Pumpkin and Turmeric Smoothie

Is there anything nicer than pumpkin during the winter months? It's actually not as popular in the UK (where I live) compared to America; but from October onwards, it's usually possible to purchase tinned pumpkin in the Supermarket; and I discovered this actually makes a soothing smoothie staple! When my dog was sick, I was told mashed cooked pumpkin can settle their stomach, so I thought if it worked for them, why not my belly?

I try to make smoothies often as it's a great way to get fruit and vegetables. It's blended, so it's much softer and gentler to digest than eating vegetables whole (although having a smoothie blends and breaks the fiber down, they can still be high in fiber so choose your vegetables wisely). Pumpkin is particularly great as a vegetable as not only is tinned pumpkin really soft and smooth, but it contains plenty of soluble fiber; which I have found I am much better at tolerating than vegetables high in insoluble fiber (like spinach).

Makes 1 smoothie

Pumpkin and turmeric smoothie ingredients

• 1/4 cup of tinned pumpkin
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of almond milk or other dairy-free alternatives
• 1 teaspoon of nut butter (I used walnut)
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric

Helpful notes on the ingredients

Nut butter is actually one of my staple go-to's for smoothies. I know many of you reading this might equate nuts as the enemy but nut butter is blended smooth so they're much kinder than whole nuts. However, nut butters are still high in fat so I can only tolerate in small doses. I personally find adding a teaspoon or two of nut butter to a smoothie is a good way of getting some healthy fats into my diet. However, if you can't tolerate them, this smoothie tastes just as fantastic without! However, turmeric absorbs better in our body when it is combined with fat and black pepper; so if you don't use the peanut butter, it could be worth trying to add another source of fats to your smoothie instead. Examples include avocado or coconut oil.

How to make it the pumpkin and turmeric smoothie

This one is really simple to make:

1. Simply chop up your banana and add to your blender; along with the pumpkin, dairy-free milk, nut butter, cinnamon, and turmeric.
2. Blend until smooth!

Want to use a whole tin of pumpkin? Why not batch these and freeze-you can even pop them in ice lolly moulds for the summer months!