Mocha Protein Smoothie

This is a great way to enjoy your mocha without the added refined sugars.

Enjoy the taste of coffee whilst fuelling your body. By starting the day with some protein and a nutritious source of carbohydrates like a banana, you will find you’re fuller for longer.

It will also sustain your energy throughout the morning with a good balance of protein and healthy carbohydrates.

If caffeine causes you to run to the toilet, you can opt for a decaffeinated coffee option so that you can still enjoy the flavour without the digestive upset.

For those experiencing reflux or gastritis, I would not recommend drinking this regularly as coffee in itself is acidic and will exacerbate your condition.

Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 1

Mocha Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coffee brewed
• 1 medium banana
• 1/4 cup or 1 serve of plant based vanilla protein powder
• 1 tbsp of cocoa or cacao powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Make it more gut friendly: Opt for a greener banana to increase the resistant starch (prebiotic) – please note this will reduce the sweetness. (1)

Almond milk brand recommendation: I recommend the Pureharvest brand which provides a good source of Calcium per serve and is free of thickeners making it more gut friendly.

Directions

1. Add all of the ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
2. Best enjoyed straight away.

Health Benefits

Green bananas provide a great source of resistant starch and inulin which act as prebiotics on certain beneficial bacterial species found in the digestive system.

Such bacterial species include Bifidobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Akkermansia. (2)