top of page
Search
Writer's pictureErin Power

"What About Smoothies?"


Spoiler Alert: I'm not into smoothies.

In general, I don't like the idea of drinking food. There are only precious few circumstances where it really winds up being a better option than good ol' food. It's not hard to make food, It's not even hard to make or buy a good choice of food when you're busy and on the run.

Times when I think smoothies, shakes, or pressed/blended juices make sense:

  • When you need a good hit of fuel but don't have time to digest a bunch of food. The scenario outlined in my video, below. I was hungry-ish, was nearing time for a meal, but had a session with my trainer coming up imminently.

  • If you've been doing a lot of fasting and feel that you are running a little low on micronutrients (vitamins and minerals - a kinda "meh" run-down feeling...). Then a pressed juice can be a quick hit of micros.

  • Maybe... MAYBE after a hard lifting workout, but then we're just talking about a high quality whey isolate or bone broth protein powder mixed in water in a shaker cup. Nothing fruity or frou-frou. But also: you could just EAT protein, so... (An awesome soundbite I heard in my travels on social media this week: "Hey guys, what do you have for your post-workout fuel?" And someone replied "I just eat lunch." Ha! BRILLIANT. [Also: me too.].)

ANY TIME you are blending a food product into a drink product, you are probably getting way more calories and usually way more carbohydrate than you need. Yes, even fresh-pressed juices: mega shot of concentrated nutrition right across the board. Where micronutrients are concerned, that's a good thing. Vitamins and minerals - POW! Right into ya. But what about the macronutrients? What about the fact that a pressed fruit or veg juice is 100% carbohydrate without any fibre? Blood sugar spike; blood sugar crash. Unreliable energy with no discernible positive effect on appetite management (in other words: you will just be really hungry soon after drinking your fibreless veggies). BLENDED fruit or veg juice at least has some of the fibre in it still... Chuck your veg in the Vitamix and drink a bit of fibre, if you really must drink your vegetables.

I digress.

The key to making a smoothie satiating is the same as the key to making ANY meal satiating:

Add fat. Add protein. Add fibre.

Please don't just drink a bunch of blended fruit with yogurt. And for the love of God, no almond milk.

Here's my impromptu smoothie tutorial.



171 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page