I rarely sleep in, but my body sometimes asks for the extra rest. After getting 9 hours of sleep last night, I felt very energised and equally as hungry! I needed to put something nourishing in my body as soon as I could. I am used to popping right out of bed and making a warm breakfast bowl; I always try and eat within an hour of waking up or I find myself getting shaky and moody. Today when I got out of bed, it was nearly lunchtime. It was already so warm and sunny out. The circumstances called for a lighter, more refreshing breakfast. I have plans to grab lunch with a friend in a couple of hours, so a smoothie sounded perfect.

Since it is finally starting to feel like spring, I want something fruity but nothing too sweet. I chose a smoothie bowl because it always satisfies me more than just a smoothie, plus I love to get artsy with the toppings. I usually have a lot of fruit on hand and am intrigued by how certain flavours combine together. With smoothies, you can also add a good amount of greens without altering the fruity taste.

For fruit, I grabbed bananas, pear, pineapple and kiwi! I normally throw in either a fresh or frozen banana. Bananas are great for making the smoothie thicker, especially important for a smoothie bowl. Bananas also are loaded with fibre and potassium. They help with my digestion and are especially great for a pre-workout snack. Pears are a bit sweet and add a nice flavour to the smoothie, they also are a great immunity boost. My body must be fighting something if it needed so much sleep, a pear will help hopefully.

Pineapples are another great natural sweetener. When they are ripe there really is nothing yummier. Together with kiwi fruit, pineapples are also a fantastic boost to the immune system and gorgeous skin. 1/4 cup of pineapple contains about a third of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. As for the kiwis, it turns out they have more vitamin C than an orange. In fact, one kiwi fruit can even exceed the recommended daily amount of vitamin C (1).

Spinach and cucumbers help to neutralize the sweet fruits. Spinach is loaded with vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, iron and magnesium. Cucumbers add a nice refreshing flavour and help me stay hydrated. Did you know they are over 95% water (1)?

I love to use almond milk for my liquid, this makes my smoothies rich and creamy. I made almond milk last week, so I am going to use the last of that. I suggest you try making your own, its relatively simple and I had a lot of fun with it. All you really need is almonds and a cheesecloth (and some patience).

I added one Erbology Organic Aloe Vera Shot and Erbology Organic Milk Thistle Oil, both of which I also like to take straight sometimes. I love how refreshing and cleansing aloe vera is, I can’t go a day without it. The milk thistle oil adds a great nutty flavour.

The key is getting the right consistency. I start off with less liquid because it is a lot easier to add it in but more of a challenge to take it out. I am going for a thicker smoothie that I can eat with a spoon, everyone has different preferences so you just need to know what you like and how your blender works!

Toppings are the best part, I tend to let my inner-artist run wild. I top my bowl with spirulina powder, a type of blue-green algae. Not only is it green for St. Patrick’s day, but it’s also great for energy and detoxing (2). I also add the remaining kiwi, dried currants and hazelnuts (toasted or raw work great). I love the tangy flavour of dried currants. They are also packed with fibre and potassium (1). Hazelnuts bring a nice earthy, nutty flavour and add a crunch.

There you go, a delicious smoothie bowl. I am able to slow down and enjoy this type of breakfast, I make sure each bite has a little bit of everything. This one almost looks as good as it tastes.

The cleansing power of aloe vera

Our aloe vera shot comes from the inner leaf of the aloe vera. On average, the inner leaf of our aloe vera contains over 1600mg of acemannan polysaccharides. This component is what distinguishes aloe vera from the other 400 species in the aloe family (3). A polysaccharide is a large molecule composed of smaller, simple sugars called monosaccharides. The acemannan found in aloe vera has healing properties and has been shown to support our digestive and immune system (4).

Aloe vera is alkalizing; it helps to balance the pH levels in our bodies. Our body is designed to keep a proper balance between acidity and alkaline, this is somewhere around 7.4. Our pH levels change depending on the foods we eat and our lifestyle choices. We want to keep our bodies more alkalized than acidic (5). Unfortunately, the diet that many turn to for weight loss, lots of animal protein and few carbs, is very acidic. Studies have shown a diet like this may increase the risk for kidney stones, decreases calcium balance, and may increase the risk for bone loss (6,7).

Find out why milk thistle is good for you.

In other recipes, we mention three notable health contributions of milk thistle. You can find out more about silymarin, vitamin E and omega-6 fatty acids in our Baba ganoush with milk thistle oil and Greek olive crackers recipe.

Written By: Danielle Bear

(1) “Daily Value Reference of the Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD).” U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, www.dsld.nlm.nih.gov/dsld/dailyvalue.jsp.

(2) Cox, Lauren. “Spirulina: Nutrition Facts & Health Benefits.” Live Science, 6 Feb. 2018, www.livescience.com/48853-spirulina-supplement-facts.html.

(3) Dabfm, et al. “Aloe Vera: Explaining What Acemannan Can Do.” Dr. Group’s Healthy Living Articles, Global Healing Center, Inc, 9 Mar. 2016, www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/what-is-acemannan/.

(4) Moriyama, Mariko, et al. “Beneficial Effects of the Genus Aloe on Wound Healing, Cell Proliferation, and Differentiation of Epidermal Keratinocytes.” PLoS ONE, Public Library of Science, 2016, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5063354/.

(5) Schwalfenberg, Gerry K. “The Alkaline Diet: Is There Evidence That an Alkaline PH Diet Benefits Health?” Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3195546/.

(6) Overall, Best Diets. “Acid Alkaline Diet .” S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, health.usnews.com/best-diet/acid-alkaline-diet.

(7) Reddy, S T, et al. “Effect of Low-Carbohydrate High-Protein Diets on Acid-Base Balance, Stone-Forming Propensity, and Calcium Metabolism.” American Journal of Kidney Diseases : the Official Journal of the National Kidney Foundation., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2002, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12148098.