Raspberry Acai Smoothie Bowl

I am a slow eater and I make no apologies for it. I want to savor and enjoy what I'm eating. Honestly, I never thought twice about it until I started working for someone who could eat a meal in the time it took me to eat two bites of the same thing. Then, he would want to get back to business and I'd be left hungry and wishing for a do-over. I set out to figure out something I could make and eat fast - if I had to. Raspberry smoothie bowl to the rescue.

It was the first of many smoothie bowls and now it's one of my favorite quickie meals. You can make it with a different fruit or berry depending on which fruits are in season or which ones you have at home. You can make it different every time or find the ones you love and make those on repeat.

Jump to:

• A Healthy Gut
• Ingredients
• How to Make this Raspberry Acai Smoothie Bowl
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Related
• Consider This

A Healthy Gut

Figuring out something to eat quickly was just part of the equation though. At the same time, I was trying to figure out why I was feeling bloated and experiencing digestive discomfort and how to fix it. I heard Dr. Justin Sonnenberg, the author of The Good Gut on a podcast during which he discussed how the microbiota (the microbes in our gut and throughout our bodies) can determine if we're sick or healthy, if we are fit or obese, or even if we have a sunny disposition or a gloomy one.

I then read his book to learn more. There is a lot of detail supporting this topic and many steps we can take to shape the environment within our gut. After all, we have control over our microbiota. And, one of the largest levers we have to control the bacteria in the gut is our diet. The goal is to improve the diversity of bacteria in our guts and increase the short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced through bacterial fermentation. According to multiple scientific studies, people with a diverse micriobiota producing lots of SCFAs are less prone to Western diseases. One of the objectives of my life as I age is to prevent chronic disease. I hope you'll make it one of yours too.

Actions You Can Take to Improve Your Gut Health

Since the microbiota are so responsive to dietary changes, making wise food choices can be an extremely effective way to improve the state of the microbiota. Here are four actions you can take today to improve yours.

1. Consume meat in limited quantities. Red meat contains L-carnitine, which certain microbes in the gut can convert to trimethylamine (TMA), which can then be oxidized into trimethylaminennn-N-oxide (TMAO). High levels of TMAO can increase the risks of strokes, heart attacks, and other cardiac events.
2. Consume foods that provide microbiota-accessible carbohydrates (MACs). MACs provide the fermentable fibers that will be metabolized by the microbiota. The bacteria in our gut need food and they prefer carbohydrates. By increasing the fruits and vegetables you consume, you create an environment that enables a diverse community of microbiota to flourish. In return, you are rewarded with better indicators of health.
3. Limit saturated fat intake. Diets high in saturated animal fat don't feed the microbiota their preferred fermentable fiber and are detrimental to microbiota diversity. When deciding what to put on your plate and in your mouth, be mindful of what is going to feed the microbes waiting at the end of your digestive system. If your diet doesn't provide food for the microbiota, they eat the only reserve they have - your intestinal mucus, inching ever closer to the lining of your gut and compromising the barrier your body has constructed to keep bacteria at a safe distance.
4. Consume beneficial microbes, or probiotics. Research by the scientific community is ongoing and there is more to learn about probiotics. The best way to navigate is to do your research and test a variety of probiotics to see which ones work for you. Consider consuming fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, or sauerkraut and pickles. I add kimchi to salads and have learned to really love the unique flavor it adds. It can be an acquired taste. Just start small.

Ingredients

Since we've already established how quick and easy it is to make smoothie bowls, it makes sense that there are only a few ingredients. They include:

• Frozen bananas: Frozen bananas will blend into an ice cream-like creaminess. If at all possible, resist substituting room temperature bananas. The result is very different.
• Raspberries: For the best flavor, buy fresh organic raspberries at a local farmers market and freeze them the same day. Alternatively, buy commercially frozen raspberries from a store that sells a lot of them (so you don't get a bag that's been in the freezer for a long time and suffers from freezer burn).
• Acai: Acai is a berry grown in the Amazonian rainforests that have become popular because of their unique flavor and potential health benefits. You can find it in the freezer sections in healthier markets.
• Protein powder (optional): I like Sunwarrior Collagen Peptides Tahitian Vanilla in my smoothies, which adds a bit more heartiness and sweetness, but it's optional.
• Coconut water or filtered water (optional): I like to add liquid because it makes the mixture easier to blend and I like consistency. Experiment to find the consistency you enjoy the most. Coconut water makes the smoothie smell tropical and adds electrolytes to help you keep your fluid levels and minerals in balance.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make this Raspberry Acai Smoothie Bowl

There are really only a few steps to making this smoothie bowl:

1. Freeze your bananas: At least 24 hours before your plan to make your smoothie, peel and freeze your bananas.
2. Freeze your raspberries: Freeze your fresh raspberries at least a couple of hours or buy frozen.
3. Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender: Cut bananas into manageable chunks, add acai, raspberries, protein powder and coconut water to the blender.
4. Blend: Puree until the mixture is completely blended. Look for the smoothie option on your blender or blend for one minute or so on a high speed but keep your eye on the situation until you know how your blender will manage.
5. Add toppings to your smoothie bowl: I love a good granola, cacao nibs, or a spoonful of shredded coconut.
6. Enjoy!

Hint: You'll have to experiment to get the consistency of the smoothie to be the way you prefer it. If you don't add any liquid, use the tamper to keep the blender moving while you're blending. The result will be more of an ice cream consistency. Add a little liquid to get more of a milkshake, then adjust to find just the right amount.

Variations

There are several smoothie recipes on the site so if you like them, you can eat a different one every day. And, there are so many ways to make them different every time depending on which fruits and berries you feel like eating.

• Change the berries: Try blackberries, blueberries or cherries instead of raspberries. Each one results in an entirely different flavor profile.
• Change the fruit and omit the acai: Try mango or papaya or even frozen summer peaches.
• Use a neutral fruit, omit acai and add greeens: Mango is the most neutral fruit and adds sweetness to offset the earthiness of spinach, as an example. You could also use powdered greens.

Try this blueberry acai smoothie bowl recipe for a little variety!

Equipment

You'll defintely need a high speed blender. These days, I use the Vitamix A3500 blender and it is a powerhouse with frozen bananas that can freeze up pretty solid. Vitamix shares information about how to select a blender and how to use and maintain one, which I like. You can learn more here.

Storage

This raspberry acai smoothie is best eaten immediately, but will keep for a day in the refrigerator or freezer. If you freeze it, you'll need to blend it again the next day. It will hold its texture in the refrigerator.

Related

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Consider This

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