Breakfast
The Everyday Banana-Berry Anthocyanin Beverage
Prep
5 minutes
Yield
1
This month I am working with my friends over at Seed to help bring information to you around the role diet plays in the health of your gut and microbiome. I’m going to show you how to make an easy Everyday Banana-Berry Anthocyanin Beverage (aka in simpler form: a banana berry smoothie) that uses accessible ingredients found on the Periodic Table of Microbiome-Friendly Foods. What does this mean? More on that below, but just know that this smoothie is perfect for your digestive and overall health. Now let’s dive in—
Why you’ll love this banana berry smoothie:
- Quick & Easy: A smoothie shouldn’t be a chore to make. This recipe takes only 5-minutes to make
- Simple Ingredients: To eat healthy, you don’t always need complicated ingredients. This recipe will only require 5 ingredients to whip up
- Healthy: This smoothie is loaded with gut-friendly and healthy benefits like Anthocyanins, and Flavonoids (more about those fancy words below)
- Make it in Bulk: Make this delicious smoothie in bulk so you have it ready to-go on busy mornings or for a quick mid-day snack. Your smoothie should last in your fridge or freezer for a couple of days
Ingredient Notes & Health Benefits:
This banana berry smoothie uses the science behind healthy ingredients to deliver a delicious smoothie that is good for you and for your gut microbiome. Some of the shining stars to this smoothie and health benefits are:
Blueberries: Blueberries have a type of polyphenol in them which gives them the beautiful blue color. These have a number of health promoting effects, including antioxidant effects.
Bananas: Bananas are always a go-to for smoothies to add a great consistency and polyphenols, which can help with lowering blood sugar levels, risk of heart disease, can protect you against cancer, and the list goes on.
Flavonoids: This is a fancy word for a group of polyphenols which are found in plant foods like the ones in this smoothie. Flavonoids have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects and help protect your cells from damage that can lead to disease.
Microbiome: I know, there’s a lot of scientific words in this post but bare with me as I educate you on their goodness for our bodies. The human microbiome is a community of 38,000,000,000,000 (that’s 38 trillion) microorganisms, mostly bacteria, living in and on your body. The genes harbored in these trillions of microbial cells are essential for human development, immunity, and nutrition. There is a close relationship between what we eat and our gut microbiome, which means that we can improve our health by modifying our diet. No surprise there, right? This simple recipe is a great example of how to incorporate healthy, gut-loving nutrients into your diet.
How to make this banana berry smoothie:
This is a simple one. First you want to grab your ingredients:
- Your favorite plant-based milk
- Frozen blueberries
- Handful of spinach
- Peanut butter (or your fav nut butter)
- Frozen banana
Then all you are going to do is throw all these ingredients into a blender, blend until smooth, and enjoy!
FAQ:
How else do you keep your gut health in-check? If you follow me on social, you know I don’t shy away from talking about poop! My gut health is so important to me, and aside from eating/drinking healthy foods and recipes like this smoothie, I also am a big probiotics fan. I’m a big fan of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic as it combines 24 clinically-and-scientifically studied probiotic strains that you can’t find in foods like yogurt or fermented foods. Beyond digestive health, these probiotics support:
- Heart health
- Skin health
- Gut immune function
- Gut barrier integrity
- Micronutrient synthesis
What is the best plant-based milk to use in smoothies? There is such a huge shift to plant-based milks these days with so many options out on the market. There are a lot of arguments around what’s the healthiest, what’s the most eco-friendly, and what tastes the best, however, I recommend that you use whatever you like the best. You can learn more about the benefits of each milk on the market here.
Do you have to freeze your fruit? For smoothies you do not need to freeze your fruit, however, frozen fruit adds a better texture in my opinion and allows your smoothie to be nice and cold. Not only does it allow a great texture, but there are several studies that show frozen fruit (and vegetables) can have more antioxidants such as vitamin C, polyphenols, beta carotene, and lutein, compared to fresh. Not to mention that frozen fruit lasts longer ;)!
Use code FOODBYMARIA for 15% off your first month’s supply of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic. And be sure to follow @Seed for more information throughout the month of May on the importance of nutrition (🥦🍓🍠) and digestion (💩).
Other healthy recipes you’ll love:
For more eBooks:
If you want more deliciousness at the click of your finger, be sure to check out FoodByMaria’s Newest Mini Cookbooks. Limited time offer of 3 for $20USD.
For more Greek Recipes:
For more amazing recipes:
Loved this recipe? Good! We can give you access to Maria’s most famous recipes, check out our Top Ten Recipes Mini Cookbook! We also have an incredible APP for you to access at all times (yes, online and offline) all our recipes with a click of your finger – check in out here.
The Everyday Banana-Berry Anthocyanin Beverage
Ingredients
- 1 cup plant milk of choice
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- large handful of spinach
- 1 tbsp. peanut butter
- 1 banana frozen, chopped
Variation: purple sweet potato blueberry smoothie (serves 2)
- 1 scoop Ritual Protein Powder (Vanilla)
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup steamed purple sweet potato
- 1 small banana
- 2 heaping tbsp peanut butter
- 3 cups soy milk or other milk of choice
- 1 tsp cacao
- 1/4 cup canned or cooked chickpeas
- Optional: handful of spinach
Instructions
- Blend all of the smoothie ingredients in a high-speed blender until fully combined. Pour into a glass and enjoy!
Variation: purple sweet potato blueberry smoothie
- Steam the sweet potato. Blend the Ritual protein powder, steamed sweet potato, frozen blueberries, banana, peanut butter, cacao and chickpeas in a high-speed blender until fully combined. Pour into two glasses and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Sweet potato can be steamed ahead of time and then frozen in portions to make smoothie-making a breeze!
- If desired, use almond butter instead of peanut butter.
Yum yum yum
I’ve been having protein smoothies most mornings for a few years but never thought to include peanut butter! 💡 thank you
you’re so welcome!! did you try this!?
LOVE THIS SMOOTHIE!
thank you so much, whitney!
Thank you so much for this recipe, Maria!! it was so easy!
you’re so welcome, raquel!!!
This has to be one of the best smoothies I have ever tasted!
So, I put in frozen blueberries and yours look thawed…?
I highly suggest frozen!! Ours were thawed looking because of the photo shoot!