Gut Health Smoothies

We hear a lot about heart health and mental health, but only in recent years has there been a greater focus on gut health.  If you have a healthy gut, this will also assist with the health of your other organs. Everyone has experienced that "gut feeling", it is a sure sign that our gut and our mind are connected.

"There is mounting evidence that products of the many microbes in the gut can reach or influence the brain, and even effect our mood and anxiety," so the CSIRO tells us in their published 'Gut Care Guide' recently updated in 2021 with all their latest research.

What does this have to do with Yeppoonie Smoothie powder you ask?  Well, to quote the CSIRO again, "we now know that a major piece in the gut health puzzle is fibre, especially a type of dietary fibre called resistant starch."  One of the major focuses of our smoothie blends, (and smoothies are advocated by the CSIRO as a meal option in their Gut Care Guide), is both fibre and resistant starch.  We source our Green Banana resistant starch from a local farm in Walkamin Queensland, one of the many innovative farms we buy our ingredients from.  And for dietary fibre, we include Gold and Brown Flaxseed grown near Hamilton in Victoria. It not only gives a great nutty taste, but is also very satiating, high in Omegas 3, 6 and 9, and very high in dietary fibre. In other words, our smoothies are very healthy for your gut.

The history of resistant starch dates to about the same time period as the focus on gut health in medical circles.  In fact, resistant starch was first discovered in 1982, which was also the same year the very first International conference on dietary fibre was held across the pond in New Zealand. As Michael Gregor, MD, tells us in his book, 'How not to diet', "Prior to this discovery...we thought that all starch could be broken down by the enzymes in our small intestines. Now we know that there are indeed starches that resist digestion, which not only lowers the Glycemic impact but, since they make their way to our large intestines, can act as prebiotics to feed our good bacteria, just like fibre does. (Probiotics are live bacteria; prebiotics are the fuel that feeds them)."

As these discoveries are relatively new, it is not surprising that many people are not aware of the importance of resistant starches and gut health. However the same cannot be said for fibre, the father of modern Western medicine, Hippocrates, was preaching the benefits of bran in 6th century BC, so adding fibre to your diet is certainly not a modern day fad!

So given the connection of the gut to the brain and the liver, skin and other organs, well-being really does begin on the inside.