Healthy Shakes & Smoothies

Fruit shakes, smoothies, and meal replacement drinks have become an increasingly popular choice for a quick and healthy meal or snack.

But how healthy are they?

Smoothies can be a good choice, especially when you make them yourself. Check out our information of what to avoid when it comes to smoothies, what to look for, and our tips & recipes to make sure your smoothie is as healthy as it is delicious.

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Don't Be Fooled: Avoid These Unhealthy Ingredients in Common Drinks & Mixes

Take a closer look at all of the stuff hiding in most shakes and protein mixes. We translate the ingredients in parentheses. Regardless of what the marketing states, the ingredients below can be harmful to your health.

Ensure Ingredients:
Processed Sugar (2nd ingredient after water), Soy Oil (highly processed & inflammatory) Soy Protein Concentrate (highly processed), Canola Oil (inflammatory), Corn Oil (highly processed & inflammatory), Natural & Artificial Flavors (junk), Salt (need more?), FD&C Red #3 (junk coloring), and a mix of processed vitamins, stabilizers, and preservatives.

Slim Fast Ingredients:
Fat free milk ( processed, removes vitamins A,D,E, K, and makes it a sugary drink), processed sugar, stabilizers & thickeners, canola oil (inflammatory), preservatives (junk), mono and diglycerides (processed fats), artificial flavor (junk), and dextrose (sugar), mix of processed vitamins.

GNC ProPerformance Whey Protein Ingredients:
Artificial Flavor (junk), Salt, Acesulfame Potassium (junk artificial sugars), thickeners, mix of vitamins.

One ingredient that is harder to evaluate, is the quality of whey protein. It should be cold processed to dry and separate it from milk with minimal processing. Often heat or other methods are used to speed the process, but these will denature (damage) the protein and can make it unhealthy.

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4 Ingredients to Include in Your Smoothie

1. Fresh/Frozen Fruit - avoid canned fruit, which is usually sweetened. Frozen fruit adds a nice consistency. Use a variety.
2. Healthy Protein - choose minimally processed protein that has no added junk (sugars, preservatives, colors, etc.) to help provide good quality protein to satiate your appetite and stabilize blood sugar
   
3. Good Oil - a tablespoon or two of good fat help you better digest the other ingredients, get more nutritional benefit from your smoothie, make it more stabilizing to your blood sugar, and satiate your appetite. These include flaxseed, grapeseed, and hemp seed oils.
   
4.  Ice or Water - as needed for the desired consistency
   

3 More Ingredients to Consider

1. High Quality Milk or Yogurt - for added healthy protein & fat. Choose minimally processed, full fat ones without hormones or other junk.
2. Raw Eggs - add healthy fat and protein, but make sure you are using high quality eggs (preferably pasture raised) to avoid any problems
3. Vegetables - experiment with adding different vegetables like carrots, spinach, or celery, which usually taste good in the smoothie.

Healthy Ingredients in Protein Mixes Our Doctors Recommend

Protein mixes should be minimally processed, and only include healthy ingredients. No added colors, preservatives, processed sugars, artificial junk, etc. Check out the mixes below that we recommend to improve your health and compare them to those on the left.

SP Complete Ingredients (minimally processed & organic whole foods):
Whey protein, Flaxseed powder, Rice protein powder, Calcium, Magnesium, Buckwheat leaf, Brussels sprouts, Kale, Choline bitartrate, Inositol (part of B-complex vitamins), Barley grass, Alfalfa juice powder, Soybean lecithin powder, Grapeseed extract, Carrot root powder, Red wine extract.

Whey Pro Complete Ingredients (minimally processed & organic whole foods):
Nondenatured whey protein (nondenatured means minimally processed to retain nutritional value), Colostrum (early milk), Inulin from chicory (plant fiber), Soy lecithin.

Pure Power Protein Ingredients (minimally processed whole foods):
Whey protein, Digestive resistant maltodextrin (acts as fiber), Organic sweet whey, Organic nonfat dry milk, Chia seed, Natural flavor (vanilla), Guar gum (natural thickener), Sunflower lecithin, Luo han juice concentrate, Medium chain triglycerides (easily digestible fats), Fructooligosaccharides (natural fruit/veg sugar), Probiotic blend (healthy bacteria), Arabinogalactan (fiber for healthy bacteria to eat).

Mom's Morning Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients: SP Complete, Pure Power Protein, Frozen fruit (banana, apple, melon, strawberries, pineapple, berries), raw egg, hemp seed oil, unprocessed yogurt, water as needed.

Instructions: Throw all ingredients in a container and blend with a stick blender until smooth. Serve and enjoy.

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Sweeten Your Smoothie Without Sugar

Your smoothie shouldn't taste like a shake from a fast food joint, but it should taste good. If you need a little more sweetness add these fruits:

Pineapples, Bananas, Grapes, Mangoes, Apples, Cherries

Stick It for Quick Clean Up

We recommend using a stick blender to make your smoothies quick and easy. Blend them in the container you will drink them from, rinse of the blender, and go.

These can usually be found at stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, Department Stores, etc.

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