5 Things You Need To u need to know about the Smoothie Diet

Smoothies are a delicious tool for weight loss and a creative way of including fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Vegetables that you don’t like to consume as a whole, can be easily added into a scrumptious smoothie and taken without noticing it’s bitter taste. They are a perfect way to maintain a relatively low-calorie, yet nutrient-laden diet that is capable of keeping you full for a long time.

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A smoothie diet does lower your weight but you need to keep in mind that the healthy way to lose weight includes more than just dietary changes. Your smoothies have to be created thoughtfully so that they provide you with the all nutrients that you need including protein, carbohydrates, good fats and vitamins and minerals. You still need to eat other healthy foods along with smoothies throughout the day.

Smoothies are good for weight loss because they give you all the essential nutrients in one glass without adding in excess calories. But you may fail to fulfill all nutritional requirements if you are not careful about what you add in it.

Here are 5 things you need to consider when following a smoothie diet:

Sugar Content

You may assume that every smoothie is a healthy option, but there are ingredients that have to be avoided if you are using it as weight loss tool. Most smoothie recipes are either almost entirely fruit or fruit juice-based and for weight loss you need to avoid any kind of excess sugar. 

Even if you are adding natural healthy fruit sugars, consuming a bunch of them can increase the risk of blood-sugar swings and fat storage. Sugar consumption triggers a release of insulin that can signal the body to store it as fat, thereby contributing to weight gain, insulin resistance and even Type 2 diabetes.

Experts recommend including no more than one cup of fruit to your smoothies, using water or nut-milks instead of fruit juices as they tend to be high in sugar. Some experts suggest using a maximum of two kinds of fruit to avoid overloading your smoothie with sugar. So add one high-sugar fruit like banana, pineapple or mango and combine it with a low-sugar fruit such as blackberries, kiwi or strawberries.

Missing out on Fiber

The most critical drawback of consuming food in liquid form is that you could be missing out on necessary fiber that is normally present in the whole-food version. A study published in the The Preventive Nutrition and Food Science Journal proved that the antioxidant and fiber content is lower in a blended food.

According to the Institute of Medicine, women need at least 25 grams of fiber per day. Fiber is essential for good digestion and regular bowel. It also suppresses your appetite as it keeps you full for a long time.

Increasing fiber content in a smoothie can be challenging as your blender could be messing with the nutrients. Try not to make your smoothie very fine rather remember that the coarser the better, as it will not only make you feel fuller, but will also retain the useful fiber from its contents.

Some experts suggest sprinkling in fiber sources as a whole such as oat bran, chia seeds, wheat germ or wheat bran after you are done blending the other ingredients.

Fill up with Protein

Your body needs proteins to build muscles and maintain normal bodily functions. A protein-packed meal prevents you from overeating and helps build and repair muscle tissue after resistance training or exercise.

If you are going for a smoothie diet then you will be replacing meals with a smoothie. That can be a big problem for your health if your body is not getting its recommended intake of proteins.

Byline/About the Author: Lisa Brown has been helping her readers in successful business and entrepreneurial strategies for the past 3 years. She currently works with uae.ekuep.com, which is the answer to UAE’s growing restaurant industry. Ekuep is the brand that restaurants, bakeries, cafes, juice bars, and more turn to when they want to stock their kitchens with only the best restaurant equipment.