Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

Collage and smoothie photo credit: Unfold Today. Novak Djokovic photo credit: Andrew Campbell.^[1]

In his book "Serve to Win", Novak Djokovic divulged the ingredients of his delicious strawberry banana smoothie but his recipe lacked proteins and enough calories to be of significant help to people looking to gain weight.^[2]

Therefore, as expert creators of high-calorie smoothies and connoisseurs of Novak's smoothie style, we improved Djokovic's strawberry banana recipe using our guide for preparing weight-gain smoothies.

After all, we've already successfully created three other recipes inspired by the tennis champion's smoothie arsenal:

• Djokovic's High-Calorie Mango Banana Smoothie
• Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie
• Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Breakfast Smoothie

Coming back to the recipe in this article, to guide you through it, we bought the necessary ingredients, blended them, and documented the entire process with photos.

Smoothie's calories

The standard version of Novak Djokovic's Strawberry Banana Smoothie yields one serving of 478 calories. If you need more calories from the smoothie, however, you can adjust ingredient quantities by following these guidelines:

• For 1000-calorie smoothie: multiply ingredient quantities by 2.09;
• For 1500-calorie smoothie: multiply ingredient quantities by 3.14;
• For 2000-calorie smoothie: multiply ingredient quantities by 4.18.

Now, let's explore the recipe.

Equipment

To make Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie, you need three pieces of kitchen equipment:

• Blender
• Spoon
• Scoop (for protein powder)

Ingredients

• 1 large (4.8 oz or 136 g) banana
• 2 cups (10.6 oz or 300 g) frozen strawberries
• 1 tbsp (0.63 oz or 18 g) almond butter
• 1 scoop (1.06 oz or 30 g) whey protein powder
• 1 cup (1.06 oz or 30 g) fresh spinach
• 2 cups (15.9 fl oz or 470 ml) almond milk

Role of each ingredient

Although Novak Djokovic didn't specify why he had selected each ingredient in this smoothie, he left clues in the same book where we can locate the recipe.

First of all, Djokovic included bananas because they are rich in nutrients and count among "the best sources of potassium, which helps prevent heart disease and high blood pressure."

Second, he chose strawberries because they "taste delicious and are one of the most nutritionally dense foods available." Yet, Novak highlights the need to watch our sugar intake after eating high-sugar fruits, like strawberries.

Moreover, Djokovic chose almond butter rather than peanut butter because it's "even healthier." Yet, Nole forewarns that you should use only nut butters that are made solely of nuts.

When it comes to the whey protein powder, we added it to bring more proteins and calories to Djokovic's smoothie recipe.

Furthermore, Djokovic added fresh spinach because it counts among the so-called neutral vegetables, which "tend to be high in fiber and vitamins A, B, C, and K".

In the end, Novak chose almond milk because he describes it as a dairy substitute that's not high in sugar or full of unhealthy fats.

Ingredient substitutions

If you have nut allergies, you can substitute almond butter with a type of seed butter, like sunflower butter. Regarding almond milk, you can substitute it with a type of dairy milk, like cow milk, or plant-based milk, like oat milk.

If you are lactose intolerant, you can substitute whey protein powder with a plant-based protein powder, like the ones made from peas or rice.

Instructions

1. Adapt ingredients to blender size

2. Add ingredients

3. Blend

4. Serve

Regarding its flavor, the smoothie has a very pleasant taste. While the banana brings the most noticeable aroma, you can still sense slight notes of strawberries and nice almond notes.

How to store

Since Djokovic suggests serving his smoothie "immediately", he doesn't store smoothies. You, however, can usually keep smoothies in the fridge for about a day.

Nutrition facts

• Volume: 33.3 fl oz (984 ml)
• Calories: 478
• Protein: 32 g
• Carbs: 71 g
• Fat: 16 g

Out of the 478 calories found in Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie, 52% come from carbohydrates, 27% from fats, and 21% from protein.

Therefore, this smoothie is an energizing drink with a lot of carbohydrates, plenty of healthy fats, and a solid amount of proteins. Since the smoothie has less than 30% of its calories coming from fats, it qualifies among the low-fat high-calorie foods.

For more nutritional details, let's explore the contribution of each ingredient to the smoothie's overall nutrition facts.

Benefits of drinking this smoothie

Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie, as one should expect from a smoothie belonging to a tennis champion's diet, is filled with health benefits. Explore each of them below.

1. Gain weight easier

Firstly, Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie can help you gain weight easier because it's high in calories and it doesn't keep your stomach filled for a long time.

As social proof, according to the top of the best weight gain foods for females, 91% of the women who gain weight successfully drink smoothies regularly.

Increase caloric intake

Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie does a great job at increasing caloric intake because it's nutritious, having 478 calories per serving. All of these calories will make it easier for you to achieve a daily caloric surplus, the essential condition for gaining weight.

Yet, keep in mind that someone with an extremely active lifestyle like Novak Djokovic needs much more calories to maintain or gain weight than the average person.

Keep your appetite

On top of increasing your total caloric intake, Novak's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie allows you to consume more food because, as opposed to many solid foods, it keeps your appetite satisfied only for a short time.

To support this claim, a University of Bristol study compared fruit smoothies with fresh fruits and other drinks in terms of satiety. They concluded that fruit smoothies are more filling than drinks that are less alike to food (e.g., water and milk) but less filling than solid foods.^[9]

2. Boost energy levels

Djokovic's Strawberry Banana Smoothie increases energy levels because it's high in carbs, most of which come from the banana and the strawberries in the smoothie's composition.

After all, according to a University of Lausanne study on the energy potential of carbs, carbohydrates are the main energy source for humans.^[10]

3. Strengthen bones

Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie can strengthen bones because it contains almond milk, a solid source of calcium.

The almond milk in Djokovic's smoothie brings around 813 mg of calcium, which is around 82% of the daily recommended intake of calcium.

4. Fortify immunity

Novak's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie fortifies immunity because it contains six sources of antioxidants:

• Banana;
• Strawberries;
• Almond butter;
• Spinach;
• Almond butter;
• Almond milk.

Antioxidants, according to a scientific review of antioxidants, increase health protection and disease prevention.^[11]

5. Enhance heart health

Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie is beneficial for the heart because it's made with five sources of potassium: a banana, strawberries, spinach, almond butter, and almond milk.

As scientific proof, a review of the effects of potassium says that potassium lowers blood pressure.^[12]

6. Protect eye health

Djokovic's Strawberry Banana Smoothie increases eye health because it contains spinach, a solid source of vitamin A.

Vitamin A, according to an Australian study about vitamin A's effects on early myopia, is "vital for eye health" because it protects against "night blindness and corneal thinning".^[13]

7. Hydrate body

Djokovic's smoothie is hydrating because it contains almond milk, a source of water.

8. Improve digestion

Novak's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie can improve digestion because it contains almond butter, spinach, strawberries, and bananas, which are all good sources of fiber.

One of the benefits of eating fiber, as stated in a 2009 review of the health benefits of dietary fiber, is a lower risk of gastrointestinal diseases.^[14]

Recipe summary

To follow Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe in a compressed format, use the summary below.

Other high-calorie smoothie recipes for weight gain

If you're looking for other high-calorie smoothies inspired by Novak Djokovic's diet, try Djokovic's High-Calorie Breakfast Smoothie, his High-Calorie Mango Banana Smoothie, or his High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie.

Now, If you want to try other homemade smoothies that can help you gain weight, visit our full list of high-calorie smoothie recipes,

And in case you wish to get creative, you can build your own high-calorie smoothie recipes. Learn what can you add to your smoothie and how to bring extra calories to it from our guide on how to make high-calorie smoothies for weight gain.

And if it happens to get bored of smoothies...

Try switching high-calorie smoothies for high-calorie shakes or other weight gain drinks.