When talking about a healthy lifestyle smoothies have taken a prominent place. They are easy to make, filled with fruits and vegetables, and can be prepared as a meal or a snack or a dessert. But there are some things that you ‘ll have to consider when making smoothies to make it a healthier one. Those are discussed in this article.

Balance of nutrients - if you are making a smoothie as a meal, especially for breakfast you need to balance the important nutrients including carbohydrate, healthy fat and protein. When more vegetables are added to the smoothie, the fiber content increases. It is better to limit sugar and other sweeteners. Try to taste the natural flavor of ingredients. To increase the protein content yogurt or protein powder can be added.Try to include at least 25 g of protein if you are making a smoothie for a meal and  if it’s a snack, go for at least 10 g of protein.

To add more protein into your smoothie without adding protein powder, you can use alternatives like boiled chickpea (½ a cup), cottage cheese, pumpkin seeds, tofu and whole grain rolled oats. 

 Do not use artificial ingredients. Always use natural ingredients to make your healthy smoothie. To bring more antioxidants into your smoothie add green vegetables like spinach, kale, Gotukola etc. the potassium content in greens improve artery function within minutes in consumption, according to nutritionists. But adding green leaves will make your smoothie green in colour.  If you mind the green colour you can go for other vegetables that offer health benefits and have pleasing colour. Carrots , cucumber and beets are also good to make smoothies. 

Use a healthy liquid base to liquefy your smoothie. You can use water, ice, kefir, yogurt, milk.  Go for low fat milk or non dairy milk sources like coconut milk, soy milk  or almond milk. Non-dairy milk offers healthier fats than cow’s milk.   Ice makes smoothies more thicker. 

Limit your intake to one smoothie a day and have  proper meals and snacks throughout the day because dietitians say it is better to chew and swallow food rather than drinking.  You can drink or eat your smoothie, that depends on the thickness of the smoothie you make. You can decide what you prefer. You can add water to adjust thickness. 

If you are trying to cut down sugar add fruits according to their sugar content. Some fruits contain more sugar while others contain less. You can decide which fruits to add and which to limit.  Strawberries (1 cup = 7 g sugar), Raspberries (1 cup = 5 g sugar), Blackberries (1 cup = 5 g sugar) are  some fruits that have low sugar content,  and here are some fruits that are high in sugar, Banana (1 medium = 14 g sugar), Blueberries (1 cup = 15 g sugar), Pineapple (1 cup = 16 g sugar), Cherries (1 cup = 18 g sugar),Mango (1 cup = 22 g sugar), Dates (1 date = 16 g sugar). However sugar comes from fruits is okay, because it comes naturally prepackaged with phytonutrients. So don’t be afraid to consume fruits on a daily basis.