Are Fruit Smoothies Fattening? Smoothies for Weight Loss

"Are fruit smoothies fattening?" is a good question you should ask yourself. Can smoothies be used for weight loss?

It’s very tempting to believe that just because you are eating "fruit", somewhat magically you’re also eating something healthy and slimming.

There are many health benefits of fruit; they’re low in calories, rich in fibers, full of vitamins, etc. and you should definitely try to find ways to incorporate more fruit into your diet. We usually eat too little.

Risks of Drinking Smoothies

The risk of consuming fruit as smoothies is that you make the fruit into a drink and it’s easy to consume it very fast. In seconds you have gulped down your smoothie.

are fruit smoothies fattening

Fruit contain fructose, a kind of sugar and consumed fast it can result in a fast raise of your blood sugar levels. When this occurs your body immediately starts producing insulin to get the blood sugar levels down to acceptable levels.

With a lot of insulin in the blood stream, your body can’t burn fat. This is one reason smoothies can be fattening.

A second reason why smoothies can be fattening is that because it’s easy to drink the smoothie fast, it’s also easy to drink too much. Have you checked the total caloric content of your smoothie?

We sometimes use smoothies as meal replacements. A good meal for weight loss should have the right energy balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat. Fruit is mostly carbohydrates (sugar) and sugar we consume, but do not use, is converted and stored in the body as fat.

There are ways of making a fruit smoothie the healthy, slimming food you want it to be.

Avoid recipes using bananas, which are higher in calories than many other fruits

Don't use concentrated fruit juices as they are especially high in sugar.

Be careful how you thicken your smoothie. Full-fat yogurts are deliciously creamy but add masses of calories. Use low- or no-fat yogurt, a low-fat variety of frozen yogurt, or - at zero calories - crushed ice.

You'll need to add enough liquid to your smoothie to make it drinkable, but choose wisely. Skim milk or soy milk are great, or you could even use water for a smoothie that's thinner in texture and lower in calories.

So, the answer to the question: "Are fruit smoothies fattening?" should be "Not when you know how to make them right".

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