Are Smoothies Healthy? Are They Good for Weight Loss?

8.   Are Smoothies Healthy? Are They Good for Weight Loss?

Smoothies made purely of whole fruits and vegetables, and if desired, a little soymilk or nonfat dairy, are wonderfully healthy and nutritious. But if you’re trying to lose weight, be careful.

Are Smoothies Healthy?

You’ve packed into your blender all kinds of fresh, whole foods like strawberries, blueberries, mango, kale, and mint.

What could be wrong? Nothing until you turn on the blender.

For losing weight, there’s one major problem with smoothies – all smoothies. They’re liquids.

Consistently, researchers have found that calories in liquid form have less satiety than calories in solid form. What is satiety? It’s the opposite of hunger. Satiety is getting out of hunger. Satiety is also a measure of how long you stay full after eating.

“Foods that provide the highest satiety for the fewest calories will help you lose weight and keep it off because they do not force you to live with chronic hunger,” explains Dr. Jay Kenney, PhD, RD, Nutrition Research Specialist.

The satiety level of liquids is slim to none, meaning, you don’t compensate for the calories you drink by eating less food. For example, if you drink a smoothie (let’s say it’s 150 calories) before or with a meal, you’re unlikely to compensate by eating 150 fewer calories of food at that meal or at your next meal.

How to Lose Weight

Bottom Line: If weight loss is your goal, steer clear of any beverage with calories, from soft drinks to sugary teas to smoothies to fruit juices. Liquid calories, no matter their source, will not curb your appetite as well as solid foods do.

So, rather than pulverizing your fruits and veggies with a blender, enjoy them whole. Peel a banana. Break open a bag of baby carrots. Swirl strawberries into a dish of nonfat Greek yogurt. Keep a big bowl of fresh fruit on the kitchen counter. Get in the habit of taking fruit and veggies wherever you go.

And watch that bathroom scale plummet.