Smoothies: Benefits and Harms. How to Make Delicious Smoothies Without Harming Your Body
Times have changed, and “mashed potatoes with a cutlet” is no longer considered a healthy diet that provides a person with all the necessary macro- and microelements in sufficient quantities without extra calories.
Grandmothers and grandfathers would argue, but reality inexorably changes the habits of the average person and obliges him to accept new rules of the game.
Porridge and a sandwich with butter are replaced by a poached egg with avocado, the usual cake is replaced by raw desserts, and for an afternoon snack, instead of tea and cookies, there is now a smoothie.
The latter has gained considerable popularity among healthy lifestyle activists, and here’s why.
In fact, a smoothie is a complete meal. Everything that a person could eat in its usual form: fruits, nuts, berries, is mixed with a liquid base (water, juice, milk) and consumed in liquid form.
The advantages here are as follows:
- A person can "eat" several products at once. As a rule, 3-4 fruits are rarely eaten at once, and frozen berries, for example, are much more convenient to add to a smoothie than to defrost and eat fresh. This is convenient and time-saving.
- Smoothies are a variety of microelements. For example, an apple contains iron, a banana contains potassium, and berries contain a large amount of anthocyanins (phytonutrients) and vitamin C. To get them, you do not need to eat several products at once, you can combine them in one tasty drink.
- Unlike, for example, freshly squeezed juices, smoothies retain fiber, since all the pulp from fruits and vegetables remains in the drink, and is not thrown away. Fiber is necessary for the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, this is a big plus.
But what's the catch?
Due to the high content of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, the calorie content of such a drink increases sharply.
Therefore, it is important for people trying to lose weight to carefully select ingredients.
For example, bananas and dates are considered the sweetest fruits. People watching their figure should avoid them or add them in small quantities. What you need to pay attention to: the caloric content of a particular product, its quantity, and the glycemic index.
What will help you make a smoothie correctly without harming your body
Since a smoothie is a meal, it should be built as breakfast, lunch or dinner. Each meal is recommended to have a combination of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
In this case, in addition to vegetables, fruits or berries, you need sources of protein (chia seeds, flax, sesame seeds or protein powder) and sources of healthy fats (Greek yogurt, coconut milk, avocado).
It's good to add greens to smoothies, especially if you keep their consumption to a minimum in regular meals. They are rich in various microelements, do not contain sugar, and will not be noticeable in the drink.
There are a huge number of different smoothie options now. It is worth spending a little time, studying the options, choosing the ones that suit you in terms of calories, product combinations, and using them every day or as needed.
Making smoothies is a field for experiments and creativity. In the future, understanding the laws of its correct preparation, you can come up with your own recipes.
The nutrition of a modern person must change. This is influenced by various factors: the state of the environment, deterioration of food quality, reduction of the amount of microelements in the soil and, accordingly, in vegetables and fruits.
A person can only adapt and look for new options to provide the body with everything it needs. The healthy lifestyle industry is currently actively developing and any recipe for a healthy dish can be found in literally a minute. And a smoothie is a great dish for the first step on the path to a healthy version of yourself.
Earlier we talked about preparing a spicy snack for beer .
