Smoothie Criminals: Common Smoothie Mistakes

Ok, we have all read, make a smoothie, they are good for you. Not necessarily! 

Thanks to the rise of celebrities blasting their social media with images of them holding various blends of smoothies, you would be forgiven for thinking that the smoothie is your golden ticket to the body of Kylie Jenner.
 
Moreover, while it is true that smoothies can be a fantastic ‘on-the-go’ breakfast for anyone who needs nutrient dense foods and for anyone on a diet of any sort, there are crucial smoothie mistakes that a lot of us make which can completely hinder their health benefits!
 
In fact, it these mistakes could be the reasons why you have been working out religiously, eating steamed vegetables at every meal and downing your favourite blend every morning and still not seeing the weight falling off.
 
Overdosing on fruit
 
While fruits are full of fibre and nutrients, not all fruits are created equally, and some can contain more than three times the amount of sugar and calories of others. Check out this easy to read chart. This is where you need to do your research to find out which fruits are the lowest in sugar and calories. Although appetising, too much sugar is unhealthy and can lead to increased weight gain. Without even knowing it, you could be consuming more calories than a fast food burger (which is even worse when you think you are being healthy!).

Choose fruits that are low in sugar and therefore calories, or if you really cannot do without the extra fruit, make sure to switch the other ingredients to lower calorie versions (plain milk to almond milk, leaving out honey and other sweeteners, etc.).
 
Lacking in protein
 
While fruit may make your smoothie taste amazing, because of it’s natural sugar, it will leave you feeling hungry shortly after consuming unless you pump up your blend with added protein.
 
Because protein keeps you full and helps to grow your muscles, it is a vital part of any smoothie. Great protein choices for smoothies including protein powder, nuts and plain greek yoghurt.
 
 
Supersizing your serving size
 
In a perfect world, we could consume healthy food endlessly and never gain a single kilo from it. However, we are not in a perfect world, and everything adds up in caloric value even if it is the greenest smoothie you could create.
 
A healthy smoothie should fit into one standard sized smoothie should be between 200-300 ml. A good way to ensure you don’t feel robbed of nutrients is to make sure your smoothie has a thick consistency by adding fibrous fruits and vegetables and yoghurt.
 
You are too sweet!
 
We know, honey, maple syrup and sugar makes your smoothie taste amazing, but it will also tack on an extra 50-100 calories for every tablespoon you added! As well as this, if you haven’t used plain yoghurt or milk, there are added sweeteners found in these ingredients as well. Try to gradually decrease the amount of sweetener you add until you are sweetener free; your taste buds will get used to it, trust us!