My Heal Your Gut Smoothie (with Resistant Starch)

Jul 6, 2014

Updated 8/6/23

This Resistant Starch (RS) protein smoothie is part of my ingenious master plan to heal my gut to heal my GERD to get rid of the chronic cough to heal my throat and voice so I can sing with the darn radio again!!!

The Trauma

I used to be a singer, a real singer making money singing. My first gig was in first grade singing Oh Holy Night a cappella over the school intercom. Beforehand, I was terrified; afterwards I was hooked. I sang in a bunch of bands, spent 30 years doing musical comedy, singing anywhere and everywhere. It was my identity.

In 2011, when I was on my deathbed in a Costa Rican hospital, my vocal cords were injured when they pulled out the respirator. From then on, I’ve sounded like Phyllis Diller. For several years, I was lost… my identity was taken in a minute and that can be devastating. Fortunately, I’m crafty and re-created myself.

I made that sound fun. It wasn’t. I don’t wish that journey on anyone.

The Smoothie

I discovered the idea of using RS to build healthy gut flora back in 2012 while surfing the web. It took me hours and hours to read, re-read and digest this fascinating information, stretching out over a few months... many, many blog posts.

I was obsessed because I saw concrete evidence for a way to explode my good gut bacteria and hasten the cure. If you want to follow in my educational footsteps, Dr. Grace wrote an update on RS with good links. Her blog is occasionally too scientific for me, but I read it anyway. Who knows? Maybe something will stick...

What is Resistant Starch?

It’s a starch that is resistant to digestion. So resistant, in fact, that it moves right through your small intestine down to your large intestine where it sits (because it is indigestible, otherwise it would move right through with your other food) and ferments until it becomes digestible and can be eliminated.

The magic happens while it's fermenting because then it's feeding and multiplying your colon's good bacteria.

"Prebiotics are, quite simply, indigestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth and maintenance of beneficial gut microbiota." -- Mark Sisson

First, the Heal Your Gut Smoothie

The 5 Essentials Ingredients

LIQUID: we use 8 ounces raw milk — yummy and so good for you! (NOT pasteurized milk which is a dead food.) Other great options are: filtered water, coconut milk, or kefir.
1 Serving Protein Shake Mix -- This is my fast food for $3 a meal! The flavors are delicious, I’ve been using this brand since 2017. Either the FeelFit protein shake or the Meal Replacement, both are wonderful.
1 scoop Greens for prebiotic fiber (resistant starch), minerals and veggies for the day.
Probiotics: GutHealth which is 3-in-1: prebiotic (resistant starch), probiotic and digestive enzymes.
Glycine for everything collagen does plus it’s a sleep aid and mood enhancer!

OPTIONAL

1/3 GREEN banana for flavor and it’s a prebiotic fiber all on its own.
Non-GMO Vit C powder - We take up to 3 grams a day. You will probably have to work up to this, Vit C has a laxative effect till you get used to it.

If you are loving your collagen (we used to till we started using glycine), this brand is awesome: Great Lakes Gelatin: Hydrosylate Unflavored Gelatin Collagen Collagen is basically gelatin that doesn't get thick. 1 Tbsp for joints, skin, nails, hair, digestion. (Collagen has glycine in it but just not enough for us.)
Can add berries or any low glycemic fruit
A raw egg for extra protein (I'll add one if I'm feeling super hungry)
Ice (so it's nice and cold!)

HOW TO

Blend /=;-) I use this blender, love it!
Drink and enjoy!

Polyphenols & Probiotics

Polyphenols?

...to further increase the BIONIC RS to stellar levels, add in a good dose of anti-oxidant rich foods full of polyphenols. ... Polyphenols are just coming to light in their contributions to gut health. This study looked into the contributions of plant polyphenols of gut microbiota health and concluded: "Polyphenols are extensively metabolized by gut bacteria into a complex series of end-products that support a significant effect on the functional ecology of symbiotic partners that can affect the host physiology." -- Tim Steele

The Greens in the smoothie provide the the polyphenols!

Probiotics?

When the RS smoothie idea first got going, taking probiotics was not part of the picture because feeding and multiplying the probiotics already in your gut was WHY you would drink RS.

This is when Dr. Grace jumped into the fray with her "empty cages" theory. She astutely pointed out that, while it was awesome to have RS fermenting in the gut, if there were no good bacteria around, all that prebiotic fermenting wasn't feeding nothing... because the cage was empty. You have to install good bacteria (via PRObiotics) then feed them (via PREbiotics). This made immediate sense to me and I added GutHealth to the mix.

Fill the cage, then feed the beasties.

There you have it! Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

xo Sally

PS. FARTING This smoothie MAY cause flatulence at first. Farting is a sign that your prebiotic is doing something good. RS works because it's resistant to digestion, but that also makes you fart.