Even though many people reach straight for the smoothies these days when they are trying to be healthy, what many people dont realise is that shop-bought smoothies are often crammed with fat and sugar. So to be really healthy the best thing to do is to make your own at home using either a purpose-made smoothie maker, blender or juicer. Have a look online at smoothie maker reviews if you are looking to buy a smoothie maker.
If you make smoothies correctly they can give you a boost of energy and nutrition. The benefits you see will be even better if you also make sure that you try and cut the fat or calories from processed sugars in your smoothies. Here are my top guidelines to assist you to do just that:
1. Instead of using semi-skimmed milk, take a crack at using skimmed milk. If this is a bit too watery for you, try using a soy alternative.
2. If you like to add ice-cream to your smoothies, try using frozen yoghurt or sorbet instead. You may possibly also try buying low-fat ice-creams such as Skinny Cow or Weight Watchers.
3. If you are using smoothies as a food replacement, try adding some protein powder - this will fill you up and will also lower the quantity of yoghurt or ice-cream you might usually add to thicken the smoothie.
4. Use only fresh-fruit, don’t use tinned fruit as this generally has sugar added into the syrup or juice it is stored in.
5. If you have a sweet tooth try adding honey to sweeten your smoothies as a replacement for syrup or white sugar.
6. For smoothies which have yoghurt incorporated in the recipe, always make sure that you make use of low-fat yoghurt instead of high-fat versions such as Greek yoghurt.

Tags: greek yoghurt, protein powder, skinny cow, smoothie maker, smoothies