ABBA SMOOTHIE BOWL
3 years after I suffered from stress, I discovered I had adrenal fatigue.
I immediately set out to change my diet in the hope of gaining more energy. I decided to stop eating anything I had intuitively heard something negative about – gluten / dairy / refined sugar / meat. I thought there must be a reason why so many choose to eliminate these food items from their diet, so I thought I give it a try.
I started adding lots of fruit + vegetables to my diet, including fresh-pressed juices + homemade smoothies. the body craves what it’s used to getting, so 6 years later, I still need my daily smoothie bowl.
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just a month after choosing a more plant-based diet, I found myself full of energy ! it almost seemed unreal. I used to get exhausted from walking up just one flight of stairs. I could sleep 12 hours a night + still be tired. it had never occurred to me that something as basic as food would have such an impact on my health + wellbeing. it was quite the epiphany ! my body had also felt quite stiff. but after I shifted to more alkaline food, I suddenly felt like I had all the energy in the world. I found myself walking + walking + walking. I couldn’t get enough of it ! I felt a lot like I imagine Forrest Gump must have felt. though, instead of running, I was walking, and walking and walking !
here’s my simple ABBA smoothie bowl that I can’t get enough of these days. I usually have it for breakfast, but it might as well be a snack or a dessert. 1
anyhow, it’s a great way of getting started on your 5-10 fruits + vegetables a day.
APPLE / BERRY / BEETROOT / AVOCADO – SMOOTHIE BOWL
serves : 1
1 apple
1 handful of berries (mixed or whatever you feel like) 2
1 small beetroot (or half a medium one)
½ – 1 avocado
½ cm fresh ginger (optional)
5 – 10 dates (optional) 3
1 tsp spirulina (optional)
2 heaped tbsp hemp protein powder (optional)
1 (heaped) tbsp cacao powder (optional) 4
50 ml dairy-free milk (or more, if you’d rather drink the smoothie)
suggested toppings :
- 1 tbsp flaxseed oil 5
- granola / muesli / whatever nuts + seeds you have
- coconut flakes
- 1 square (10g) dark chocolate, chopped
- fresh berries
just blend all the ingredients for the smoothie bowl together, then add topping.
enjoy + please get as hooked as me ! your body + health will thank you for it !
NOTES :
- if you want the smoothie bowl as a healthy dessert, you could replace apple with banana for more creaminess + sweetness. and add more cacao powder if you like.
- just a warning if you choose blackcurrants : the combination of blackcurrants with beetroot + cacao powder is quite intense / bitter. I would instead recommend sweeter berries or (my favourite) mixed berries. or replace beetroot with carrot / spinach / kale and / or omit the cacao powder.
- when I first started out making smoothies, I added dates for sweetness. after a while, my taste buds changed, so I no longer felt the need. if you have a sweeter tooth than me, you might want to add some, or you could replace apple with banana – or do both.
- this cacao powder from Pink Sun comes from african cacao beans. african cacao beans supposedly contain less cadmium (a heavy metal) than cacao beans from south america + are therefore a healthier alternative.
- I top with flaxseed oil to add more omega-3 to my diet. flaxseed oil is the food that contains the most omega-3, 53% ALA (plant-based omega-3), to be precise. in second place comes regular flaxseeds (aka linseeds), which (only) contains 16%.