Smoothies are a great easy way to provide your body with the correct daily nutrition. Making them at home also lets you control and know exactly what you are drinking. Unfortunately, it’s easy for us to let unhealthy ingredients sneak into a healthy smoothie.
Remember why smoothies are healthy
Vitamins and Minerals
Our primary source of vitamins and minerals are fruits and vegetables but it can be challenging to eat the recommended 8 servings per day. A single fruit and vegetable smoothie can pack in 3 servings. Great super fruits to include are pomegranates, papaya, and mangoes.
Fiber
If you are looking to keep fiber in your diet then smoothie making is the major advantage over juicing. Keeping the fiber helps slow digestion, regulates bowel movements, and provides you that full feeling which is critical to avoid snacking.
Protein
Protein loading after a workout is a great way to build muscles quickly and smoothies are a great deliver system for protein powders which might be a little ‘gritty’ in water alone.
Super Foods
Another great addition to a smoothie is one of the many super foods that are great to include in a diet but honestly are just hard to incorporate into a western menu. These include maca, ginseng, spirulina, lecithin, turmeric, goji berries, and pomegranates. These can be found in varies forms (fresh, frozen, or powder) and they can all be used in a smoothie.
What turns a smoothie unhealthy
Unhealthy Bases: Some people can make a mistake with the first ingredient. A base should provide the right consistency to a smoothie and maybe add a little flavor to cover the tracks of any bitter ingredients. Bases to avoid are heavy dairy and sugary juices. These have extra calories and even artificial additives.
Unhealthy Flavor Enhancers: Nothing turns a smoothie into a milkshake faster than ice cream. The key to selecting flavor enhancers is keeping your common nutrition sense. If it has loads of sugar and fat before you put it in your blender then it will still be fat and sugary in your ‘healthy’ smoothie. Other ingredients to avoid include whip cream, syrups, and honey.
Need healthy ideas?
First, always start with a list of healthy recipes. This list from prevention magazine will provide you a great starting point. Feel free to improvise and experiment, just avoid adding the smoothie danger foods. Instead try healthy bases including almond milk, greek yogurt, soy milk, or fresh cold pressed fruit juice. If you need a flavor enhancer, try oatmeal, stevia, spirulina, or pomegranates just to get you started.
If you are interested in learning more about healthy smoothies, check our Chris Wimmer’s recent blog posts on HealthSmartLiving.com about selecting a smoothie blender and the keys to maximizing maca health benefits.
