Hacking Sweet Smoothies with Whole Sugars
Hi Byte Wellness Fam!
Glad to see you’re hanging in there…
This week, we talked more about whole food sugars… you know, the sugars naturally found in fruit that don’t spike your blood sugar like free and added sugars? Specifically, we broke down which whole food sugars could work to make a smoothie taste better... and why.
Listen. Replacing free and added sugars with whole sugars in your smoothie is a health hack for at least 3 reasons:
1) Smoothies are an excellent way to sneak extra servings of veggies into your day without losing out on the fiber that disappears with juicing! If a little bit of sweetness helps the spinach go down…why not add some whole sugars (fruit)?
2) Adding whole sugars (fruit) to a smoothie reframes the notion that “healthy eating” means REMOVING delicious ingredients. Adding fruit means adding more fiber, more healing phytonutrients, more antioxidants, more anti-inflammatory potential…and more sweet flavor.
3) Smoothies that are sweetened with whole sugars (fruits) rather than free sugars (juice) or added sugars (syrups/sugar) are blood sugar heroes! By avoiding blood sugar spikes, we’re directly lowering the risk of weight gain and type 2 diabetes!
Check out food blogger Sweet Potato Soul’s 3 vegan smoothie recipes that don’t use free or added sugars. These are mouth-watering!
Make sure to watch the recording of our weekly #ByteWellnessWednesday call (above) where we break down all your questions about free/added sugars vs. whole sugars.
And don’t forget to take a moment with these discussion questions.
This Week’s Discussion Question
If you are someone who sweetens tea and coffee (and smoothies)- where did you learn that habit?
If not- where did you learn not to sweeten?
This part is really important. When we look at the habits that affect our health, we’ve got to break down their origin. If we decide to undo these habits, we have to go all the way back to the source. Do I choose very sweet foods and drinks because that’s what I grew up eating, and I grew to enjoy them? Do I drink sweet drinks because I’m stressed or sad? Do I eat sweets to stay awake while I’m on night shift?
Text or email me to let me know how you answered this question.
Happy Healthy Living,
Dr. Wuse