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Home » All Recipes » Drinks » Healing Breakfast Smoothie with Berries, Banana and Cacao

Healing Breakfast Smoothie with Berries, Banana and Cacao

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Healing Breakfast Smoothie with Berry Banana and Cacao from Ingredients Apple Cafe, Victoria BC

As much as I love creating nourishing meals at home, I equally love exploring the collective of health driven cafes and restaurants around this creative city. The movement towards locally sourced, sustainable, organic, and cutting-edge nutrition meals and drinks is a huge source of my inspiration for the meals I create and share at home. One of my favourite organic cafes, Ingredients Health Food & Apple Cafe unfortunately closed its doors last year. This recipe for Healing Berry Banana Smoothie with Cacao was inspired from it. It took me awhile to figure out their secret ingredient which was probably as much as a surprise to me as it will be to you. I’ve added a little boost which I am sure they would be in harmony with.

“Fresh picked berries offer a myriad of health benefits, which are said to come from their deep, rich colour, indicative of their flavonoid content. Berries are also a low GI fruit, attributed by the high fibre content of their skin”

Tips On Making This Smoothie

Using Frozen Berries

Using frozen berries and banana adds texture to the smoothie and a nice refreshing bite. Frozen banana tastes slightly sweeter as well. Using fresh berries and banana is fine, you may find you need to add more ice cubes for desired consistency and iciness.

Adding Apple Cider Vinegar

Sounds weird right? Why would you want vinegar in your smoothie. Trust me, this is the secret ingredient and what sets it apart from regular berry smoothies. The acidity from the vinegar helps to compliment the sweetness from the fruit, and the bitterness from the cacao.

Some people like to take a daily shot of apple cider vinegar as they believe it helps with their digestion. While there is no research behind that, we do know that apple cider vinegar is filled with live-active cultures that could help populate our gut when beneficial bacteria. See my post Prebiotics Probiotics and Fermented Foods – 5 Ways To A Healthy Gut and Fermented Foods Health Benefits – 9 Fermented Foods You Have In Your Home for more information on fermented foods and gut health.

Which Cacao To Use

When choosing a cacao powder, make sure there are no funny ingredients. Ideally the product will say ‘raw’ or unprocessed; do know that no cacao or chocolate is ever raw as the cacao beans need to be roasted before processing. ‘Raw’ just means limited processing, and no high-heat processing means that most the nutrition will still be intact. Usually coco powder has been heated to high temperatures. Dutch coco is used for making and has the addition of an alkalizing agent.

Notes On Making This Smoothie

The Original Healing Smoothie

Unfortunately, the Ingredients Health Food Cafe which created this smoothie is no longer around. The original recipe used homemade almond milk in addition to some hemp seeds. To make things easier I prefer to make my own ‘hemp milk’, which is as easy as blending hemp seeds in water, no straining required. See my simple Hemp Milk Recipe here.

Healing Breakfast Smoothie with Berry Banana and Cacao from Ingredients Apple Cafe, Victoria BC

Did you make this Healing Berry Banana Smoothie with Cacao recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you! Share it on Pinterest and leave a comment below. I would love it if you shared a picture of your recreation on Instagram so I can take a look, and be sure to tag me @theconsciousdietitian.

Recipe Adapted From: Ingredients Heath Food Store – Apple Café.

Healing Breakfast Smoothie with Berry Banana and Cacao from Ingredients Apple Cafe, Victoria BC
5 from 1 vote
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Healing Berry Banana Smoothie with Cacao

This Berry Banana Smoothie with Cacao was inspired by a local organic health food store. The combination of the hemp, berries, banana, cacao with the secret ingredient of apple cider vinegar not only creates a taste sensation but fills our bodies with beneficial bacteria, prebiotic fibres and nourishing healthy fats.

Course Drinks
Cuisine Canadian
Keyword Berry Banana Smoothie, Chocolate Banana Smoothie, Hemp Banana Smoothie, High Protein Smoothie
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 1
Calories 195 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 2 tbsp hemp hearts
  • 1 tbsp cacao raw
  • 1 medium banana
  • 1/2 cup blueberries frozen
  • 2 large ice cubes

Instructions

  1. Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Add more almond milk if the smoothie is too thick.

Recipe Notes

*I have since found out that the proper recipe has 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar added to it. I would definitely recommend adding this last ingredient.

Nutrition Analysis done with 2 tbsp raw cacao powder in place of hot chocolate.

Nutrition Facts
Healing Berry Banana Smoothie with Cacao
Amount Per Serving
Calories 195 Calories from Fat 101
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11.2g 17%
Saturated Fat 1.5g 8%
Sodium 90mg 4%
Potassium 165mg 5%
Total Carbohydrates 16g 5%
Dietary Fiber 6.6g 26%
Sugars 6.6g
Protein 9g 18%
Vitamin C 3%
Calcium 25%
Iron 20%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Filed Under: All Recipes, Breakfast, Drinks, Gluten Free, Raw, Snacks Tagged With: Australia, Cacao, Gluten free, organic, Phytochemicals, Plant Based Diet, Raw, Seasonal, seeds, sustainable, Vegetarian

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Hi! My name is Rachel and I am a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator who is passionate about nutrition that is healthy for our bodies as well as for the planet. Here I'll share some of my favourite plant-based recipes, evidence based nutrition information, and tips on green sustainable eating. More about Rachel...

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