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Smoothies sometimes seem like a food group all their own. And there's good reason for that! There are few easier ways to add lots of healthy fruit and veg to your diet. What's more, they are easy to make and easy to drink. The possible combinations of fruits, vegetables, juices, and powders are endless. Bananas are the standard base for smoothies. Certainly, fresh or frozen, they add body and fibre. In addition, their flavour is so subtle that it doesn't compete with whatever else you might like to add to your smoothie. Here, we've added a slightly more unusual partner for the banana: pumpkin. Mellow, warm, and cosseting, pumpkin is such a wonderful flavour but often forgotten, due to the additional step of having to cook it. We recommend saving a bit back the next time you cook pumpkin for a soup or stew; its potential is limitless, as this recipe demonstrates! A world of pumpkin-spice lattes and pumpkin pies might give one the idea that pumpkin only works when married with plenty of sugar. Happily, that's not the case; the light richness of coconut milk, plus the familiar autumnal spices of star anise, cinnamon, and cardamom work a treat. Add a spoonful of raw cacao and you're well on your way to smoothie heaven.
One glass of this chocolate smoothie contains a plenitude of wonderfully nutrient-packed ingredients. Firstly, we've used our Organic Aronia Juice, which is made from whole aronia berries and nothing else. The deep purple aronia, also known as chokecherry, is packed full of phenols. These are cleansing to your body. Among other things, phenols can be detoxifying and soothe inflammation inside you. Just what you want in a smoothie.(1)(2)
Aronia health benefits: From Jicarilla to modern days
Pumpkin dreams: Pumpkin seed health benefits
The beautiful, vibrant magenta colour of raspberries comes from the anthocyanins they (and aronia berries) contain. Anthocyanins are pigments, but they also have powerful health benefits. So powerful, in fact, that they are sought out for pharmaceutical use. Moreover, they can help protect against disease and have anti-microbial properties, meaning that they can kill harmful microorganisms.(3)
Certainly. this humble squash is an incredible source for the essential minerals potassium and beta-carotene. Moreover, our bodies are packed with potassium, a mineral and electrolyte. You may be familiar with electrolytes from sports drinks such as Gatorade, which claim to replenish your body. Potassium is an active ingredient in such drinks. After all, electrolytes dissolve inside your body into either positive or negative ions, creating a small electric current. This is useful for prompting all kinds of automatic processes within the body. Potassium also helps lower high blood pressure. When you take in potassium, your blood vessel walls relax and more sodium leaves your body in your urine.
What are the essential minerals and which foods to get them from?
Which whole foods for which vitamins?
Note: If you'd prefer to make this recipe as a custard, just add another banana + 1 cup pumpkin and reduce the coconut milk to ¼ cup.