Why Your Smoothie Might Be Making You Fat

Love smoothies? Do you have them on a regular basis? Smoothies certainly pack in a punch. Depending on their ingredients they can give you protein, fiber, nutrients, vitamins and minerals our bodies need. Many smoothies are loaded with fruit, sometimes with some vegetables and even at times with dairy like milk or yoghurt, sweeteners etc. There are so many variations of smoothie recipes that they seem to outnumber the different flavors of ice cream out there. But how good and healthy is your smoothie? Many recipes are based on fruit. There are smoothies made out of banana, pineapple, mango, melon, peach, apple and almost any fruit you can think of. That is a lot of fructose -- a lot of sugar. According to a study conducted by Dr. Parks, fructose turns into fat after 4 hours. She cautions however that people trying to lose weight shouldn't eliminate fruit from their diets. Fruits do contain antioxidants, vitamins and fiber that are all good for us. Fruits like strawberries, mango and pineapple for example contain vitamin C, which is needed to make a protein called collagen that helps form our skin and ligaments. She goes on to say, "We're overeating all sugars." It's all about portion control. So the question really is, how much sugar is in your smoothie? Not all fruits are created equal. One mango has on average about 30 grams of fructose while a cup of blueberries has about half of that with just 14 grams of fructose. Raspberries have 6 grams of fructose and strawber...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news