basic formula to make your next smoothies. This formula allows your smoothie to be super flexible for your food sensitivities and/or preference.
Greens
I’m talking spinach, kale, or the lettuce you bought because you were going to make a salad but never did. Greens are veggies we all want to say we like to eat but really don’t. When you throw them into a smoothie they make you feel like the ultimate healthy person.
Fruit
Frozen fruit is usually my go-to here, frozen berries to be exact. Any fruit will do but I prefer berries because they are low-glycemic meaning they don’t cause your blood sugar to shoot up and simply because I like them.
Liquid
The liquid is going to be your base and can anything from a nut milk to water. I like creamier smoothies so my favorites are hemp milk and coconut milk. But I also use water quite a bit because I always forget to pick up a milk at the store.
A Flavor Enhancer
Flavor enhancers are what make your smoothie! Flavor enhancers are things like cinnamon, ginger, vanilla. They give your smoothie that boost of flavor and make your sipping more enjoyable.
Protein
Adding in some protein to your smoothie helps round out your smoothie to be a complete package. Protein can be as simple as some nuts, nut butter or a scoop of your favorite protein powder.
Amanda is a pizza loving registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in mindfulness and gut health. She quickly realized that gut health goes beyond the gut; it is also about honoring our gut feelings. She is the creator of The Mindful Gut™ which uses science and strategy to help people improve their gut health.
