- Calories
- 290
- Protein
- 20g
- Fiber
- 6g
- Sat. fat
- 1g
- Sodium
- 130mg
- Added sugar
- 0g
What this recipe does for you.
A 4-minute smoothie with turmeric, fresh ginger, pineapple, kefir, and chia. 20g protein, the morning glass on cycle days.
Why this works
Every recipe on this site ships with an explanation of the technique decisions, why sear then braise, why the acid goes in at the end, why the fat renders before the aromatics. The method below is those decisions, in order.
Biotiful kefir (plain)
Plain kefir blends thinner than yogurt and carries 11g of protein per cup. Biotiful is the brand that doesn't taste of cardboard, which most other UK brands do. US readers, Lifeway plain is the equivalent.
Ingredients
Serves 1- Biotiful kefir (plain) · The base
- Aromatics, salt, fat (full ingredient list ships with photography)
Method
1 cup kefir, fridge cold
Plain kefir, not flavoured. Flavoured kefir adds 12g of sugar before you've added anything to the blender. Cold from the fridge so the smoothie comes out cold without needing extra ice.
100g pineapple chunks, frozen
Frozen pineapple does the job of ice cubes plus flavor. Bromelain in pineapple has weak in vitro evidence for an anti-inflammatory effect (Pavan 2012); the stronger reason to use it here is taste. It cuts the kefir tang the way nothing else does.
A 2cm piece of fresh ginger, a 1cm piece of fresh turmeric
Fresh, not powdered. Powdered turmeric is fine in a curry, less fine raw. A small piece of each, peeled with a teaspoon edge. Fresh turmeric stains everything yellow, I peel mine on a piece of paper towel.
Half a teaspoon of black pepper, ground
The piperine and the curcumin point again. Without black pepper, the curcumin in turmeric is poorly absorbed. With it, twenty times more bioavailable. Half a teaspoon disappears into the kefir tang and you don't taste it.
A tablespoon of chia seeds
Chia gives the smoothie 3g of fiber and a slight thickness it would otherwise lack. Whole chia, not ground. They settle to the bottom if you let the smoothie sit, so blend last and drink within 10 minutes.
A scoop of unflavoured pea or whey isolate (optional)
Optional, but it's the move that takes this from a 13g protein smoothie to a 20g one. I use unflavoured pea isolate because it doesn't fight the ginger. Whey works fine too. Don't use vanilla flavor, it muddies the spice.
Variations
Substitutions and adaptations land with the photography shoot. The method holds across most reasonable swaps.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 to 4 days, sealed. Freezer: up to 3 months. Reheat covered to retain moisture.
Frequently asked
- Does turmeric in food do anything?
- Mechanistically yes, dose-dependently. Curcumin (the compound in turmeric) has shown anti-inflammatory effects in laboratory and animal studies; in humans the dose used in clinical trials is several grams per day, far more than a smoothie carries. We use it because it tastes good, not because a single glass is a therapy.
- Can I make this the night before?
- I wouldn't. Chia thickens the whole drink to a pudding inside two hours. If you want a make-ahead version, blend without chia and add it at drinking time.
- Is the bromelain in pineapple a real thing?
- It's a real enzyme, and there is weak in vitro evidence for an anti-inflammatory effect. The clinical trial data is thin and inconsistent. Use pineapple here for flavor; treat the bromelain claim as a maybe.
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