Cold Season & Smoothies?!

Good Morning, Dearies! I hope you are all having a relaxing Saturday.

We are now officially in the first days of Fall, my lovelies, and I want to broach a very important and often overlooked health issue. An issue that will effect almost every single one of you this coming season either directly or indirectly. This subject is the health of your/the gut! Yeah, I know that sounds a bit weird, but it simply means the digestive system (smile).

Why does one need to worry about the health of the digestive system particularly in the Fall & Winter? Well, this is the time of year when we often get sick with either a virus or bacteria at least once if not twice. A visit to the doctor often involves a round of antibiotics if we have come down with something like strep throat, pneumonia, bronchitis, or the like. Sometimes, we even walk away with quite a strong dose of antibiotics when the M.D. is unsure of what ails us.

A round of antibiotics is often needed for certain ailments-no doubt. However, we must remember that antibiotics of any kind do not discriminate when they flow through our systems. They kill our stomach, intestinal, and even vaginal flora (natural & protective bacteria) just as quickly as they slaughter that streptococcus or other harmful bacteria that has invaded our system. The immediate results can be anything from a severely upset stomach to diarrhea and yeast infection. The long term effects are much worse. Indeed, I could write a book about them being that they range from obesity to malnutrition. I've decided that wouldn't be prudent on this lovely Saturday though...

Instead, I ask that you still include a nice treat of organic dairy or soy yogurt and the like with fresh fruit at least every other day, even though you may not be craving cold yogurt and fruit quite as much now that the heat is dying down. The probiotics from the yogurt will keep your gut healthy while the fruit provides a powerful dose of essential minerals and antioxidants like Vitamin C, which will ward off sickness to some extent anyway. Who knows? You might even be able to avoid antibiotics altogether this year!

Frozen Fruit Smoothie-2-3 Servings

1 Cup Organic Frozen Fruit (Preferably Fresh Frozen*)

1 Cup Organic Soy or Dairy Yogurt

Organic Dairy or Soy Milk to taste

1-2 Tbsp. Agave Syrup/Honey

Pinch of Cinnamon

Place the fruit and yogurt in a blender. Blend till smooth. Slowly add sweetener to your taste. Upon seeing the consistency, add milk in splashes till you reach your desired texture and consistency-some like it thick while others like to slurp through a straw! *Fresh frozen means fresh fruit placed in a plastic bag and thrown in the freezer the night before for smoothies!

Note: The mango smoothie shown here was made with fresh frozen fruit from the recipe above with an added tsp. of fresh ginger-it was amazing;)!

Other probiotic rich foods are tempeh, sauerkraut, and kombucha!

p.s. To my lovelies on the other side of the globe entering into summer, I wish you sunny days with many smoothies;-)!