Filling your diet with a variety of nutrient dense foods is essential for nourishing a healthy body, and drinking more smoothies is one of the easiest ways to achieve this goal. Completely customizable to your personal tastes and easily enhanced with an array of fruits and vegetables, there are certain ingredients you can add to smoothies that will boost your metabolism and improve digestion to bolster your overall health. Not sure which fruits are the best choices to add to a smoothie tailored for sustainable weight loss? We spoke with registered dietitian Trista Best to set the record straight.
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Banana & Other High Fiber Fruits
Fiber is the primary nutrient to prioritize within a healthy diet for weight loss, increasing satiety and effectively managing hunger cues to limit your need to snack throughout the day. By including enough fiber within your diet you should notice significant improvement in your overall health, and most fruits are an excellent source of such.
“High fiber fruit can boost your morning smoothies' ability to aid in your weight loss efforts,” explains Best. “Fiber improves digestion by adding bulk to your stool and keeping your bowel movements regular.”
While most fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber to some extent, bananas are perhaps one of the best options to include in your smoothies to add density to your meal and adequately nourish your body. “Bananas are a high fiber fruit to add to your morning smoothie that will improve both the flavor and the nutrient quality,” says Best.
Not only are bananas packed with fiber to keep you full for longer, but they also have a variety of benefits even outside of weight loss. In particular, bananas have been shown to regulate blood sugar levels, strengthen the health of your heart, and even fuel your body with an array of antioxidants that can protect your body from illness.
While bananas are regarded as one of the best fruits to include in your smoothies for an additional healthy serving of carbs as well, really any high fiber fruit will do well in enhancing your digestion and allowing for increased ease of weight loss. Raspberries and strawberries are not only packed with fiber but also offer ample antioxidants which have been known to prevent free radical damage and even reduce your risk of disease.
Fiber also has the capacity to improve your gut health as well, with Best noting, “This nutrient acts as a prebiotic to feed the good gut bacteria and keep the gut healthy and in balance.”
The beauty of smoothies is they can be curated to include ingredients you love while simultaneously fueling your body with wide reaching benefits such as fiber content, antioxidants, and a mix of vitamins and minerals.
Adding banana to your smoothies will not only increase satiety and provide great texture to your meal, but it can also promote healthy weight loss and preserve the wellbeing of your body so you can feel and look your best while eating delicious foods.
