Place all the ingredients into your blender, starting on low, then to high-speed blend until thick and creamy.
Serve immediately.
Two of my staples feature heavily in this raspberry oatmeal smoothie — bananas and oats, and my current obsession, Amazonia’s Prebiotic Womens’ Multi to promote gut health, support skin health. It’s nourishing, balancing, beautifying. My love for functional foods runs deep. I honestly believe in the transformative power of plant-based eating and I think when you are continuously learning, understanding the importance of creating good health you’ll always be looking at ways to elevate your diet. Being that engaged can really be of wonderful benefit to our health and overall wellbeing. There's a lot of talk going around the Internet about “gut health”, and what foods we should eat. And while this is refreshing, for each of us this comes with some investigation, to understand these bacteria and develop rituals for including these microbiome-loving prebiotic foods for glowing skin and overall vitality.
The microbiome refers to the trillions of microbes in and on the human body; there are both symbiotic (good), the probiotics and pathogenic (bad) varieties. And the good bacteria thrive on plant fibre — which are the prebiotics. The balance of bacteria we host plays a vital role, influencing immunity, digestion, nutrient absorption, hormone balance, skin health, weight and overall vitality. Strong evidence also indicates gut microbes play a mediating role between skin inflammation and emotion. A deeper knowledge of our microbiome composition coupled with knowledge on interactions between diet, thought and the environment — we can have a thriving, vibrant microbiome.
A few basics include eating a plant-rich diet, limiting alcohol, medications and other substances that could lower your vibrational energy and then simply eating lots of fibrous vegetables and incorporating fermented foods. And for some, additional support in the form of high-quality prebiotic and probiotic supplements to help cultivate a diverse and thriving gut microbiome. We inherit our microbial colonies at birth, and while these environments are complex and individual we are empowered with a number of ways we can bring ourselves more into balance.
I think the food we eat is just as important as what we put on our bodies. Our skin is a direct reflection of what we fuel ourselves with. Life can get incredibly busy but I do think we have the power to create glowing skin — that it can be supported by what we consume. In traditional healing circles, in a broad sense, this connection is nothing new. Published in 1930, Stokes and Pillsbury issued a paper which proposed that emotions such as anxiety, and depression cause changes in gut microorganisms, promoting inflammatory conditions such as acne. And current evidence suggests that the gut flora can affect the skin more directly.
Research has highlighted the presence of a gut–brain–skin axis that connects gut microbes, and the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract itself, are contributing factors in the acne process. And so we must think of the skin as a system of interconnected systems. With a deep understanding of these complex mechanisms, and of the skin microbiome, we can give lustre to our skin. We have this opportunity to modify our microbiome with probiotics, prebiotics which have proven beneficial in the prevention and or treatment of inflammatory skin diseases such as acne.
A plant-based diet goes a long way toward helping you achieve optimal gut health and equally clearing skin disorders such as acne. Fill your fridge with the foods you need for a healthy gut — prebiotic-rich veggies and grains such as asparagus, garlic, onions, oats, barley, wheat bran, bananas, Jerusalem artichoke and flaxseed as well as a plant fibre known as inulin, found in chicory root and yacon. Eat at least 30 grams of organic quality plant fibre which acts as a prebiotic. If those good bacteria don’t have the nourishment they need, they won’t be able to thrive.
And for probiotic support, try and incorporate something fermented every single day if you can. Fermented foods introduce beneficial bacteria into the microbiome of our gut microflora, foods such as miso, kimchi and kefir. A daily, high-quality probiotic supplement can help cultivate a healthy and diverse gut microbiome, ensuring the best strains of bacteria are alive and balancing out the pathogenic ones. Get at least one serving of prebiotic and probiotic-rich foods every day. And where possible buy organic produce and products, since they’re free of toxic, microbiome-disturbing pesticides.
If 30 grams of fibre sounds challenging, these prebiotic supplements can help you support and maintain a healthy community of microflora.
Amazonia Raw Prebiotic Women's Multi Full of microbiome nourishing fermented ingredients, prebiotics and adaptogens, Amandine and I rely on this prebiotic powder to up our fibre intake. Add it to smoothies or water. I also love oats with oat milk and have this every day, I find it’s easier to incorporate supplements into daily rituals.
The Beauty Chef Glow Developed with The Beauty Chef’s exclusive Flora Culture™ fermentation process, this award-winning formulation is chock-full with bio-fermented prebiotics and probiotic superfoods. It’s a potent addition to all things liquid to nourish and balance the microbiome.
Dr Formulated Organic Fibre With 6 grams of prebiotic peel per tablespoon including Baobab and Acacia Fibre, this Organic, Non-GMO Whole Foods powder helps probiotics thrive. Mix it with chilled coconut water, a fibre-heavy green juice or water.
Sunbiotics, Potent Probiotics with Organic Prebiotics Powder Formulated with Jerusalem Artichoke inulin and Yacon Root, both renowned for their prebiotic fibre content delivers some 12,000 mg prebiotic powder. Each serving of this potent prebiotic powder delivers 20 billion Colony Forming Units (CFUs) to help restore and balance the microbiome. Stir through cold water to alkalising greens to get back to a healthy place.
The Nue Co’s Prebiotic + Probiotic This signature whole food-derived blend of prebiotic inulin and probiotics works to aid digestion, stabilise blood sugar levels and feed good bacteria. Take these with water, up to three capsules daily and create a new ritual.
Enzymedica, Prebiotics Superfoods Drink Mix
Superfoods and microbiome nourishing prebiotics combine in this alkalising superfoods powder. Prebiotics are amplified with Chlorophyll and fermented Barley Grass with each serving working to detoxify and aid digestion — both vital for glowing skin. Just 1 tablespoon stirred into water delivers fifty fruit, vegetable and active botanicals to help gut flora thrive and balance the skin.
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