This delicious chocolate smoothie is rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin) which is used to treat angular cheilitis and seborrheic dermatitis! I developed this smoothie after discovering that I had angular cheilitis which is dry, cracked, crusting skin on the corner of the mouth.
Vitamin B2 deficiency is a major cause of angular cheilitis along with deficiency of vitamin B3, B5, B6, B12 and stress. I also have seborrheic dermatitis on my cheeks and nose which is why I knew it must be vitamin B2 deficiency, as the symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis and angular cheilitis are strong indicators of B2 deficiency.
So I looked in my my nutrition textbook for food sources of vitamin B2. According to Liska et al. (2004) the richest sources of vitamin B2 are animal products such as organ meats, fish and eggs. As I am vegan I looked down the list and saw that almonds are a rich source, as well as mushrooms. These are foods that I am not eating much of. I needed a way to get these foods into my everyday diet and had the idea to create a smoothie!
| Food | Amount | Vitamin B2 (mg) |
| Almonds | 50g | 0.46 |
| Kale | 100g | 0.26 |
| Cashews | 50g | 0.125 |
| Sunflower seeds | 50g | 0.115 |
| Prunes | 50g | 0.11 |
| 1.07 |
The UK reference nutrient intake (RNI) for women between the age of 15-50 years is 1.1mg. So I worked out how much of each ingredient I would need to get near to my RNI.
I am going to drink this smoothie everyday for a month and see if my angular cheilitis and seborrheic dermatits disappear! If there is no improvement it is either because it is caused by something else such as stress, or I am not absorbing nutrients well and need to work on my digestion!
I had some cacao powder to hand so added some into the smoothie mix to give a delicious, chocolatey flavour!
Chocolate Smoothie
Makes 1 litre
Ingredients
50g Almonds
100g Kale
50g Cashew nuts
50g Sunflower seeds
50g Prunes
3tbsp Cacao powder
200ml Almond milk
500ml Filtered water
Method
If you have time, soak the almonds and sunflower seeds in filtered water overnight. The next morning drain and leave to dry.
Add all the ingredients in the blender. Blend well for 1 minute.
Pour into a glass and enjoy your smoothie!
Store in the fridge. Avoid exposure to sunlight which destroys riboflavin.