Here I am on a snowy morning drinking one of my favorite delicious morning meal replacement smoothies!
Smoothies can be full of protein, vitamins and packed with healthy ingredients that ultimately provide an extremely healthy meal replacement, providing energy and keeping us full until the next meal.
Top 10 Weight Loss Smoothies Questions
Smoothies can taste excellent and they can help you lose a few pounds.
Here are some things you need to know before replacing your morning Eggs and Bacon with a smoothie!
The following are the top 10 questions that I came up with and researched on “Meal Replacement Smoothies”. I hope that some of your questions about Healthy Smoothies/Shakes will be answered in this post!
I did challenge myself to have one of these smoothies every morning for 30 days to see if Healthy Smoothies help in losing weight.
Check out my results in the conclusion where I will give you some of the Pros and Cons that I found during the 30-days.
1. Do meal replacement smoothies help you lose weight?
Some smoothies, especially the ones made at home from whole fruits and vegetables, are high in vitamins, minerals, and other healthy nutrients. Now, if you want to lose weight?
Smoothies tend not to be a great choice because smoothies come in liquid form. When food gets consumed in a liquid form, you will not feel as full as you would with a solid “healthy” food choice.
2. Can you live on meal replacement smoothies?
Are you able to survive off of meal replacement smoothies? It is not advisable to displace all your regular meals with smoothies, but instead drink one for either Breakfast or Lunch and follow those up with a sensible, healthy meal for lunch or dinner.
That being said, I don’t think there is any reason why you could not live on replacement smoothies, as healthy smoothie recipes contain balanced nutrition.
3. Is replacing a meal with a smoothie healthy?
For a smoothie to qualify as a meal, it needs a few extra hearty ingredients – only fruit blended with ice and water is not going to replace a healthy, substantial meal.
You must ensure that you are including highly satiating healthy ingredients like Greek yogurt, chia seeds, nut butter. A small amount of fiber added to the mix will help with that “full” feeling (depending on your diet plan).
4. Are smoothies bad for your digestive system?
Contradictory to what you might see in magazines, online, or television, most smoothies are friendly to your digestive system.
Smoothies can be full of incredibly nutritious fruits and greens, and they can be a healthier choice for breakfast or a quick snack.
The ones that are loaded with fruit and ice can be difficult for our bodies to digest.
I wholeheartedly believe that a lot of this depends on the person’s physiology and current digestive system and how well food is digested.
Related Article: 12 Causes of a Bloated Stomach
5. Is drinking a smoothie the same as eating fruit?
Studies have shown that you are more likely going to ingest more calories and sugar from a fruit smoothie than eating whole fruits and vegetables.
According to many dietitians and nutritionists, we will often overdo it by drinking large portions of smoothies – especially when store-bought that mostly contain artificial sweeteners and calorie-adding nut butter.
As stated above, it will give you the feeling of being full after consuming solid whole fruit over the liquid form.
6. Do smoothies spike blood sugar?
Many people will make smoothies with pure fruit – these drinks will make you fat! Please do not get me wrong; fruits contain a lot of healthy nutrients but are only beneficial for your body when consumed in small quantities.
High-glycemic foods will raise your blood sugar; they also spike insulin levels. High insulin and blood sugar will, in turn, make you fat… One way to reduce the glycemic load of a smoothie is to add protein & fat or a combination of the two.
In short, it depends on how you make your smoothies that determine if your blood sugar will spike.
Related Article: Herbs to lower blood sugar
7. Can fruit smoothies cause stomach upset?
While we are still on the stomach upset/digestive issues, specific fruits and veggies are so intense that you could experience some stomach distress/indigestion if you drink too much in a 24 hour period.
Leafy greens or wheatgrass are known to cause gut issues. It depends on the individual’s digestive system.
For those with sensitive stomachs, combining fruits and veggies can perpetuate this. Standard nutritional rules state that generally, fruits and veggies should be eaten separately, though certain fruits go well with vegetables.
Particular combinations are highly recommended for smoothie diets and fighting diseases.
The most common impact on your internal system of mixing fruits and veggies is bloating/gas because fruit digests quicker and uses different digestive enzymes.
Carrots and apples are considered exceptions – carrots go well with any fruit, and apples go well with any veggie.
Check out this informative video on 10 Common Smoothie Mistakes!
8. Can I Put Supplements In My Smoothie?
In short, yes, you can, and it is encouraged as long as you have consulted with a nutritionist and come up with a recipe that will give you the best bang for your buck and generate a fantastic smoothie.
The following are the top 5 supplements that I add to my smoothies.
Spirulina
Spirulina is blue-green algae found mostly in salt water and some large freshwater lakes. Algae can be grown in natural and controlled environments.
Still, nature’s version is more likely to contain bacteria. It is recommended that you ensure that Spirulina is safety inspected before consuming.
Spirulina is rich in protein, iron, and vitamin B, and provides other valuable nutrients such as beta-carotene, vitamin E, manganese, zinc, copper, and selenium.
Chia Seeds
Chia comes from the salvia plant grown in Mexico, and it’s believed that Mayan and Aztec cultures ate the black seeds for energy. Chia can be eaten in the seed form or mixed with liquid to create a gel.
The Chia seed is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, antioxidants, and calcium. The combination of protein and fiber can be especially satiating, helping to cut down on hunger.
Goji Berries
Goji berries grow on a shrub in China and have been used to treat health ailments from high blood pressure to diabetes. Goji has been believed to increase longevity.
The Goji berry is full of fiber and antioxidants. Some preliminary studies have shown that goji berries could be beneficial for mental health, sleep, mood, athletic enhancement, and can protect the skin from UV damage.
Acai Berries
Acai Berries grow on a palm tree native to South America, acai berries are deep reddish-purple fruits measuring about an inch in length.
Studies suggest acai berries contain high levels of antioxidants, more than other fruits like cranberries and strawberries.
Wheatgrass
The Wheatgrass plant is what it sounds like, the grass of the plant, Triticum aestivum. It is found throughout the US and Europe and can be grown by submerging wheat seeds in water.
The Wheatgrass leaves are juiced or dried to be made into tablets or capsules.
Wheatgrass is full of nutrients, including calcium, selenium, magnesium, iron, and vitamins A, E, and B-12. Research has indicated that it can help improve the symptoms of ulcerative colitis and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.
Dr. Berg’s Wheatgrass Benefits
9. Can you put raw spinach in a smoothie?
Shredding up spinach and adding it to a smoothie is the healthiest way to eat it, research suggests. Cooking the leafy vegetable breaks down its antioxidants while mixing it raw with yogurt or milk helps to release the powerful nutrient lutein.
10. Can smoothies make you gain weight?
Meal Replacement Smoothies do not make you gain weight, the ingredients added to your smoothies may inadvertently be adding sugars, empty calories, and unhealthy additives to your diet plan.
The effect? A decrease in your metabolism makes it harder to shed unwanted pounds and lose weight.
Bottom Line
Meal Replacement Smoothies – Yay or Nay?
At the end of the day, meal replacement smoothies are what you make of them to receive more energy and weight loss benefits.
If implemented correctly with the right kind of ingredients for you, smoothies, in turn, will help speed up your metabolism giving you extra energy for your daily routine.
I challenged myself to have a smoothie every morning for breakfast with a healthy lunch and dinner over 30 days. I found the challenge was easy to get through, and the smoothies tasted great; however, I will admit that I was getting hungry by lunchtime!
I found that after the 30 days of breakfast meal replacement smoothies, I had lost 5 pounds and felt more energy throughout my whole day.
