Smoothies
Smoothies are often considered a healthy meal replacement--especially for breakfast. However, they might not be as good for weight loss as you may think.
Whether or not a smoothie is diet friendly depends on what's inside the smoothie--and how much is inside the smoothie.
According to the Chopra Center, which was founded in 1996 by Deepak Chopra, M.D. and David Simon, M.D., and is one of the first whole health brands in the U.S., "[W]e tend to eat more food in a smoothie than we realize. Normally, you wouldn’t eat a banana, apple, orange, cup of blueberries, cup of yogurt, and milk in one sitting. And yet, a typical smoothie contains all of those ingredients, if not more."
A smoothie can make it more difficult to practice portion control--and could lead to overeating.
Plus, according to the Chopra Center, "Liquid calories are also much easier for your body to metabolize and any excess calorie intake can add to weight gain."
With that in mind, sticking to whole fruit might be better for weight loss than having a smoothie, and it might help keep you from overeating.