This smoothie bowl will warm you up nicely in the morning, giving your digestion a nice, gentle start to the day whilst at the same time cleansing your system of built-up toxins and filling you up with a great dose of antioxidants.

It might come as a suprise to you to stew and lightly cook the fruits in this smoothie first. After all, we’re so used to consuming smoothies and morning fruits raw and uncooked. Now trust me when I say that you will love this smoothie so much after you’ve eaten it a few times in the morning, you probably don’t want to go back to raw smoothies ever again! Especially if you have sensitive digestion or food allergies where many things can set you off and can trigger you, eating a cooked breakfast in the morning is a godsent. It gives your body the chance to warm up nicely, giving your digestion a gentle kick-start to the day, rather than dumping ice-cold fruits and juices from the fridge directly into your system. Think of your body like an engine of a car, it has to warm up first before it can start going. So does your body. Also, cooking food gently before you’re eating it helps your body to digest foods faster as it doesn’t need to invest so much energy to break them down. This in turn frees up more energy to be used elsewhere in your system: to fight inflammation, to heal, and to give you more energy during your day. Ayurveda really favors cooked over cold breakfasts, and especially for Vata and Kapha types, a cooked breakfast is a must.

Spirulina: super nutrient dense, I call Spirulina the best ‘natural Multi-Vit & Multi-Mineral’ available from the plant world today. High in B-Vitamins, Vit C, E and K, plus high in Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Manganese, Potassium and Zinc, what’s not to like. It’s also high in plant protein, so great for vegans and vegetarians that are keen to up their protein intake naturally. Spirulina also has the capability to draw out heavy-metal toxins from our tissues, liver and brain and is thus a great all-round morning addition to any breakfast smoothie.

Wheatgrass Juice: also very rich in vitamins and minerals, wheatgrass has the added benefit of being super high in chlorophyll. This makes it a great detoxifying agent and can therefor protect against abnormal cell growth also known as cancer. Also, wheatgrass has been shown to boost levels of glutathione, the body’s primary antioxidant. Glutathione is used by the liver in all of its detox duties.

Atlantic Dulse Flakes: super high in anti-oxidants, dulse flakes make a great anti-inflammatory, fighting disease causing free-radicals. Studies have also shown that dulse (and also kelp) can reduce toxic heavy metals and also clear radioactivity from the body.

Coriander (Cilantro): is a powerful anti-fungal, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory. In Aryurveda coriander is hailed for its cooling effects on the digestive tract, for calming the immune-system and rashes, and for being a mild diuretic that clears inflammation from the urinary tract. Even though it acts as being slightly drying, it does not aggravate the Vata constitution, and pacifies (calms) all the three doshas.

Feeling Vata: add more fresh ginger and try adding warming spices such as cinnamon and or cardamom to your smoothie.

Feeling Pitta: ease off on the ginger, and instead try adding more cooling herbs such as fresh mint and more coriander to your smoothie.

Feeling Kapha: give your metabolism that extra boost by adding a pinch or two of cayenne pepper, and experiment with adding some bitter greens such as dandelion to your smoothie.

Weekly Recipe

Cleansing & Warming Smoothie Bowl

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Yield: serves one

Cleansing & Warming Smoothie Bowl

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This smoothie bowl will warm you up nicely in the morning, giving your digestion a nice, gentle start to the day whilst at the same time cleansing your system of built-up toxins and filling you up with a great dose of antioxidants.

Ingredients

• 2 x ripe bananas, chopped
• 2 x handfulls of wild blueberries (I usually buy these frozen from the organic store and always have some in the freezer)
• 1 x apple, chopped (optional)
• half a mango, chopped (optional)
• 1 x teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced (optional)
• half a teaspoon atlantic dulse flakes (if you don't like the taste of atlantic dulse you can simply buy some dulse flakes encapsulated and take them alongside the smoothie)
• one orange, peeled
• 1 x teaspoon spirulina powder (if you don't like the taste of spirulina buy spirulina tablets and take them with your smoothie)
• 1 x teaspoon wheatgrass or barleygrass juice powder
• 1 x teaspoon fresh or dried coriander
• optional: for additional sweetness you can add a teaspoon of raw honey.

Instructions

1. Add a little bit of water to a heavy bottom sauce pan
2. Add the banana, apple (if using) & mango (if using) and the minced fresh ginger to the pan, cover and simmer on low heat for about 5-10 minutes, so that the fruits are stewing nicely and slowly and don't get overcooked or burned.
3. When the fruits are stewed enough, take them off the heat.
4. Pout the cooked fruit and ginger mix into a high-speed blender.
5. Add the peeled orange, the dulse flakes, spirulina, wheatgrass and coriander.
6. Blend all until smooth.
7. If you need extra sweetness you can add the raw honey to your smoothie.

Notes

If not on a cleanse or detox programme, you can give your smoothie bowl some nice toppings such as your favourite gluten free granola, chopped roasted coconut flakes, roasted pumpkin, etc. Let your creative mind run wild. Just ensure your toppings are roasted or slightly steamed and not cold from the fridge, especially if you're a Vata or Kapha type.