“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”, said Hippocrates in 431 B.C. The Father of Medicine was onto something, and today, we need the healing benefits of food more than ever — especially when it comes to digestive health.
Feeling tired, bloated and heavy isn’t our natural state of being. When your digestion is sluggish, your entire body is affected— from your energy levels and motivation, to your body’s ability to properly detoxify and promote natural weight loss.
Poor digestion can also prevent us from feeling comfortable and confident in our own skin. Personally, when I used to suffer from chronic bloating, I would hide under baggy sweaters and yoga pants, longing for my favorite denim jeans to fit comfortably again. I constantly struggled to stay awake past 8 p.m., and experienced acid reflux no matter what I ate.
As you can see, a healthy digestive system is a fundamental part of your health and wellness. Luckily, nature has provided us with foods to help cleanse and purify the body naturally, which results in improved bowel regularity, reduced bloating (and other painful digestive symptoms), and limitless amounts of energy.
These 5 smoothie bowl recipes with chlorella are packed with superfoods for digestive health, and when you incorporate these foods into your diet regularly, I’m willing to bet you’ll notice an improvement in your overall health and wellness quickly.
1. Chlorella Cleanser
Pineapple is rich in the digestive enzyme, bromelain, which helps your body digest protein efficiently.
Ingredients:
For the Base
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup spinach
- 3 g / 1tsp Sun Chlorella
- 1 tsp matcha (green tea) powder
- ½ cup coconut water
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ¼ cup frozen pineapple
Toppings
- 1 tsp unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3 fresh strawberries, sliced
Blend the base ingredients together, starting with the liquids and greens. Add remaining base ingredients and blend until a “soft serve” consistency starts to form. Add small splashes of filtered water to reach desired consistency. Add toppings and enjoy!
2. Digestive Diva
Health Benefits: The healthy fats found in avocados may help “lubricate” the digestive tract, and ease constipation. Similar to chlorella, avocado is rich in fiber. Studies show a lack of dietary fiber is one of the leading causes of constipation and digestive discomfort, as fiber acts as a “bulking” agent for eliminating accumulated waste in the GI tract (1).
Kiwi contains an enzyme called actinidin, which helps digest protein rich foods, especially eggs, yogurt, cheese and fish. If you feel heavy after a protein-rich meal, see if you notice a positive difference in your digestion for the rest of the day after eating this smoothie bowl (2).
Ingredients:
For the Base
- ½ avocado
- 1 kiwi
- 3 g / 1tsp Sun Chlorella
- 1 cup baby kale
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 frozen banana
Toppings
- 1 kiwi, sliced
- ½ avocado, sliced
- Small sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut
Blend the base ingredients together, starting with the liquids and greens. Add remaining base ingredients and blend until a “soft serve” consistency starts to form. Add small splashes of filtered water to reach desired consistency. Add toppings and enjoy!
3. Chocolate Paradise
Health Benefits: Who says eating chocolate can’t improve your digestive health? As long as it’s raw cacao powder you’re enjoying, chocolate is a powerful food for digestion because of the antioxidant vitamins and fiber it contains.
The hemp hearts in this recipe offer a healthy dose of omega 3 essential fatty acids, which, as mentioned above, may help lubricate the intestinal tract, and soften waste to be eliminated quicker.
Ingredients:
For the Base
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 3 g / 1tsp Sun Chlorella
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Toppings
- 2 strawberries, sliced
- 1 tbsp hemp hearts
- Small sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut
Blend the base ingredients together, starting with the liquids and greens. Add remaining base ingredients and blend until a “soft serve” consistency starts to form. Add small splashes of filtered water to reach desired consistency. Add toppings and enjoy!
4. Probiotic Power
Health Benefits: One of the most important nutrients for digestion is probiotics, which are the healthy bacteria that live in your GI tract. Probiotics keep harmful pathogens out of your system, and help you digest and absorb the nutrients you eat.
Probiotic supplements are often recommended to aid in removing harmful elements in your colon, but you can also add these beneficial bacteria to your diet by eating fermented foods such as sauerkraut, apple cider vinegar and kombucha.
Since sauerkraut and apple cider vinegar aren’t exactly the type of ingredients you’d want to find in a fruit-flavored smoothie bowl, you can add probiotics to this recipe with coconut milk yogurt, coconut milk kefir*, or probiotic powder— all of which can be found at your local health food store.
*I recommend choosing a non-dairy yogurt or kefir for this recipe, as the sugar in dairy, called lactose, can be difficult to break down and digest. Dairy products are one of the most common food sensitivities, which can cause gas, cramping, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation (3)(4).
Ingredients:
For the Base
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk yogurt, coconut milk kefir or 1 serving probiotic powder*
- ¾ cup berries
- 3 g / 1tsp Sun Chlorella
- 2 tbsp hemp hearts
- filtered water to reach desired consistency
Toppings
- ½ avocado, sliced
- ½ banana, sliced
Blend the base ingredients together, starting with the liquids and greens. Add remaining base ingredients and blend until a “soft serve” consistency starts to form. Add small splashes of filtered water to reach desired consistency. Add toppings and enjoy!
5. Minty Mojito
Health Benefits: The lime juice in this recipe helps stimulate stomach acid production, which helps you better digest the foods you eat. Fresh mint soothes and calms the intestinal lining and may help provide relief from stomach aches. Mint is also said to help increase bile flow, which can help speed up sluggish digestion.
Ingredients:
For the Base
- 1 frozen banana
- Juice of ½ lime
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
- ½ avocado
- 3 g / 1tsp Sun Chlorella
- 1 cup greens of your choice (baby kale, romaine, spinach, spring mix)
- 1 cup unsweetened nut milk (cashew, almond,
- 1 tsp optional sweetener: Sun Wakasa Gold Plus, Organic Sun Eleuthero Extract, pinch green leaf stevia or pure maple syrup
Toppings
- 3 fresh mint leaves
- 1 tsp melted coconut oil, drizzled
Blend the base ingredients together, starting with the liquids and greens. Add remaining base ingredients and blend until a “soft serve” consistency starts to form. Add small splashes of filtered water to reach desired consistency. Add toppings and enjoy!
Suffice to say, Hippocrates would certainly agree with the ingredients in these smoothie bowl recipes. While the nutrients in your diet— such as fiber and probiotics— play a crucial role in your digestive health, healthy digestion also depends on certain lifestyle factors.
Exercising regularly, staying hydrated, getting 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night, and reducing your stress levels are other ways to begin improving your digestion immediately, so you can experience a greater sense of well-being each day.