Kefir breakfast smoothie

This kefir breakfast smoothie provides both the friendly bacteria that the intestine must have and the fibre that they need to feed on. The taste is simply divine; make it as sour as you like by adding more or less of the probiotic that you grow in your own kitchen. It is so simple and will provide vast benefits to you and the family.

This recipe uses oats-milk with a little dairy kefir. There is nothing wrong with bananas but you do want to keep the overall net carb load down; so we use only a quarter.

Can you have a smoothie with banana? Yes, but keep it light. Our stance is that it is the refined carbs like cake-flour and sugar that do the real damage, so bagels, pancakes and chocolate cake are for high and holy days only; and certainly not for breakfast.

Oats milk

Oats milk is a good alternative to dairy if you have an aversion or allergy to it. It is very simple to make so for heaven's sake do not go out and spend a fortune; in your own kitchen it literally costs one-twentieth to blend up and can be done in a jiffy.

It is a good source of calcium; and has a rich and creamy taste not unlike dairy-milk.

Kefir

Kefir is a natural probiotic that I believe every single family should grow in their own kitchen. There is a vast amount of research coming out on the importance of the microbiome as it is called; the friendly bacteria, viruses and yeast cells living in the alimentary-canal.

These important bugs are seriously under attack from all the chemicals added to food; and the overuse of antibiotics.

It is only an anecdote but kefir cured my fifteen-year belly ache caused by a Helicobacter pylori stomach infection that would not respond to conventional medication^[4]; in just one week. The mechanism is not clear but probably it simply overwhelming the pathogens with millions of friendly bugs. 

It takes literally no more than five-minutes every morning to prepare it for your kefir breakfast smoothie. Having reestablished the normal flora in your gut you probably only need to take it once or twice a week; unless you regularly use artificial sweeteners. They are worse than sugar^[2]. 

How to make kefir^[3] is not rocket-science.

Children too

Disturbing research shows that long-term and recurrent use of antibiotics in children increases the chance of early onset malignant colorectal tumours by a massive 48%; and precancerous adenomas by 140 percent^[7]. In total a 62pc rise in the risk of a neoplasm.

Moderate use of antibiotics might increase that risk by only 20% but that's still significant.

Most antibiotics kill friend and foe alike; by destroying the microbiome in the gut they put us at risk by shutting off the supply of important chemicals like butyrate and dopamine.

Most adults today have had significant exposure to antibiotics in childhood; these kefir breakfast smoothies are to be enjoyed on a regular basis by all ages.

Protein

Interestingly kefir contains even more protein than an egg; 10g per cup. Add to that its highly absorbable form of calcium and you realise why we are punting this breakfast smoothie.

A large egg has only 6 grams of protein.

Arugula

Arugula is also known as rocket; it is one of my favourite dark-green leafy vegetables. It has a soft stalk so after washing it is not necessary to devein it unless you are one of the unusual people who gets so much fibre from your food that it causes diarrhoea.

• How to get more fiber
• Nutrition of arugula
  

Interestingly there is more of the substances that keep down our blood pressure in the stalk of vegetables than in either the leaf or the tuber of a beetroot, for example; the nitric-oxide relaxes the muscles in the arteries.

So arugula is perfect for your kefir breakfast smoothie but you could equally easily use kale or young Swiss Chard leaves. It is particularly rich in the phytonutrient called sulphoraphane^[5] that contributes enormous benefits to our well-being.

These musings from the summer vegetable garden may be interesting if you too are anxious about the toxic chemicals used today by commercial agriculture. We literally produce more than a ton of food every year right in the suburbs.

Raw honey

When you open a bottle of raw-honey you immediately become aware of an intense scent; that of the millions of flowers literally that the bees have visited. Once heated these labile phytonutrients and their benefits are lost.

Just try comparing the fragrance from a bottle of natural honey with one from the supermarket; chalk and cheese. Astonishingly researchers have found that it actually lowers the fasting blood sugar of non insulin-dependent diabetics; but still needs to be enjoyed judiciously.

I am a beekeeper but still limit myself to a maximum of three-teaspoons a day, and usually less. You will not find runny or creamed honey like that above in most shops but only from a small local hobbyist; it is perfect for your kefir breakfast smoothie.

The only exception is when I am extracting the nectar from the gods from the honey-combs; then I indulge in a little more.

Natural honeycomb is the completely unprocessed form; there's interesting research that it is the only known medication or food that helps with fatty-liver. That is a very serious disease, often terminal; oddly it is caused by chronic excessive refined carbohydrate consumption and not butter, cream and lard.

All of us need to keep our carbs, especially those that are refined well under 150g per day; and those suffering from obesity, diabetes and fatty-liver far less. 1 tsp of honey in your kefir breakfast smoothie contributes 7 grams.

Kefir breakfast smoothie

A kefir breakfast smoothie is a sweet treat for your tongue and a sour one for your colon. Perfect it to your family's taste by adding more or less of the probiotic, trying different milks and greens; and even using freshly-ground nuts and seeds.

The cream, nuts and seeds increase the satiety; this could be your whole breakfast. You won't be famished at 11 o'clock.

This berry smoothie is another favourite in our home.

Commercial yoghurts do have some probiotic-activity if they have not been pasteurised; but far less than kefir which has over 30 different friendly bugs.

It is so simple to enjoy these kefir benefits from your own kitchen.

Well-being

This site from me, Dr Bernard Preston, DC is all about improving both your own well-being and that of the planet. By combining the benefits of both green and blue zone living we can ensure a happy future for ourselves and the next generations.

If you have never heard of blue zone longevity before then you are in for a treat; but it is hard work. These people live naturally into very old age and ten-times as many achieve one hundred. Sign up to our newsletter below if this strikes a chord with you.

Only someone who suffers like I did for so many years with severe heartburn at night will understand how this kefir breakfast smoothie made an incredible difference to my sense of well-being.

Enjoying many deeply coloured foods on a daily basis has been shown to dramatically lower the all-cause of death. Fermenting them further has sparked interest in using Lactobacillus cultures, many of which are found in kefir, to promote the probiotic benefits of beetroot juice, for example; it enhances the antioxidant activity.

We are experimenting with beetroot slices in our kefir breakfast smoothies by allowing them to stand and ferment for an hour or two before drinking them.

Increasing the number of friendly-bacteria and yeasts in our gut, starting in the mouth, means a far greater chance that pathogens will be completely outnumbered. We are all exposed to them on a daily basis; every time you shake a hand, give a kiss or someone sneezes.

This purple power smoothie is another of our favourites.

Spicy kefir smoothie

One generally thinks of a smoothie as being something sweet; that, of course, need not be so. We first made this kefir salsa as a condiment to go on other dishes and even sandwiches; then we discovered just how lovely it was all on its own. Made from tomatoes, avocado and peppers it is an all-round delight.

Whole grains like this completely unrefined grits are rich in bran. That's where nearly half of the protein is found, many B vitamins and especially the lignans; they are phytonutrients that help prevent malignant breast tumours and cardiovascular disease.

Join the Food Snob movement and avoid refined grains; they have no taste in any case as compared with this maize-meal porridge.That's why most commercial cereals are loaded with salt and sugar.

Are we Food Snobs or epicureans?

Low carb breakfast

Researchers have found that a low carb breakfast was better than a reduced fat meal to stabilise blood glucose for the whole day.

In fact increased lard provides greater satiety and stabilisation of blood glucose. There's no general agreement on whether that could be butter, cream or should only be one of the fruit fats; olive oil and avocados.

With the modern industrial diet centred on high carb, sugar-laden cereals it is little wonder that in many cultures enjoying typical grocery store food nearly half of the people are either frankly diabetic or nearly there.

The low carb, high fat breakfast was focused around eggs.

Calcium

Kefir is apparently the richest source of natural and readily available dietary calcium. Scientists are increasingly concerned that from supplements the high dose is being deposited in the coronary and other arteries; raising blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Get your calcium from kefir together with exercise and compressive loading to drive it into the bones.
  

Alzheimer's Disease

Researchers have found that patients suffering from stomach pain, bloating and frequent burping (all signs of a Helicobacter pylori infection) have an 11% increased chance of developing Alzheimer's Disease^[8]; that is very significant. And just one more reason to regularly enjoy probiotics such as this kefir breakfast smoothie^[4].

Stomach and duodenal ulcers

Nearly two million Americans every year have a stomach or duodenal ulcer; around 80% of them are caused by a Helicobacter pylori infection. NSAIDs are the next more common cause of the disease.

Should the ulcer bleed or perforate the complications are extreme.

An infusion of friendly bacteria daily into the gut from a probiotic like kefir breakfast smoothie would greatly reduce the prevalence of this serious, painful disease.

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