Smoothie Diet—A New Trend?
Most people have enjoyed a smoothie at some point. A delicious blend of milk or yogurt with fresh fruit or vegetables, they’re tasty and easy to whip up. But, have you heard of the smoothie diet? Created by a health coach, it’s sometimes called the smoothie detox plan. But what if you just like smoothies and don’t necessarily want to lose weight? You can make smoothies part of a healthy lifestyle and increase your snack options!
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Smoothie Diet Plan: What Is It?
You’ve heard about a “21-Day Smoothie Diet” but have no idea what this new trend is about?
The main goal of the 21-Day Smoothie Diet is weight loss. Its creator, health coach Drew Sgoutas, claims that replacing some of your meals with smoothies on all but one day of the week for 21 days can help you lose weight. Sgoutas advises eating normally on the other day but provides a recommended list of healthy foods to choose from. After 21 days you go back to eating normally.
There’s also a smoothie detox plan you can follow to lose weight faster and “cleanse” your system.
What Other Smoothie Diet Plans Are There?
Some people follow the same principle of replacing meals with smoothies but without following the smoothie diet plan and not as a way to lose weight.
- For instance, some people have smoothies for breakfast every day and find it a delicious way to incorporate fruit into their diet.
- People who don’t follow a specific smoothie diet but like to swap some meals for smoothies feel it’s easier to stick to a routine like this for longer than 21 days. For example, a breakfast smoothie is a delicious and healthy way to start the day, giving you a burst of vitamins and minerals in the form of a delicious, fresh, fruity breakfast. It’s easy to whizz up a fruit smoothie in the blender, and you can add oats or seeds and nuts to keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Make the most of your brunch outings to try new smoothie flavours!
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What Is a Smoothie Detox Plan?
Others see smoothies as a way to “cleanse” and detox their system and like to include more smoothies into their diet but over a shorter time, maybe three to seven days. With their fruit and vegetable base, these detox smoothies are high in vitamins and minerals but low in calories. Although the jury is out on the benefits of detoxing, many people feel that a smoothie detox plan can help their digestion.
What Are the Benefits of the Smoothie Diet?
As you would expect from a diet that’s based on fruit and vegetable smoothies, the smoothie diet can offer wellness benefits:
- The fact that it involves eating fruit and vegetables a couple of times a day means you’re getting much more of the good stuff in your diet.
- Research also suggests that fruity smoothies may encourage teens to eat more fruit and vegetables.
- And all those fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants, which have been linked to cancer prevention.
The other great plus of a smoothie diet is the sheer enjoyment of getting to experience so many new flavours.
- You can mix sweet flavours like pineapple, banana, mango, and coconut with fruit with a sharper, tart taste like berries.
- And don’t forget bitter flavours from vegetables like spinach and kale, too!
- You can add extra fibre to your smoothie diet by mixing in chia seeds or other seeds and nuts, or powdered algae such as spirulina.
Colourful, fruity snacks!
Do Smoothies Help You Lose Weight?
A smoothie diet plan like the one devised by Drew Sgoutas is designed to help in weight loss. Fruit and vegetable smoothies are low calorie, but following a smoothie diet solely may not be sustainable for more than short periods of time.
If you’re replacing meals with smoothies, make sure that your recipes include all the essential macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. You can do this by using fruit and veggies as the base and adding seeds and nuts or nut butter. The milk or yogurt you mix it with can provide some protein.
If you don’t have enough, you may feel hungry more quickly and end up eating more in the long run. Some people add a bit of honey, but keep an eye on your sugar intake, which in the end could be not as low as you think. Also make sure that your meals include all the nutrients you need!
Tips to Get Started with a Smoothie Diet: Healthy and Delicious
If you’re not interested in losing weight but love smoothies,
why not use them as a way to up your intake of fruit and vegetables?
You don't necessarily have to follow the 21-day smoothie diet to make smoothies a tasty addition to your lifestyle. There are so many deliciously exotic fruits, and a smoothie is a great way to experiment with different flavours.
When’s the Best Time for a Smoothie?
Why not start with a creamy breakfast smoothie a couple of days a week? In just a couple of minutes you can whip up a deliciously creamy banana smoothie. Add a little honey for sweetness and any other soft fruit you fancy. If you include some oats, their slow-release carbohydrates will keep you going until lunch!
Smoothies are also super convenient for eating on the go or taking to work.
You could also try having a smaller meal and then a smoothie as a dessert.
Street food offers a wide range of smoothies:
discover our selection of cafés and light-meal restaurants.
What Can I Put in My Smoothie?
Most smoothies are made with a milk or yogurt base and then different fruits and vegetables are added. But you can also add various seeds and nuts. Or use Greek yogurt or skyr as a mixer, a great way to get your protein.
Don’t forget you can also add chopped fruit at the end for more fibre.
Is the Smoothie Diet Only Fruit Based?
No, there are lots of delicious ways to add vegetables to your smoothie diet:
- Spinach works well with naturally sweet ingredients like banana, grapes, mango, and pineapple.
- Or how about some raw kale? This superfood has more vitamin C than an orange and its strong flavour is softened by zesty fruit like lime and the sweetness of pineapple or banana.
- Add avocado to your kale smoothie to create a delicious silky feel.
Can I Combine a Smoothie Diet with Being a Vegetarian?
You can combine smoothies with any kind of diet or lifestyle. If you’re a vegetarian, remember to make sure you get enough non-meat protein and iron, but smoothies can be a great fruity addition to a plant-based diet.
Seize the opportunity provided by these trendy diets to discover new recipes and revisit your usual smoothies!
Your favourite cafés and bar-restaurants can also be places to try trendy combinations
of fruits, veggies, and other wellness foods.
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The 21-Day Smoothie Diet is designed and promoted to help in weight loss. But smoothies are also just as good as an occasional addition to a healthy diet, inviting you to add more vegetables and fruits to your daily routine.
The danger with only having smoothies for long periods of time is that your diet may lack macro nutrients, like protein, fat and carbohydrates, or not have them in sufficient quantities.
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