Shake it Up

Many of the shakes and juices can be packed with sugar. Fruit is packed with sugar and many of the milk substitutes like vanilla milk or soy milk are packed with sugar as well. We only pay attention to the calories listed on the menu and we think "oh great only 200 calories", however where you get your calories from can make all the difference. Drinking a smoothie that has 2 servings of fruit can be about 30 grams of sugar. Then you blend that in with Vanilla milk and you can easily hit 40 grams. Then we go on to eating a meal just an hour later because a high sugar packed smoothie is not filling. It is missing two essential components... fat and protein.

Here are a few recommendations to get more out of your smoothie.

Only have 1 serving of fruit and substitute the other two for a vegetable. Add some healthy fat like 1/2 an avocado and lastly use an unsweetened base to blend it with like unsweetened almond milk. This will also keep you feeling full longer and can actually be a meal substitute instead of additional calories on top of your meal.