SMOOTHIES, HEALTHY OR NOT?

Those smoothies are so tasty, especially when the ratio is 2 or more (fruits) to 1(veggies) and blended to perfection, we feel like we could drink them all day, every day.

Let's examine this scenario: you are on your health kick, exercising and eating right, juicing or drinking smoothies, and yet you are not losing as much weight as you thought, so you ask yourself: what's going on? What could be the culprit for the roadblock? You guessed it! It's those smoothies, so tasty but so full of sugar regardless if it's natural or not, and if you add extra sweeteners like sugar or dates and so on, that is a big load of sugar dropped in your system and we all know excess in anything is not good.

Are you wondering whether those smoothies are bad for you, especially since they are made with all-natural ingredients?

Well, it depends on: what kind of ingredients you use, how many of those drinks you have per day, and whether or not you suffer from hyperglycemia (high blood sugar/glucose). While making those smoothies, beware of high glycemic index ingredients (watermelon, carrots, dried fruits, potatoes, papaya, dates, mangos, and so on) and the sweeteners used to make those drinks even more

palatable (honey, dates, agave, sugar, etc).

The good news is, you can still have those smoothies but you must follow the guidelines:

1. Use the serving sizes for the ingredients

2. Limit those high glycemic index ingredients to 1-2 per juice per day

3. 1 smoothie per day if it is high in sugar even the natural kind

4. Don't add any high glycemic index sweeteners or limit them to 1-2 tbsp per drink or even better swap them for lower glycemic sweeteners such as stevia, monk fruit, and so on

5. Add some protein so as not to spike your blood sugar like peanut or other nut butter, whey or plant protein powder, plain high-protein yogurt, chia seeds, etc

6. Don't forget to add some fat to complete the trifecta with carbs and protein, so use some healthy oils like olive, coconut, or flax

Enjoy your remixed smoothies!