Understanding Smoothies: How Healthy Are They?

Smoothies are advertised as a healthy fruit drink with a variety of benefits. They are known to help people meet their fruit and vegetable requirements, help people lose weight, help boost energy, and so much more. These delicious drinks were the healthy response to the calorie filled  milkshake. However, many people do not truly understand smoothies and what makes them healthy. This is the reason why there are so many unhealthy smoothies and smoothie recipes available on the market.

Though smoothies all have a fruit base, not all of them are necessarily healthy. Many fruits are low in calories and full of vitamins, but other fruits are high in calories. Some have as many calories as a whole meal! When you consider that, plus all the other stuff that is added to most smoothies, like yogurt, ice cream, honey, etc., you may be consuming an extremely high calorie and high in fat drink. In fact, some commercial smoothies have enough fat content for an entire day's serving.

If you are a fan of smoothies, and you want to reap the benefits of these delicious drinks, it is important that you understand what makes a good and healthy smoothie.

A healthy smoothie is one that uses vegetables, fruit, or berries as a base. This is mixed with shaved ice, and a bit of water. If a dairy component is added, it should be non-fat milk, non-fat yogurt, or soy milk. The fruit that is often used are ones that are low in fat, but high in nutrition, and have a natural sweetness. Try Asian mangoes, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, watermelon, strawberries, bananas, apples, and pears. These naturally sweet fruit should stop you from adding sugar, honey, or fruit juice to the mix, which are all high in sugar and calories, but low in nutritional value.

Unhealthy smoothies are the ones that are actually quite popular. They are the smoothies that use honey, sugar, or fruit syrup as sweeteners. They use fruit juice instead of water, and add other flavors such as chocolate, peanut butter, ice cream, whole milk, coconut cream, and protein powder.

Unless you know how to count calories, adding any of these ingredients can derail your recommended daily calorie intake. For example, a tablespoon of peanut butter is considered one protein serving. If your smoothie recipe calls for peanut butter, you have to make sure you only eat 3 to 4 other protein servings throughout the day. Some commercial smoothies have been known to pack as much as 950 calories, which is already about half to a third of an adult's daily calorie allowance.

So, whether you are ordering a smoothie from a store or making them yourself, knowing what goes into your smoothie and how much it adds up in terms of your other meals is important to staying healthy. If you are someone who enjoys following recipes and discovering new blends, grab a smoothie recipe book like “Sensational Smoothies: Drink Your Way to Health Deliciously”. This ebook has sections for various kinds of smoothies, depending on your health goals - whether you want to drink smoothies in order to lose weight by making it replace a meal, or if you are using them to fulfill your vegetable and fruit intake.

Get to know the calorie content of a cup or half a cup of each of the fruits you plan on using often, and try not to use fruit juice, fruit syrup, honey, or sugar. If you do, be sure to calculate for these calories as well. Remember, smoothies can be extremely healthy and good for you, but only if you make sure they are.

If you are on the look out for amazing diet smoothie recipes, do check out “Sensational Smoothies: Drink Your Way To Health Deliciously”. This amazing ebook contains over 180 smoothie recipes designed to keep you fit and happy. The recipes featured are kitchen tested and have been certified to taste as good as they are healthy. 

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