How To Make A Healthy Smoothie

It would seem that it is impossible to prepare a smoothie incorrectly: it is enough to put any fruits and berries in a blender and beat them. If you look at the smoothie from the point of view of modern nutrition, it turns out that not all drinks are equally useful. To make a morning smoothie nutritious and useful, you should approach its preparation wisely.

Control your sugar levels

The biggest danger hidden in smoothies is excess sugar. To prevent this from happening, it is important not only to refuse the use of sweeteners (even natural ones, for example, fruit juice syrup, honey or stevia extract), but also to carefully choose all the ingredients . Sweet fruits can contain a large amount of sucrose and fructose. Of course, they are not as harmful as refined sugar, but an excess of fruit sugar in the diet is also not good for the body. It causes an excessive load on the liver, and also increases the risk of diabetes.

The following fruits contain the most sugar:

• Lychee

• Mango.

• Banana.

• Pineapple.

• Merry.

• Grape.

It is better to avoid sweet fruits or use them in minimal quantities, supplementing with other ingredients . It is better to choose berries - fresh or frozen, as well as less sweet fruits: kiwi, guava, watermelon, quince or apples. The amount of sugar in most citrus fruits (orange, lemon, grapefruit) is average, in moderate amounts they are also suitable for making smoothies .

Fresh vegetables are the best source of useful nutrients

Be sure to add not only fruits, but also vegetables to the smoothie . As a source of vitamins and useful nutrients, they are much richer, and the amount of sugar in them is much less. The best candidates for ingredients for drinks : fresh tomatoes, sweet peppers, as well as various greens - spinach, curly cabbage, Swiss chard, leaf lettuce, Chinese cabbage, etc.

Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C (just 1 vegetable contains ⅓ of the daily value for an adult), potassium, vitamins of group B and K. However, the greatest value of tomatoes is that they contain lycopene, which reduces the risk of heart disease. 1 cup (30 g) of spinach contains only 7 kcal, but provides more than half of an adult's daily value of vitamins A and K. Kale and Swiss chard are rich in potassium and zinc, antioxidants, vegetable protein and fiber. Like all dark green leafy vegetables, they contain a lot of beta-carotene and lutein - antioxidants that help the body resist inflammatory processes.

Bet on slow carbohydrates

This advice is especially important for those who choose smoothies as the main dish for breakfast. Slow carbohydrates are needed so that the morning drink is not only tasty, but also really nutritious. To make such a breakfast last until lunch, add at least ⅓ cup of products from the group of slow carbohydrates to the blender, for example:

• Slow-cooking oatmeal.

• Sprouted green buckwheat or ordinary brown, steamed with water.

• Sprouts of mung beans, soybeans or beans.

• Sprouted oats.

The more pulp, the more fiber

Avoid using juice in smoothies . A much more useful option is to add fresh vegetables and fruits whole, with skin and pulp, to the blender. The right drink should have a thick consistency due to a large amount of vegetable fiber. You can further increase its concentration by adding 0.5 tsp. bran, a few fresh or steamed broccoli florets, a slice of zucchini.

A sufficient amount of fiber in the diet is the key to intestinal health, which is directly related to the coordinated work of the entire body. Fiber reduces the feeling of hunger, which helps not to overeat and control weight. Soluble fibers regulate the level of sugar and cholesterol in the blood, and insoluble fibers cleanse the body and remove toxins.

Doctors from Harvard University found that regular consumption of fiber from vegetables, fruits and whole grains can reduce the risk of death from heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and colon cancer. According to data from the US National Cancer Institute, consumption of dietary fiber reduces mortality from infectious and respiratory diseases by 24-56% in men and 34-59% in women. The risk reduction was most significant when the daily intake of dietary fiber was between 25 and 29 g.