Yes, I’m totally attacking smoothies! Buckle up, because I have some very strong feelings.
There are a lot of reasons that people reach for smoothies. In turn, a lot of those reasons are why I don’t recommend them. Here are some of the reasons that my clients tell me they luuurve their smoothies:
Quick AND easy to make
Easy way to get fruits in (and sometimes veggies)
Eat on the go
Let’s break these down!
Quick to make - I can’t even knock this one. We are busy humans and it’s important for our food to fit our lifestyle, while also being properly prepared, nutrient dense, and well rounded in macronutrients (protein/carbs/fat). This last point is where our typical smoothie could use some work.
Easy to make - Can’t knock this one either. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m the laziest cook! You shouldn’t have to spend 1-3 hours in the kitchen for 1 meal. But believe me, there are better ways to get satiating and delicious food in your belly.
Easy way to get fruits and (maybe) veggies - This is true…sort of. When you really break down the ingredients in most smoothies, you’re looking at 2-3+ cups of fruit. Now I want to know if you’d ever sit down and eat this amount of fruit in 1 sitting? Probably not. So why would you drink it?!
Eat on the go - This is my biggest reason for telling my clients to swap out the smoothies. Digestion begins in the brain with seeing, smelling, and chewing our food. This starts a signal from the brain to every single organ of digestion. The brain tells the mouth to release salivary enzymes that begin the breakdown of carbohydrates, tells the stomach to excrete acid to further breakdown nutrients, tells the liver/gallbladder to release bile to breakdown fats, tells the intestines to move the food through. We need to be in a relaxed state for all of this to happen. And honestly, when have you ever seen someone sitting down and chewing a smoothie in a relaxed state? Slim to none most likely.
Thinking twice about smoothies? Good! Now we need to talk about alternatives or smoothie upgrades.
Quick + Easy Alternatives
Coconut Chia Seed Pudding - quick to put together and you can make 5 for the whole week for breakfast or mini meals.
Egg Bakes - These are one of my go-to’s for breakfast. It’s so quick and easy to make a whole pan for the week. It’s also pretty hard to get sick of this since you can constantly change up the ingredients!
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Get Your Fruit In
Aiming for 1 cup or less of fruit per day and 3-4 cups of veggies is my personal recommendation for my clients. With smoothies you are getting in more like 3+, so it’s a bit of overkill.
Opt for berries over tropical fruits. Lower sugar and more antioxidants. Win!
Start decreasing (not eliminating) fruit in your smoothie and try adding fats and proteins like nut butters, coconut, avocado, and full fat yogurt or kefir if you tolerate dairy well.
Eat on the go
Please stop doing this. For the love of all things holy, please stop eating anything while driving, walking, running to your car, working, etc.
If you’re going to go for a smoothie, try a smoothie bowl that you have to sit down and eat with a spoon.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but chew your smoothie! This signals the body to produce salivary enzymes to begin the breakdown of carbohydrates like fruits and veggies.
That’s all folks. Thanks for sticking around for all that info and please let me know in the comments if you’ve implemented any of the tips!
Stay awesome,
Amber