Well Bermuda, it appears we’re on the edge of a national emergency. so let’s get serious for a second shall we?Forget coronavirus, I am way more concerned about the island-wide shortage of bananas, which has had my clients crying into their, now very sour, smoothies.What has the world come to? I am not sure how Buzz is even still open. Or has everyone gone back to drinking Oreo milkshakes? (In which case this really is an official disaster!Jokes aside, while it’s a shame to lose this vitamin-rich super fruit, we will probably just about manage.If you were putting bananas on your cereal, you should probably switch to berries anyway — they’re lower in sugar and packed with anti-ageing, immune-boosting antioxidants.If you were eating bananas for their B6, then try organic chicken or halibut instead (maybe not on your cereal) and sunflower seeds are good too (cereal-friendly, phew!). If you were eating bananas for their potassium, then try avocado, sweet potato, spinach, watermelon and beans. See, it’s easy! Bananas in smoothies are also easy to replace. I’ve always asked clients to pair bananas with fruit that is lower in sugar such as berries, peaches or pears. Bananas are super sweet, but the latter are much less so, which reduces the overall sugar content of what you are drinking. (Your worst-case scenario is banana with something like mango or pineapple, whizzed together with juice — that is a sugar explosion, right there!) But, if you are going banana- free, this brings mango or pineapple back into the mix. You can use one of those as your sweeter fruit, combine with a lower sugar fruit and go from there.I suggest adding some protein (nut butter or good quality protein powder), as well as using unsweetened plant-based milk, chilled herbal tea or water as your mixer. If smoothies are the only way you can get some fruit into your kids, but they are rejecting them without banana (frozen berries aren’t very sweet after all) then you may need to add a dash of honey or agave.Keep it light though, and try and serve with a good dose of protein, such as scrambled eggs!For those of you that live off the Nutrifit green smoothie (the first green smoothie to ever hit our shores!), then I’ve adjusted the recipe for you.You can still drink your greens in the morning, don’t worry. This one tastes just as good! • Catherine Burns is a qualified nutritional therapist. For more details: natural.bm, 505-4725, Natural Nutrition Bermuda on Facebook and @naturalbda on Instagram