Archive for May 29th, 2009

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 content 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 also very high in sugar, and they weren’t thick which means they didn’t really have much but reconstituted frozen juice concentrate. If 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. This leads me to believe that it’s almost like you are drinking empty calories.

Sure, you may be getting some advantage such as vitamin C because 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 because it is so high in sugar. I actually prefer to make my own smoothies at home. This way, you know exactly 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 if you compare it to other low fat vanilla yogurts. It’s a little thinner, but it’s also about fifty calories less per serving and has less carbohydrates. It also 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 also add ground flaxseed meal, which adds much needed, filling fiber. I like it because it makes it a more robust texture and keeps you fuller longer, plus it helps keep you regular! It also 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 a great breakfast or even a lunch if you want to make it that. For added calories and protein and filling ingredients, you may also add some protein powder to it.