Easy Greens Kefir Smoothie (THM-E friendly)

A quick, extremely superfood-y kefir smoothie is perfect for breakfast or a snack! Pack a health punch into your day when you don’t have time to shove down a salad. Because that’s what this is: basically the nutrition of a big bowl of greens, mixed with the health benefits of probiotics and a few more optional add-ins, all in a quick kefir smoothie!

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What is Kefir and Why Should I Drink A Kefir Smoothie?

Kefir is basically a drinkable yogurt. It is chocked full of the good probiotics that you hear health experts talking about today. Kefir is super beneficial to your gut health!

See this article from draxe.com to read more about the science of probiotics: Probiotics: Top Benefits, Foods, and Supplements

While drinking regular milk may pose some problems for those sensitive to dairy, kefir has been fermented. This means the culturing process eats up the milk sugar (lactose) and makes it easier to digest. It’s gentler on the waistline than milk. Fermenting predigests the casein in milk- casein is the milk protein, also making it easier on the sensitive stomach.

Kefir contains strains of beneficial enzymes and yeasts, which gives it antibiotic properties! It coats the lining of the digestive system and creates an environment where good bacteria can flourish.

(Nutrition info summarized from Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon.)

How Kefir is Made

I could go on and on about the health benefits of kefir. It’s chocked full of all kinds of vitamins and minerals, too. I tend to get excited about the subject.

Maybe the best part about this kefir deal is that you can make it at home! I absolutely love making my own kefir from my raw goat’s milk. I feel like I’m drinking liquid gold when I have fresh milk kefir.

I’ve summarized my kefir making process in this post if you’re interested: A Fun Drink Called Kefir (What it is and How to Make It.)

However, you don’t have to make your own! (But you totally could if you wanted.)

It’s easily bought at the grocery store, at a pretty decent price.

Here’s a tip: to pump up the health benefits even more, leave your store-bought kefir out on the counter for 24 hours. This is called double fermenting. I know it sounds wrong…leaving something out of the fridge. But it does add more probiotic goodness! So try it if you dare. (Don’t worry, I’ve survived and I do it all the time.)

Let’s Leave the Sugar Out of the Picture

Also, make sure the kefir you buy from the store is sugar free. I buy the plain unsweetened kefir. If you find a flavored version, it will most likely have added sugar. In my mind, this sort of defeats the purpose of trying to build a healthy microbiome. So please make sure you’re not cheating your stomach of the beneficial probiotics by killing them with sugar!

To remedy a plain store-bought unsweetened kefir, just blend some berries and sweetener up, and it just went from bland to yummy. You’re welcome for the free tip! Haha!

Kefir is Great…Now onto the Greens

In this recipe, I’ve added spinach and the superfood power of greens powder.

If you have no clue what greens powder is, or you are not interested in getting any, just double up on the amount of spinach in this recipe.

I love the new Dynamic Duo Greens powder from Trim Healthy Mama. It’s a combo of spirulina and moringa…two superfoods in one powder.

You could also purchase other brands of greens powder…I know I’ve bought some at my local health food store before. (I’ve used Barlean’s Greens in the past.) But I trust THM’s brand and have had great success with using their powder! So I highly recommend it.

“They (Spirulina and moringa) both detox your body and offer you rich amounts of folate to support your methylation pathways… important for everyone, but especially those who have MTHFR genetic markers (which is half the population) or those who are pregnant and require more natural folate.

Spirulina is gram for gram one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. It is added to the diets of astronauts in orbit for good reason, it contains 46 powerful anti- oxidants and promotes better blood flow throughout the body. Like its pal moringa, spirulina is rich in complete protein and wages war on dragging health with its bounty of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, E, K, copper, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, manganese and smaller amounts of almost every other nutrient you need. Moringa has not been given the name of king of greens without earning it! This super plant fights fatigue and anemia through being a powerhouse of iron and vitamin A. It loves on your skin, supports your immune system, beats up on cancer cells, and being almost 25% protein with 9 essential amino acids, it supports flourishing strength.” -from the Trim Healthy Mama website, info on Dynamic Duo Greens powder.

Spinach is a known health food. Full of calcium, vitamins and minerals, you can always add a handful to any smoothie to pump up the health factor. I love it!

Other ingredients:

I also use a tablespoon of baobab powder in this recipe. It has it’s own huge list of health benefits…Vit C, iron, potassium….it’s an all around immunity boosting superfood. Read more about it here:

6 Benefits of Baobab Fruit Powder & How To Use It from mommypotamus.com

THM Notes For Easy Greens Kefir Smoothie:

To make this recipe a THM-E (healthy carb) I added a whole banana to the mix. It not only adds that delicious flavor, but adds some volume to the kefir, too.

For those concerned with keeping this recipe in the THM-E limits, you will want to use the low-fat kefir. Preferably double fermented, but it doesn’t have to be. It just eats up more of the natural sugars.  

On to the Recipe

Here’s all the ingredients I used:

12 oz low fat kefir

4 oz unsweetened almond milk

1 banana

1 handful of spinach (or two handfuls if you don’t have greens powder)

1-2 tsp greens powder (I use THM Dynamic Duo Greens powder)

1 tbsp baobab powder (optional but recommended for superfood qualities)

Pinch mineral salt

1/16 tsp (2 doonk spoons if you’re a THM) of pure stevia extract powder. If you don’t have stevia extract, just sweeten to taste with any other non-sugar sweetener.

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients together in a blender.

That’s it! Quick, Easy Greens Kefir Smoothie to boost your health and fill your belly!

Looking for more kefir smoothie recipes? Try these:

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Kefir Smoothie

Kiwi Banana Kefir Smoothie

Apple Pie Kefir Smoothie

If you want to get started making your own, visit my post: A Fun Drink Called Kefir (What it is and How to Make it)

Also in the kefir category, visit How to Make Kefir Cheese

For more of my THM friendly recipes, go to Farm Fresh THM!

If you are needing to restock on THM products, I would be honored if you chose to shop through my affiliate link! I’ve placed it here for your convenience. Thank you, friend!