Green Banana Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Cucumber
2 Stalks of Celery
1/3 Bunch of Parsley
2 Bananas

Directions

Thoroughly wash the cucumber, celery and parsley.  Celery, in particular, often tests positive for higher levels of pesticide residue, so either buy organic or make sure that you scrub the stalks really well.

Juice the cucumber, celery and parsley in the juicer.

The next step involves the blender, not the juicer.  Put your cucumber/celery/parsley juice into the blender with two (peeled) bananas.  Blend until smooth, and then refrigerate your smoothie for a half an hour or so to enjoy optimum flavor.

Makes one serving/smoothie.

Nutritional Information

Bananas are great for people with IBS.  They’re a staple of the BRAT diet, the diet that most doctors recommend for patients with gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea when they catch a stomach bug.  The BRAT diet is composed of foods that are mild, low in fiber and easy to digest; low-fiber foods are recommended for those with diarrhea because foods that are high in fiber often cause gas and worsen gastrointestinal upset.  Bananas have very little unsoluble fiber, which can be difficult for people with IBS to digest, but they’re high in soluble fiber, which is one of the most helpful things for preventing IBS symptoms.  In soluble fiber, the chemical bonds that join the individual sugar units cannot be digested by enzymes in the human GI tract, and so soluble fiber passes through the body intact.  Soluble fiber dissolves in water but is not digested, which allows it to absorb excess liquid in the colon, preventing diarrhea by forming a thick gel and adding a great deal of bulk as it passes intact through the digestive system.  Unlike other types of fiber, soluble fiber soothes and regulates the digestive tract, stabilizes intestinal contractions and normalizing bowel functions from either extreme – meaning that bananas and other sources of soluble fiber prevents and relieves both diarrhea and constipation.  Those of us with IBS-D and IBS-C should be eating bananas pretty much every day.

Beyond that, bananas are a great source of potassium, an essential electrolyte, as well as magnesium and Vitamin B6.  Potassium is necessary for the proper functioning of your body’s cells, nerves and muscle cells, as well as helping to improve your mood and energy levels.  Deficiencies in potassium can cause weakness, fatigue, depression and anxiety.  Similarly, too little magnesium causes confusion, agitation and anxiety, and Vitamin B6 (aka Pyridoxine) also helps fight depression and diminish anxiety.  All of these minerals are very helpful for those of us stressing out about our IBS symptoms.  Moreover, Magnesium helps to relax blood vessels, maintain normal nerve function, prevent bone loss and help our bodies absorb use calcium and estrogen properly.  All three of these vitamins and minerals also help to prevent muscle cramps, and the magnesium and Vitamin B6 in bananas can also help improve your ability to sleep.

Some additional added long-term benefits of eating bananas: they help to decrease symptoms associated with asthma, boost fat burning, decrease the risk of certain cancers and support heart health.

Sources for Nutritional Information: Wikipedia Entry for The BRAT diet; The First Year: IBS – An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by Heather Van Vorous; The Everything Juicing Book by Carole Jacobs, Patrice Johnson andNicole Cormier

For nutritional information about cucumbers, please see my recipe and post for Grasshopper Juice.