Diets in Review Blog » smoothies

How to Make a Healthy Smoothie 101

Carmen — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:00:36 +0000

Making your own smoothie is easy and you can create some delicious fruit combinations. Why not take a minute to whip up your own delicious and nutritious fruit smoothie? Watch this video to see my tips and tricks – why not grab a blender and join me?

There are lots of smoothie bars out there – places to buy a quick, delicious treat or even a meal replacement. Jamba Juice and Tropical Smoothie are quick and convenient, but can be loaded with extra sugar and fats. Making your own takes only minutes and allows you to control the ingredients, ensuring it’s good for you.

Here are a few healthy smoothie recipes to get you started:

Banana Split Smoothie

Frosty Pumpkin Smoothie

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How to Make a Healthy Smoothie 101

Starbucks Steps Up Nutrition Quality of Food and Beverages

Rebecca — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:00:14 +0000

This week Starbucks launched a whole line of new foods and beverages all inspired by customer ideas submitted at My Starbucks Idea. Customers have been clamoring for healthier food choices on the website and Starbucks has delivered with a new line of healthy smoothies (a personal star from me because I have not been able to find a commercial smoothie comparable to something I could make at home), new 300-calorie salads, and healthier breakfast baked goods. They also reformulated their products to adhere to guidelines customers suggested. In my opinion, Starbucks has taken their healthy approach to food to a whole new level. Most of their foods and beverages are under 500 calories. They have made company-wide improvements in the quality of their foods by listening to their customers ideas. That’s setting a standard for the industry.

Here’s the skinny on the changes:

No more high fructose corn syrup – this was the #1 change customers requested on My Starbucks Idea
No more artificial colors or flavors
New menu item selections such as Vivanno smoothies, salads, and a gluten-free orange valencia cake
Improvements to ingredients in some of their “favorites” like egg whites in their spinach feta wrap and reduced-fat turkey bacon egg sandwich (real eggs, peeps – no substitutes here! I know, it seems odd to tout real eggs in an egg wrap, but it’s true, lots of places use egg products.)
All-natural turkey in their sandwiches

Starbucks let me sample some of their new baked goods. I was impressed with the flavors and product quality overall. The cranberry orange muffin and banana bread (with 30% fresh banana) were my faves. I don’t always go for the baked goods, but as a “sometimes” food these offerings pass the test. They have good nutrition for the calories. These are great for sharing, too.

According to the Starbucks website, their commitment to wellness has already resulted in the following changes:

Saving customers 7 billion calories per year, equaling nearly 5 million pounds of fat by using 2% over whole milk as the standard in all beverages and setting nutrition “guardrails” for new products to be less than 500 calories
Removing artificial trans fat in all food and beverages in North America
Expanding the food and beverage portfolio to include a variety of options, including Fruit Cups, Yogurt Parfaits, Skinny Lattes, Vivanno™ Smoothies and Starbucks^®Perfect Oatmeal

What do you think of these changes?

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Starbucks Steps Up Nutrition Quality of Food and Beverages

We Love Fruit 2 Day

Carmen — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:00:46 +0000

This week, we love Fruit 2 Day, a delicious (and nutritious!) real fruit juice – and so much more. What’s not to love about a portion controlled container of real fruit juice and, oddly enough, fruit bits. Seriously. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I will admit I was skeptical – although I love fruit smoothies, I’m not so in love with regular fruit juice and I bought this – somewhat pricey at $3.50 for 2 bottles – with a healthy amount of skepticism. Juice mixed with chunks of fruit sounded a bit odd. I was in for a treat.

With varieties like Cherry-Grape and Strawberry-Orange, different taste buds are pacified. I chose my standard, default flavor of Mango-Peach and saved it for the end of an especially strenuous Muay Thai class. Served well-chilled, it had a pleasant flavor and the bits of fruit that I’d been skeptical of were refreshing. (Although, oddly enough, the fruits in the Mango-Peach juice that I’d sampled were not those named, but instead pineapple and pear.)

No matter. After I’d had about one-third of the juice, I added in a scoop of protein powder and was delighted by the yumminess that ensued. It was every bit as good as a Tropical Smoothie, my treat of choice after class – and much cheaper and I think healthier. It was also a smaller portion and something I could keep in my boxing bag.

Each 6.75 ounce bottle has 120 calories, 0 grams fat, 2 grams fiber, 40% RDA of Vitamin A and 60% RDA of Vitamin C. All-natural, low in calories and with two servings of fruit, this is a beverage that I’ll cheerfully buy again.

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We Love Fruit 2 Day