Are Smoothies Really Healthy?

There are diets established centered around this amazing drink, and health nuts rave about them. But are smoothies really that healthy? Well, it matters what you get and how you look at it.

Though short, I am going to cover the people that would say that smoothies are not healthy. If you are on low carb diets than smoothies are a nightmare. Yogurt, milk (medium carbs and protein, so not bad), fruits; full of carbs and sugars. If you are on any Atkins or keto diet, than this will be awful for your body. While the sugars are seen as good by many, and you will be getting a good variety of vitamins and antioxidants, you can get the same from vitamin pills.

With that out of the way, how are they healthy? Much like mentioned before, they contain high amounts of vitamins and antioxidants, ensuring that your body will run at premium speeds. It is also easier for you to get all those fruits into a day, and you can add tasty variations to a smoothie.

They can be for fruits, vegetables (as fruit will easily mask any vegetable taste), and even for body builders. A little milk, whey protein powder, peanut butter and banana is great for an after work out shake.

HOWEVER, there are smoothies terrible for you. For a little bit of advice, you should never buy smoothies at smoothie stands (unless you see them actually using fruit and not powders) or smoothie mix.

These places and mixes have a high inclusion of ingredients that sound about as good as they are. Chemicals and additives you can't pronounce, the ever feared high fructose corn syrup (which is as bad as its reputation would make you believe), and a lot of other things which may taste better to those not used to more organic drinks, but are not healthy in the least.

Best thing for you to do is buy plain yogurt and fruit and mix them together. While I would like to push my organic lifestyle upon this (and it would be better), at the very least you should buy these ingredients from a super market and make sure the least amount of additives are used. For fruit, it can be cheaper, and better to store, if you buy them frozen. The taste is usually not quite as good, and there is the danger of additives, but they can be stored longer so you can enjoy strawberry smoothies all year round.

So smoothies are healthy, if you make them, but never get mixes or from stands that use powders. It would be better for you just to eat some ice cream if you want to do that. They are also good for weight loss, if you're not on a carb restriction diet. So bust out those blenders and keep the smoothies coming.