These sweet banana smoothies are my favorite alternatives to other desserts and sweets! This post features a chocolate banana smoothie and a creamy cinnamon banana smoothie. Both recipes are filled with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber and natural sugars that give our bodies the energy they need.
MyPlate Fruit Group
Antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and carbohydrates are some of the many nutrients that can be found in fruit.
The USDA’s MyPlate diet encourages us to make half our plate vegetables and fruits. This means that throughout the day adults should eat an average of 1.5-2.5 cups of fruit, while on average children eat 1-2 cups of fruit a day (MyPlate Fruit Group).
If this seems like a lot of fruit to you, you are not alone. Many do not reach their MyPlate daily recommendations because of factors such as time, budget, nutrition knowledge and other dietary, socioeconomic and personal factors. My hope is that this blog post can help alleviate some of those barriers, including time barriers, budget barriers and nutrition knowledge barriers.
Making Healthy Eating Convenient
Convenience is an important factor in our diets. If a meal or snack is faster and easier to eat, it’s more likely that we will eat it. Banana is a travel friendly fruit that can easily be eaten on it’s own or incorporated into other recipes as a main ingredient, sweetener or binder. This makes the banana not only convenient, but versatile as well.
Banana’s contain fructose, which is a carbohydrate that provides a very sweet flavor. If you have a sweet tooth then ripe bananas are for you! Freezing ripe banana’s and including them in smoothie and “ice cream” recipes is a great way to indulge in your sweet tooth, but treat your body well at the same time.
The carbs in banana give our bodies the energy they need to move, play, work, and function the way they need to. If you’re out and about, consider bringing a banana as a healthy re-fueling snack. It can easily be brought to the park, on a hike, or packed in a home lunch.
To learn more about how to keep your body moving this Summer, visit our Instagram and Facebook to learn more about our Your Choice Your Move initiative.
Banana Smoothie Recipes
These recipes are my favorite alternative to dishing up a bowl of ice cream. When I have a sweet craving these are the recipes I go to.
These recipes take less than two minutes to make, and are full of fiber that helps with digestive health unlike many other sweet treats. I’ve found that bananas are some of the best budget-friendly fruits one could buy year-round. There are occasions when I find yellow-brown bananas at the grocery store that are discounted. Brown bananas add extra sweetness and flavor, so feel free to buy those discounted ripened bananas for these recipes!
-Captain Create
