Smoothie Roundup for Immune Health ~*Recipe ReDux*~

I am a member of a community of health and dietitian bloggers called The Recipe Redux. The Latin “redux” means to revisit or reinvent, and the aim of The Recipe Redux is to reinvent the idea of healthy eating with a taste-first approach.

On the 21st and 22nd of each month, members of this community receive a unique recipe challenge. This month’s challenge is: Good Gut Health. With cold and flu season upon us, the best defense may be good gut health. Since much of our immune health begins in the gut, show us your healthy, delicious recipe to bolster gut health. 

Gut health starts with eating a diet rich in plant-based foods. In other words, make sure you are getting in at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, making at least half the grains you eat from whole grain sources, eating beans and legumes regularly, and including nuts and seeds in your diet. All of these foods are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals, and healthy fats.

Pairing fiber-rich foods, also known as foods with prebiotics, with probiotic-rich foods like dairy (yogurt, kefir), apple cider vinegar, or fermented foods (i.e. miso, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha) helps keep your digestive tract healthy.

Smoothies are a great way to pack in nutrient dense and gut-healthy foods. In general, a good starting point for a smoothie is the liquid (milk, yogurt or water), fruit and/or vegetables, and add-ins like nut butter, seeds, powders, spices and grains (i.e. oats).

For this month’s Recipe ReDux, I am rounding up a bunch of smoothie recipes that I have made over the last year.

The smoothie pictured above is the Mango Banana Breakfast Smoothie I created for VeryWell. It has mango, banana, low fat milk, hemp seeds, oat bran and ground turmeric. See the recipe here.

Below is another recipe I created for VeryWell. The Peanut Butter Banana Blueberry Acai Smoothie contains exactly what’s in the name plus chia seeds and milk. See the recipe here. Acai comes in individual size packs, which makes it very convenient for making smoothies. Look for the unsweetened versions. Whole Foods frequently has sales on these packs, so be on the lookout for a good deal.

Acai bowls are basically a smoothie that is poured into a bowl instead of a cup and is eaten with a spoon instead of a straw. You can add toppings galore, here. In this bowl I used unsweetened coconut flakes, almond butter, chia seeds, cacao nibs and goji berries.

Last year, I also created 4 smoothie recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients for the Your Cancer Game Plan program. The smoothies are all intended to be nutrient dense but still high Calorie and high protein. If you do not need the additional Calories, you can always choose lower fat options for the dairy.

Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page to the “Let’s Get Cooking” pdf to see the full recipes.

Smoothie 1: Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie. It contains strawberries, cottage cheese, milk, graham crackers and just a touch of sugar for a beautiful pink and creamy drink. It literally tastes like cheesecake, but so much easier to make and healthier!

And we can’t forget about the green smoothies! I’ve been making this version with milk, spinach, banana, mango, matcha powder, maca powder, ground turmeric, black pepper, and extra ice. In case you didn’t notice already, I really like to add turmeric to my smoothies. Got the idea from The Crunchy Radish!

Want to see what other Recipe ReDuxers are doing for gut health this month? Click below!