Healthy smoothies for weight loss: our six favourites

Healthy smoothies for weight loss

Has there ever been a more useful food for weight loss than a smoothie? We don’t think so. Generally speaking, they’re low in calories, full of nutrients, all natural and delicious - exactly the sort of food you need if you’re aiming to trim down.

However the calorie content of smoothies can vary enormously. We’d always recommend that you make your own at home, because commercially available smoothies can be surprisingly high in sugar and calories!

Below, we’ve got plenty of tips for you which will help you become a smoothie maker extraordinaire. Once you know the basic components and flavour combinations it’s easy to whip up a huge variety of smoothies, based on whatever you feel like that day!

A note on weight loss

Before we get into our recipes, we should stop for a moment and talk about weight loss. It is a tricky subject. After all, we’ve been so happy to see the growth of the body positivity movement in recent years, and to wave goodbye to the ‘size zero’ model of beauty many of us grew up with.

If you’re keen to lose weight because - thanks to the bombardment of pressure that still comes from society and the media - you feel that you have to be thin to be accepted, we’d encourage you to take a step back.

Self-acceptance is hard work. But we believe it ultimately leads to more happiness than trying to fit into the mould that outdated beliefs have built for us.

That said, there are still some completely valid reasons why you might want to try and lose a bit of weight. For example, you may want to get your BMI down into a healthy range, you might be prepping for surgery, or you may just want to lose weight to boost your self-esteem.

If that’s you, then smoothies may be a great way to help. Now, let’s get into how to make the best smoothie of all time!

Blend, blend, blend

If you’re new to the world of smoothies, you’ll need to invest in a blender. Luckily, there are plenty of affordable options on the market.

If you’re only interested in making smoothies, go for a blender which is specially designed for them; they’re often very affordable. You just need to make sure that the blades are strong enough to withstand any tough fruits and vegetables you’re planning to use.

Or, if you’re a culinary whizz, go for a model which has other functions too (such as chopping or grinding). You’ll then be able to use it in your other recipes too! These models tend to have stronger blades as well.

Are smoothies good for you?

In a word, yes! Smoothies are good for you. As they’re made primarily from fruit and vegetables, they’re full of healthy nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fibre.

There has been some debate recently around whether smoothies are that great for your health because of the sugar they contain. Unless you add lots of sweeteners such as sugar, honey or syrup, most of that sugar comes from the fruit you use.

While naturally occurring sugars in fruit are not generally considered to be bad for us, when you blend fruit in a smoothie you’re turning it into what’s called ‘free sugars’. (If you're unfamiliar with the term, click for a more detailed article all about refined and free sugars.)

This is because you’re releasing the sugar from the cells of the fruit, where it’s normally contained by fibre and other nutrients. These prevent you from absorbing the sugar so quickly.

Free sugars are more easily absorbed by the body and can lead to sugar spikes in your bloodstream. They can also damage your teeth.

Making the most of your smoothies

You can avoid any issues around free sugars in smoothies as long as you try and avoid adding too much extra sugar or sweeteners, carefully consider the fruit you use, and keep to one smoothie per day.

The NHS recommends that a portion of smoothie should be no more than 150ml - that’s a small glass.

Importantly, the NHS also says that a smoothie can only count as one of your recommended five a day, regardless of the ingredients you use.(1)

How to make your smoothies more filling

If you’re aiming to replace a meal with a smoothie, you will need to make sure it’s filling enough to power you through the rest of the day.

While some people will manage just fine on a fruit-based smoothie, others will need a bit more bulk to provide the energy they need.

Luckily, there are a few easy additions you can make to almost any smoothie to make it more filling.

Firstly, make sure you use whole fruits rather than fruit juice in your mix. This is because with fruit juice all of the fibre has already been removed from the fruit, making it less filling.

Add more protein

One area where smoothies often struggle is providing you with protein. Fruit and vegetables don’t contain much of it, so you’ll need to source it from elsewhere.

While there are lots of commercial protein powders on the market, at Erbology we tend to avoid them. This is because they are usually heavily processed and contain lots of unnecessary artificial ingredients. Plus, we don’t particularly enjoy the taste of ‘artificial vanilla’ or ‘salted caramel’ in our fruity smoothies!

Fortunately there are plenty of natural protein sources that blend really well into a smoothie.

Some of our favourites include our Organic Chia Seed Powder or Hemp Seed Powder. These seeds are both packed with plant-based protein and are completely natural.

If you are able to eat nuts, a spoonful of peanut or almond butter will do the trick - and add a lovely nutty flavour to your smoothie.

Alternatively, throw in a handful of oats. While this might sound odd at first, they will blend away in your smoothie maker into a silky smooth drink with plenty of protein.

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