Kiwi, Banana and Kefir Smoothie
By Jude Horak, UC patient. Remission. Breakfast.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Total
- 5 min
- Serves
- 1
I put kefir into my rotation slowly, a few sips at a time, because fermented dairy was one of the categories I had no idea how I would handle after my diagnosis. Blending it into a smoothie with a frozen banana turned out to be the easiest way to drink it, since the banana rounds off the sour edge and thickens everything into something closer to a milkshake. Kiwi is the second thing this smoothie tests. It is not a high-FODMAP fruit, but it has fiber and those tiny black seeds, so I peel it and pulse it in at the very end rather than blending it for a full minute. That keeps the seeds mostly whole, which stops them from turning the drink bitter and also makes them easy to strain out if you prefer. The whole thing takes five minutes, makes one tall glass, and I usually have it midmorning rather than first thing, because kefir on an empty stomach was harder for me than kefir after some toast.
Why it works for UC
Kefir is fermented, so much of its lactose has been converted by the cultures, and many people who react to milk find it noticeably easier; it also brings a good amount of protein per cup. Banana is soft, low in insoluble fiber and reliably gentle at every stage, and freezing it gives body without ice. Kiwi is the remission step: it is a low-FODMAP fruit, but with more fiber than banana, which is why peeling it and starting with a modest amount makes sense. Smoothies in general are a forgiving format for reintroducing fruit because blending does part of the breaking down before you swallow. A teaspoon of honey rounds the tartness without a large fructose load.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain, unsweetened kefir (lactose-free if you prefer)
- 1 ripe banana, peeled, sliced and frozen (about 3/4 cup)
- 2 ripe kiwis
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 ice cubes (optional, for a thicker drink)
- Small pinch of salt
Method
- 1Peel the kiwis with a spoon: slice off both ends, slip a teaspoon between the skin and the flesh, and run it around the fruit. This wastes far less than a knife. Quarter them and trim out the tough white core in the center if it is woody.
- 2Add the kefir, frozen banana, honey, vanilla and salt to a blender. Blend on high for 45 to 60 seconds until completely smooth and slightly foamy. The frozen banana does the thickening, so let the blender run long enough to break it down fully.
- 3Add the kiwi pieces and the ice if using. Pulse 5 to 8 times, just until the kiwi is broken up and the drink turns pale green. Over-blending grinds the seeds and gives a bitter, grainy finish.
- 4Taste and adjust: a little more honey if your kiwis were tart, or a splash more kefir if it is too thick to drink through a straw. Pour into a tall glass and drink within 10 minutes, before the banana starts to brown.
Tips and swaps
- Flare version: leave out the kiwi, swap the kefir for lactose-free milk or plain Greek yogurt thinned with water, and skip the honey. Banana and a gentle liquid was one of the few things I could reliably get down when eating was hard.
- If seeds worry you even after pulsing, pour the finished smoothie through a fine mesh strainer. It takes about a minute and removes nearly all of them.
- Freeze bananas in a single layer on a plate before bagging them, so the slices do not fuse into a brick you have to hack apart.
- Green kiwis are tarter than gold kiwis. If you find the drink puckery, gold kiwis are sweeter and a bit lower in acid, which I found gentler when I first tried them.
What a serving gives you
A glass gives around 10 grams of protein from the kefir, plus calcium, potassium from the banana, and a good hit of vitamin C from the kiwi. Kefir also contributes live cultures, which some of us are curious about for gut support, though I treat that as a nice extra rather than a reason to drink it. The fiber is modest, around 4 grams, most of it the soluble kind, so this sits between a flare smoothie and a full fruit-and-greens blend.
Questions about this recipe
Can I add spinach or kale to make this a green smoothie?
In remission, yes. A small handful of baby spinach, about half a cup, blends in with the kefir and banana in step two and barely changes the flavor. I would hold off on kale here because it needs a strong blender to break down and can leave fibrous bits, and raw kale is one of the vegetables I keep off my list until things are stable. Add greens on a day you feel good and only one new thing at a time.
What if kefir is too sour or does not sit well?
Kefir is sharper than yogurt and it did not work for me at first. Try half kefir and half lactose-free milk to start, which softens the tang, or use plain Greek yogurt thinned with a little water. If dairy in any form is the problem, unsweetened almond milk works, though you lose most of the protein. I would not push kefir if it repeatedly bothers you; there are plenty of other ways to get calcium and cultures.
