Healthy Fiber Filled Smoothie Recipes
I recently had a “smoothie day”. I took a break from my low carb diet, which tends for me to not have enough fiber to keep things moving along. Some people don’t need a lot of fiber for this, I happen to need quite a lot of it in the form of dietary fiber, not a pill. I felt like I needed to “clean” my system from eating a lot of low carb foods like meats and cheeses. These smoothies help detox your body and get everything moving through again.
Although it is definitely challenging to drink all your meals instead of eat them for a whole day, I did feel better after doing this. At dinner time was when I was really craving “solid” food, and so I did end up having a very light dinner, but up until then it had been all smoothies and a little bit of raw mango in between.
I made the smoothies in such a way that they weren’t pure carbs so my blood sugar wouldn’t bottom out unexpectedly. I added whey powder, which is pure dairy protein, and I also added peanut butter to one of them, so I got that satisfying protein in with it which helped it stick to me longer. See our previous articles on the drawbacks of the juicing diet, and why using whole fruits with the fiber intact is better.
Here is my first recipe – I drank this one in the morning. It contains a whole banana to add bulking fiber and some protein. Oh, and adding greens powders can add a real nutritional punch to these smoothies without impacting flavor very much. There are many available, it’s just a matter of taste. Most contain wheat grass, oat grass, and other powdered “green” veggies and nutrients.
Smoothie Recipe #1 :
1 whole banana
½ pineapple, cored and skinned and diced for easy blending
1 whole orange, peeled and sectioned for easy blending – use the whole orange rather than juicing it as this adds more bulk and fiber for fullness
½ cup plain yogurt
4 T. powdered whey protein
1 T. coconut oil (it will be solid)
1 cup ice
Blend all ingredients together. You get a nice coconut flavor that tastes almost like a pina colada from mixing the pineapple and coconut together. The whey protein adds more body to the flavor. Add a dash of stevia for additional sweetness if desired.
Smoothie Recipe #2 :
This one has a PB&J sort of flavor since it has fruit and peanut butter in it. You might even add some carob powder if you want a little chocolate in there too.
1 whole banana ½ orange, peeled and sectioned
8-12 strawberries washed and sliced
½ cup plain yogurt
4 T. powdered whey protein
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup ice
Add some stevia for sweetness to this one, there’s not a lot to naturally sweeten this other than the oranges and the strawberries, and this smoothie is much better when it tastes more naturally sweet. You can even add hunger suppressants such as raspberry ketones or hoodia powder, so that you can get your appetite control right in with the smoothie.
These smoothies are very high in fiber and vitamins. They will definitely make you feel “cleaned out” after a few of them. You can eat them for breakfast and lunch, then have a light dinner. You’ll feel full of energy the next day, trust me!
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Are There Any Sweetener Alternatives That Aren’t Bad for You?
It seems like every time the sugar alternative industry comes up with a new industry darling artificial sweetener, the world falls in love. Until, that is, the bad news starts coming out about it. This happened with Splenda, the sugar substitute with the chemical name sucralose that came out a while ago that claimed to be an offshoot of real sugar.
People loved it because it seemed like a healthier alternative to saccharin and aspartame, which is the common artificial sweetener found in diet drinks and sodas. Now, people are clamoring for all natural sugar substitutes like Stevia (my personal favorite) and agave nectar (not sure about this one, I heard it is even harsher on the blood sugar than real sugar).
Sucralose, or Splenda, has come under scrutiny for a variety of reasons. The first is the claim that it is a derivative of real sugar, which was one of the main draws behind its popularity. People thought that by using it, they were using a sweetener that was close to real sugar, without all the calories.
In fact, it is a totally chemically altered form of the chemical we know as sugar. There were also a lot of side effects claimed from the every day use of Splenda. People were starting to report side effects from headaches to kidney problems. Now, I don’t know how much you have to consume to get these types of side effects, that type of information is conveniently not available many times.
Now, there is also evidence that many artificial sweeteners are actually linked to obesity, increased body weight, and over eating. This is because your body is naturally programmed to expect higher calorie foods when ingesting sweets. When the sweet taste is there without the calories, it can promote excess hunger, carb cravings, and other habits that lead to weight gain.
Splenda has also now been linked to an impact on intestinal health. There are claims that it may actually harm or deplete the healthy intestinal flora that inhabity the gut. Another reason not to eat it. However, it makes me wonder if even by using my beloved Stevia, I’m promoting myself to over eat, and to crave carbs a lot more for the rest of the day.
After all, it’s not sugar…..hmmm…..
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