The Everyday Banana-Berry Anthocyanin Beverage

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

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:

• Peaches & Cream Smoothie
• Healthy Low GI Breakfast Bowl
• Vegan Breakfast Casserole

The Everyday Banana-Berry Anthocyanin Beverage

4.84 from 6 votes

This easy banana berry smoothie recipe is full of gut-loving nutrients that'll keep your digestive health on-track while tasting delicious.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Course Smoothie

Cuisine American

Servings 1

Calories 184 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.9g | Protein: 6.5g | Fat: 11.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.8g | Sodium: 278.6mg | Fiber: 3.2g | Sugar: 9.2g

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