Bananas are great to include in your healthy skin diet because they’re a prebiotic. This means they’re food for your gut bugs helping to keep them happy and thriving.
Healthy skin needs a healthy gut. You can read more about the gut-skin connection here.
This smoothie recipe is my go-to when I don’t have much fruit or veg in the house. It’s basically half of my spice drawer blended into almond milk with a banana thrown in for that nutritional and prebiotic boost.
I love the combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla. You can play about with the quantities of the spices to get your perfect blend. I go heavy on the cinnamon. It’s so good for digestive health and it has anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. You can use more or less depending on which spice you want to come through the strongest.
The cinnamon, medjool date, banana, and the vanilla extract make this the ideal smoothie to satisfy a craving for something sweet.
If I feel a cold or sore throat coming on then I’ll add some freshly grated ginger to bring a bit of comforting heat to my body.
Ingredients
1 cup almond milk
1 banana
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 medjool date (or 1 tbsp maple syrup)
Serves 1
Directions
Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend.
Tip: keep some halved bananas in your freezer and, with a well-stocked spice drawer, you’ll always have smoothie ingredients to hand.