Gut health scientist Megan Rossi advocates for a simple 2:1 vegetable-to-fruit ratio in smoothies, enhancing flavour, fibre intake, and overall nutritional value while maintaining a treat-like appeal.
Megan Rossi says the easiest way to stop a smoothie becoming either a sugar bomb or a bowl of green sludge is to think in ratios. Her rule is simple: use two vegetables for every one fruit. The result, she says, is a drink that tastes better, keeps sweetness in check and still feels like a treat.
Rossi is a gut health scientist, registered dietitian and postdoctoral research fellow at King’s College London. Her work focuses on diet and the gut, and she has built a public profile around making fibre-rich eating more practical for everyday life. She also helps develop food products and has been involved in university-backed healthy eating projects, including a collaboration with King’s Food aimed at serving nutrient-dense meals on campus.
The appeal of her smoothie approach is not just flavour. Rossi uses hers as an afternoon snack and as an easy way to add about 10g of fibre a day. That matters, she says, because fibre supports the gut bacteria that help produce compounds linked to mental wellbeing, a stronger gut lining, appetite control and hormone balance. She has also pointed to research suggesting higher fibre intake may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, colon cancer and cardiovascular disease.
In practice, Rossi tends to lean on frozen fruit and vegetables, with cauliflower for texture, plus berries, mango, pineapple, kale, cucumber and carrot. She also adds yoghurt or kefir for protein. The formula is less about strict rules than about balance: enough fruit to keep the smoothie pleasant, enough vegetables to make it more nutritious, and enough fibre to make it do real work.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
