Are Smoothies Making You Fat?

With the temperature rising outside people often like to reach for cold or frozen drinks, like smoothies, shakes and iced or frozen coffee drinks. But these liquids could be a culprit to your weight gain.

When we see the word smoothie we often associate it with healthy. That's not always the case. Many have hidden calories, fat and excess sugar. Even at shops that promote "healthy" smoothies have many drinks that are not so healthy and have way too many calories. Here are some shocking examples:

Jamba Juice, Chunky Strawberry (16 oz) - 570 calories
Jamba Juice, Mango Peach Topper (16 oz) - 500 calories
Smoothie King, Cranberry Supreme (20 oz) - 560 calories
Smoothie King, The Hulk Strawberry smoothie (20 oz) - 1065 calories, YIKES!

But let me back up at bit with some facts.

It’s been well documented that the rise in the consumption of beverages (ie, anything other than water) has been a factor to the obesity crisis in the United States. The average American today gets more than 20% of their daily calories from beverages. That’s a lot!

For may of us, during the warm months we slurp down way too many "Summer Drinks" - the smoothies, shakes or frozen coffee drinks. These can easily pack on the pounds:

Starbucks Honey Frappuccino (16 oz) - 390 calories
Dunkin Donuts Coffee Coolata (16 oz) - 350 calories
TCBY Mango Tango (24 oz) - 728 calories
Baskin-Robbins Vanilla Shake, medium (24 oz) - 980 calories
McDonald's Chocolate Triple Thick Shake (32 oz) - 1160 calories - WOW!

Now let me state that smoothies are often a great way to add fruit to your diet and can be a nice addition to your meal plan. However, it’s always best to make them yourself at home. Why?

Let’s not forget that beverages today (including smoothies) are super-sized. The Food and Drug Administration’s official serving size is 8 ounces. It's hard to find an 8 ounce smoothie, shake or iced coffee drink. I bet many of you don't even know what 8 ounces looks like as we just don't see it anymore!

But it’s not just the super-sizing.

It's that people FORGET that they're drinking calories. I see it all the time, people sipping on their drinks oblivious that these things even contribute to their daily caloric intake. It's like they’re thinking “if I drink it, it has zero calories.” That’s not true!

But smoothies often have fruit. Isn't that good?

Okay, I know some of the smoothies have real fruit in them but there are other ingredients, that put all together, can add up to a LOT of calories.

Plus the fact that you’re “drinking” the fruit it doesn’t register the same in your mind. Imagine you're eating a piece of fruit. First, you are eating so you're (hopefully) more aware of the food and the calories. Second, when you eat a whole piece of fruit you're getting all of the fiber and nutrients which may be missing in the liquid form.

My clients often consume these smoothies and can't understand why they're not dropping pounds. Once they work with me, they don't crave these Summer drinks like they used to and consume them less often. Once they do that, it's amazing how those difficult pounds finally start to come off. And it didn't take very much work!

So what's the bottom line?

Though smoothies taste great, can be nutritious, and sometimes are a good way to get some fruit into your system - it's best to make them yourself at home. If you do get them at a smoothie shop, coffee shop, or elsewhere, don't go overboard. And try to get most of your daily fruit intake by eating whole fruit.

Your waistline (and wallet!) will thank you.

© Dinneen Diette, 2008

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