Beware the Prepackaged Smoothie
We were in the grocery store the other day and were looking around at the prepackaged smoothies that are in the referigerated juice section of the store, and I started looking at the nutrition substance in these “all natural” smoothies that are supposed to be healthy alternatives to high fat snacks or even meal replacements. What I found was not only that they were pretty high in calories for a fairly small amount of juice, which probably wouldn’t fill you up too much or at the very least leave you starving in the near future, but they were not really “all natural” as they claimed.
One even had some fancy name for what I thought might be high fructose corn syrup, which is anything but healthy, and certainly is not all natural. These smoothies were plus very high in sugar, and they weren’t thick which means they didn’t really have much but reconstituted frozen juice concentrate. whether you look at the ingredients one that was supposed to be made exclusively of mango was really a mix of apple juice, banana puree, some mango puree, pineapple juice and some other sort of juice that was anything but mango. that leads me to believe that it’s nearly like you are drinking empty calories.
Sure, you may be getting some advantage such as vitamin C considering it is juice, but other than that, you are getting a high calorie snack or meal that doesn’t fill you up and may in fact put your appetite on high for the rest of the day considering it is so high in sugar. I actually prefer to build my own smoothies at home. that way, you know precisely what’s going into them, and you know you’re getting whole, fresh (I use frozen) fruit that is going to fill you up with fiber and good nutrients.
I think I’ve shared my recipe for at home fruit smoothies already before here, but in case I have not, here it is. You take a good vanilla light yogurt. My favorite is Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt. You get the most bang for your buck with Dannon Light and Fit whether you compare it to other low fat vanilla yogurts. It’s a little thinner, but it’s additionally about fifty calories less per serving and has less carbohydrates. It additionally happens to taste the best I think.
Use the fruit of your choice, but for highest nutrition value, try blueberries or blackberries, which have tons of antioxidants. You may additionally add ground flaxseed meal, which adds much needed, filling fiber. I like it considering it makes it a more robust texture and keeps you fuller longer, plus it helps keep you regular! It plus happens to have valuable omega 3 fats in it.
Next, add ice, and voila, you have yourself a low fat, great tasting smoothie. It all should amount to less than 300 calories too, so it’s
Original post by EatingToLive
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