What To Put In Smoothies For Weight Loss

Don't Miss

How To Build A Better Smoothie According To A Nutritionist

5 HIGH PROTEIN Fruit SMOOTHIES for WEIGHT LOSS

If youre turning to smoothies as part of your strategy to lose weight or take your healthy eating up a notch, your menu may need a little attention. Done right, smoothies can make nutritious sense, packing satisfying ingredients along with fiber, vitamins, minerals and other health-protecting substances. But even some of the most healthful smoothie ingredients can add up to a lot of calories and therefore, interfere with your weight loss goals or worse, lead to unintentional weight gain. Read on to find out if youre making some common smoothie mistakes, discover how to build the best smoothie and find nutritionist-approved recipes to get your smoothie-making up to speed.

Not Based On Evidence

One of the biggest flaws of the 21-Day Smoothie Diet is that there is no research to back it up.

While smoothies can be a great addition to a well-rounded diet, theres no evidence to show that eating smoothies in place of other nutrient-dense foods can improve your skin, gut health, or immune function, as the diet claims.

Furthermore, the diets official website is filled with testimonials from customers claiming to lose large amounts of weight very quickly.

Not only is this unrealistic and unsustainable, but it could also be harmful to health .

summary

The 21-Day Smoothie Diet is not based on evidence and may be associated with an increased risk of nutritional deficiencies. It is also relatively high in carbs and sugar.

Dont Miss: What Is The Best Smoothie

Banana & Other High Fiber Fruits

Fiber is the primary nutrient to prioritize within a healthy diet for weight loss, increasing satiety and effectively managing hunger cues to limit your need to snack throughout the day. By including enough fiber within your diet you should notice significant improvement in your overall health, and most fruits are an excellent source of such.

High fiber fruit can boost your morning smoothies’ ability to aid in your weight loss efforts, explains Best. Fiber improves digestion by adding bulk to your stool and keeping your bowel movements regular.

While most fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber to some extent, bananas are perhaps one of the best options to include in your smoothies to add density to your meal and adequately nourish your body. Bananas are a high fiber fruit to add to your morning smoothie that will improve both the flavor and the nutrient quality, says Best.

Not only are bananas packed with fiber to keep you full for longer, but they also have a variety of benefits even outside of weight loss. In particular, bananas have been shown to regulate blood sugar levels, strengthen the health of your heart, and even fuel your body with an array of antioxidants that can protect your body from illness.

Fiber also has the capacity to improve your gut health as well, with Best noting, This nutrient acts as a prebiotic to feed the good gut bacteria and keep the gut healthy and in balance.

Don’t Miss: How Much Is It To Open A Tropical Smoothie

Are There Other Potential Health Benefits Of Smoothies

Most definitely. While many people drink smoothies to support weight loss, there are many other health benefits smoothies can support. With the right ingredients, smoothies can help promote:

  • Exercise recovery

When theyâre made using fruits and vegetables with a milk or kefir base, smoothies are full of healthy nutrients. Adding extra ingredients like chia seeds, peanut butter, matcha tea, and other functional foods can help boost the nutrient profile even more.

< p class=”pro-tip”> < strong> Learn about < /strong> < a href=”/blog/protein-before-after-workout”> eating protein before or after a workout< /a> < /p>

Sweetie Pea Green Smoothie

Healthy And Quick Weight Loss Smoothies For Women

This green smoothie detox recipe uses peas, and yes use frozen if you have it!

PREP TIME: 3 mins

  • Add all the green smoothie recipes ingredients to blender.
  • Blend green smoothie until smooth, adding more water as needed to reach desired thickness.
  • Serve, and wash out your blender right away to avoid sticking.

Also Check: High Calorie Smoothies For Cancer Patients

Tips For A Metabolism Boosting Breakfast Smoothie

  • I keep bananas, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, and berries in my freezer at all times so I can always make a delicious smoothie. I also like to freeze greens like spinach, so I can always have them on hand. Remember to buy your bananas green and freeze them before they ripen for the lowest sugar content and highest resistant starch content.
  • I love Biochem Natural Whey Protein Powder. Its grass-fed whey, and its unflavored, meaning to artificial flavors or sweeteners. Keeping chemicals OUT of your diet is as important to your metabolism as what you keep IN your diet! Sub this whey with any vegan or paleo protein supplement if you have those dietary needs.
  • Other ideas to boost the protein, if youd prefer not to use a protein supplement, are hemp seeds and chia seeds. Both are great vegan sources of protein, are easily digested, and add protein and fiber, in addition to omega 3s.

Are Smoothies A Good Source Of Nutrients

Yes, smoothies can be a good source of nutrients. They can be made with whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, which are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other important nutrients.

Smoothies are also a great way to sneak in healthy ingredients like yogurts, which can provide protein and probiotics, as well as greens like spinach or kale, which can be added for a boost of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

If youre looking for an easy way to boost the nutrition content of your diet, adding smoothies to your routine can be a great way to do so.

Recommended Reading: Easy And Good Smoothie Recipes

Why Smoothies Help You Lose Weight

For most of us, theres a balance between the good things and the not-so-good things. My point is, its hard to always eat healthy. Which is why I like to do the Fresh Start seasonal cleanse using green smoothies as my breakfast for 21 days. It gets me back on track and makes sure I drink the best smoothies for weight loss and my overall health.

There are special occasions when we want to indulge, its hard to eat healthy all the time when traveling. You know the drill. We do our best. And I dont believe in punishing ourselves for enjoying a treat now and then.

Ingredients For The Best Weight

Fat-Burning Green Smoothie for Weight Loss

Smoothies are one of the easiest breakfasts you can make. But if your goal is weight loss, registered dietitian Leslie Langevin, MS, author of “The Anti-Inflammatory Kitchen Cookbook,” told POPSUGAR, “an all-fruit smoothie wouldn’t be the best idea, since it’s a large dose of sugar coming at you at one time with not a lot of protein or healthy fats to satiate you or to prevent a huge spike in your blood sugar levels.”

In order to create a filling smoothie that fits in your weight loss plan, Leslie suggested this recipe formula:

  • 1 cup fruit: berries are the highest in fiber and antioxidants.
  • 1 cup milk of choice: if using plant-based milk, try getting one with protein like Silk Protein Milk, Ripple , or unsweetened soy milk.
  • 1 fat of choice: 1/4 avocado 1 tablespoon nut butter 1 to 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, chia seeds, or hemp seeds or 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds or almond flour.
  • Extra protein: 1 scoop protein powder try plant-based for added fiber and nutrients.

You May Like: How To Make A Strawberry Smoothie Ingredients

Are High Protein Fruit Smoothies Healthy

Crave-worthy fruit smoothies are indeed healthy if you mix them right! Be sure to follow these pointers and youll end up with a good-for-you smoothie.

  • Dont add juice from the grocery store shelf to your smoothie. Choose liquids like coconut water and unsweetened almond milk like we did for the 5 High Protein Fruit Smoothies for Weight Loss found in this post. Other good choices are hemp milk and soy milk.
  • Add healthy fats like Greek yogurt and avocado. That way, along with the fat, youll get extra protein from the yogurt and vitamins and antioxidants from the avocado.
  • If you think you need a sweetener, add cinnamon or a dash of pure maple syrup. Dont add artificial sweeteners.
  • Dont forget your greens. They add extra nutrients and blend in well with fruits like bananas and strawberries.

Also Check: Smoothie King Employee Benefits

How To Make Healthy Smoothies

You can put nearly anything into a smoothie. But most consist of liquid , fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts , supplements like protein powder, maca or matcha, and toppings , says Ryan Andrews, a registered dietitian and author of A Guide to Plant-Based Eating.

The key to making it healthy is to strike the right balance of vegetables, fruit, protein and fat, says Miranda Hammer, a registered dietitian and natural foods chef based in New York. The smoothie is a really great way to get in those key foods, Hammer says. When you make this type of smoothie, you have the foundation for a healthy breakfast or snack.

Protein can come from unsweetened nut butter, chia, hemp or flax seeds, plain yogurt or nut milk. And fat, which helps fill you up, is the other key factor in a smoothie. Good sources of fat in smoothies are salt and sugar-free nut butter, chia, flax, sesame, or hemp seeds, flax oil, coconut meat, coconut yogurt, or full-fat organic yogurt, Hammer says.

For an additional nutritional boost, she recommends adding ingredients such as maca, acai powder, lucuma, cacao, spirulina, herbs like cilantro or parsley and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or turmeric.

You May Like: How To Make A Healthy Green Smoothie

Read Also: How To Make A Delicious Banana Smoothie

Why Is Fruit A Solution

Dont get scared because you have a mechanism thats harmful to your body inside of you. As we said before, there are solutions.

Eating fruits is one of them. The fruit has a significant amount of potassium, magnesium, bromine, copper, zinc, and calcium.

In fact, you can combine fruit in your diet recipes, especially in drinks and natural smoothies. This will help balance your diet and get you not only a good figure but also good health.

There are studies that have shown that having a balanced diet, which includes whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables is an ideal solution for supplying your body with the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that belong to the antioxidant group.

This type of diet may also help reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Strawberries, bananas, pineapple, melon, and lemons are ideal for making homemade natural weight loss smoothies.

Well propose five of the best fruit smoothies for weight loss in the next paragraphs.

Also Check: Best Protein Shake At Smoothie King

Oatmeal Almond Smoothie 307 Calories

Kimberly Snyder

Almonds contain plenty of healthy fats, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They may help you lower blood sugar levels and keep cholesterol levels in check.

Although almond butter is high in fat, its still a good choice when it comes to weight loss. Eating fat wont make you fat any more than eating money will make you rich.

Not all fats and calories are created equal. Almonds are full of good for you fats. Theyre considered heart-healthy and may help you lose weight.

Eating the wrong kinds of fat certainly can harm you and will lead to gaining weight. You know which kind of fats Im talking about. Saturated and trans fats found in fried and fast food.

Eating healthy fats, like almonds, avocadoes, nuts, and seeds can curb your appetite and cut the calories you eat in a day. Monounsaturated fats are the kind of fats you want to eat the most. Diets high in these fats not only may help with weight loss, but also reduce your risk for heart disease and other chronic diseases.

When youre using nut butter in smoothies, try to go for the organic versions. The all-natural ones without added sugars, preservatives, and other nasty stuff.

What Youll Need:

Add all the ingredients to your blender jar and blend until smooth and creamy.

Recommended Reading: 30 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse Jj Smith

Mango Cucumber Weight Loss Smoothie

Another combination that I love is this kale, mango, and cucumber smoothie that is so refreshing and reminds me of the tropics and the beach.

Mangoes are fruits containing high amounts of vitamins A and C but are low in calories. These vitamins help boost eye health and the immune system. Mangoes also contain essential plant compounds, soluble fibers, and antioxidants that aid in digestion and lower your risk of cancers and other chronic diseases.

Cucumbers, on the other hand, help keep you hydrated, refreshed, and full for longer due to its high water content while kale provides calcium, potassium, magnesium, folate, phosphorus, and more.

Aside from tasting great, this fruit smoothie has a light texture and nice flavor. To make it, you will need:

  • 1 whole peeled orange

You May Like: What Do You Need For A Strawberry Banana Smoothie

There’s A Reason Smoothies Are Loved By Health Freaks Around The World They’re Easy

  • Smoothies are the perfect and quickest breakfast health drinks.
  • You can add almost anything to a smoothie.
  • Adding cinnamon to your smoothie can help burn fat faster.

There’s a reason smoothies are loved by health freaks around the world. They’re easy-to-make and are a quick breakfast fix for people who are usually pressed for time in the morning. They’re the perfect recharge drinks for your post-workout meals and smoothie recipes are very amenable to all kinds of fresh and healthy ingredients, from berries to fresh fruits, vegetables, protein and oat powders, as well as healthy nuts and seeds. Smoothies are preferred drinks for people looking to lose weight because of the easily modified nature of the drink.

Apart from adding nutritious superfoods to your breakfast smoothie, you can also add the following fat-burning foods to attain quicker weight loss:

1. Green Tea PowderGreen tea is well known for its weight loss promoting powers. Adding green tea powder to your smoothie can trigger release of fat from your cells, thanks to the catechins present in it. Green tea doesn’t have any overpowering flavor so you needn’t worry about it spoiling the taste either.

Green tea is well known for its weight loss promoting powers2. Blueberries And StrawberriesBlueberries have proven their mettle as powerful fat burners in multiple studies.3. Spinach

Chia seeds help in increasing the satiety factor of your drink, preventing hunger pangs and your need to snack often.

Recommended Reading: Take Me To The Nearest Smoothie King

Vanilla Chia Seed Protein Smoothie

This is another delicious choice for a quick breakfast smoothie, perfect for anyones low-carb weight loss program and thus one of the healthy smoothie recipes for weight loss.

Ingredients

8) Any sweetener like monk fruit

9) Ice cubes

Firstly, add on almond milk and the rest of the ingredients. Blend for a minute, then serve.

Tips

If the mix is too thick, add more milk, and if it is thin, add more ice cubes. Blend for 10 seconds more in both cases.

If you want a more quick breakfast smoothie, just keep all the ingredients together the previous night.

In the case of the chia seeds, if you leave them overnight, they may expand and give you a fuller feeling when you drink the smoothie.

Benefits Of Green Smoothie

Learn How To Make Smoothies For Weight Loss At Home!

Green Smoothies are found to be more beneficial than regular juices or smoothies because they contain the entire plant and not just its juices. It contains both fiber and a large amount of water which helps in boosting your metabolism and improving your bowel movements.

It also provides you more nutrients than cooked food. This is because raw fruits and vegetables lose half of their vitamins and mineral when they are cooked. Also, since green smoothies are super easy and cheap to prepare, you wont have trouble keeping up with it. Just get the necessary fruits and vegetables from your local farmers market, a good smoothie blender and youve got everything.

Your green smoothie will be prepared in a few seconds and will provide you with energy and nutrients to perform your daily tasks with ease.

Read Also: Homemade Fruit Smoothies For Weight Loss

Extra Breakfast Smoothie Ingredients

If youre looking to add in some protein powder, or superfood ingredients to your smoothie recipes, check out a list of my personal favorites:

The best smoothie add ins:

I like to add the protein, collagen, Maca, and flax seeds to the blender and blend them into the weight loss smoothies. As for the chia and hemp seeds, both go well on top, or inside your healthy breakfast smoothies for weight loss.

Get creative with your add ins, as long as youre not adding in sugar or processed foods, youll likely be making good choices.

If youre looking for Kid Friendly Smoothie Recipes, check out my article on Healthy Smoothies for Kids here:

Recommended Reading: Best Healthy Smoothies For Weight Loss

What Are The Best Smoothie Ingredients For Shedding Weight

All the ingredients in a smoothie are healthy and great for maintaining the right body weight.

However, if you are looking to dump a few pounds, some ingredients will work better than others.

Here is a run-down of ingredients that you can include in your smoothie to help with weight loss.

Chili peppers Chili peppers contain certain compounds that help reduce appetite. Cayenne pepper, for instance, contains capsaicin which if added as an ingredient to your smoothie will help limit your food intake throughout the day.

Lemon Adding lemon juice to your smoothie will not only give your smoothie an amazingly distinct taste but also serves other purposes.

Lemon helps to boost metabolism to burn more calories in the body. In addition, lemon contains no calories which means you take something that has no calories yet helps burn excess calories in your body.

Cocoa powder is a one-stop solution for almost all the problems people struggle with whether overweight or not. Cocoa powder makes your smoothie taste heavenly.

But aside from that, there are numerous health benefits you gift your body by consuming cocoa.

Such benefits include:

Natural detoxification to remove unwanted harmful substances from the body

Antioxidants which lowers chances of acquiring infections and protects against heart disease and cancer

Fiber-rich for reduced appetite and regulation of blood sugar Curcumin.

If you are wondering what curcumin is, dont worry, you are not on your own.

Read Also: How To Start A Smoothie Bar

Popular Articles

More Recipes Like This