Store-Bought Smoothies
Smoothies may seem like a healthy breakfast option, but the store-bought versions might actually be the opposite. Often, store-bought smoothies are surprisingly high in sugar.
According to Delish, "Some can even contain ice cream or full-fat milk, so it's more like a milkshake than anything else."
In addition, the portions in store-bought smoothies are often higher than what you would eat normally.
Speaking to INSIDER, Dr. Alka Gupta, co-director of the Integrative Health & Wellbeing Program at New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, explained, "When we combine these foods into a smoothie, it becomes quite easy to drink a much higher amount of calories and sugar (from just the foods themselves), than when we're eating the whole foods.
Gupta continued, "When you think about a fruit-based 20-ounce smoothie, it probably contains a lot more fruit than we'd usually eat in one sitting."
You also might not fill up as quickly. Gupta explained, "The reason I usually recommend eating whole vegetables and fruits, rather than drinking them, is that the fibrous and pulpy parts contain valuable nutrients, and also serve to fill you up."