26 Benefits of Smoothies: Are Smoothies Good For You?

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Smoothies are one of our favorite healthy habits! They’re easy to make and there are so many health benefits of smoothies.

Every smoothie offers at least some benefits, whether to your body, mind, or lifestyle. Certain ingredients offer different nutrients, vitamins, and health benefits.

Today, I’m going to share my comprehensive list of 26 amazing benefits of smoothies.

26 Benefits of Smoothies

My wife and I have been drinking smoothies almost every day for the last couple of years! We’ve seen so many benefits from drinking smoothies and we wanted to share the full list.

1. Lose weight

The key to losing weight is burning more calories through exercise and everyday activity than you consume in your food and drink. Low-calorie meal replacement smoothies can replace more calorie-dense meals, drinks, and snacks to reduce your daily calorie intake and help you lose weight. 

2. Feel full for longer

As well as helping you to lose weight by replacing high-calorie foods and drinks, smoothies can also help to keep you feeling full for longer, which means you eat less and don’t suffer from hunger pangs. You can make smoothies more filling by using higher calorie ingredients.

Our list of breakfast smoothies for weight loss are intentionally designed to help you kickstart your day!

3. Control cravings

Even when you’re not actually feeling hungry, it can sometimes be difficult to resist cravings for sugary snacks. Low sugar smoothies can replace snacks, satisfying the craving to eat something sweet while swapping unhealthy free sugars from chocolate and cookies for the healthier natural sugars found in fruit.

4. Prevent dehydration

Smoothies usually contain a base liquid such as water, milk, fruit juice, or coconut water, while their liquid content is also boosted by ingredients that contain water, such as cucumber. This makes smoothies a great option for getting fluids into the body and preventing dehydration.  

5. Get your daily dose of fiber 

As most smoothies contain lots of fruit and vegetables, they are usually an excellent source of fiber. Getting enough fiber will help to improve your digestion, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, strokes, and bowel cancer. Many of our green smoothies for weight loss are high in fiber!

Check out our list of high fiber smoothies for suggestions!

6. Improve your digestion

The fiber content of smoothies will help to improve your digestion, but there are lots of other ways that smoothies aid digestion too. You can even make colon cleansing smoothies if you really need some help getting things moving!

Probiotics found in ingredients such as yogurt and kefir will help to break down food in your gut, ingredients like mint and aloe vera juice help to relax the digestive muscles, while adding ginger to your smoothie will provide anti-inflammatories to soothe your digestive tract.

7. Repair and build muscle

Your body needs protein to repair and build muscle, especially following a hard workout. Fortunately, many common smoothie ingredients are excellent sources of protein. There are a bunch of ways to add protein to smoothies such as greek yogurt, milk, tofu, nut butters, chia seeds, and protein powder.

Be sure to check out our list of high protein smoothies!

8. Strengthen your bones

Calcium is an essential mineral that your body uses to strengthen your bones and reduce the risk of fractures and osteoporosis. Many popular smoothie ingredients contain calcium, including milk, greek yogurt, cheese, and tofu will all give your body a big calcium boost.

9. Protect your teeth

As well as strengthening your bones, calcium will also strengthen your tooth enamel, protecting your teeth and helping to prevent tooth decay.

10. Prevent cell damage

Many smoothie ingredients, such as berries and dark leafy greens, are high in antioxidants. Antioxidants help you prevent cell damage within your body by neutralizing free radicals and preventing damage caused by oxidation. Our list of whole30 smoothies are loaded with real foods that are highly nutritious! Many of these are loaded with antioxidants.

11. Balance your hormones

Smoothies can help to balance hormones by providing nutrients that support hormone production and regulation. Ingredients that help to balance hormones include:

• Ingredients that contain omega-3 fatty acids, such as chia seeds and flax seeds.
• Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and kale, which contain a beneficial compound called IC3.
• Pumpkin seeds and ingredients that contain zinc, which helps the bosy to produce and regulate hormones. 

12. Strengthen your immune system

As smoothies are usually packed full of different fruits and vegetables, they provide a wide variety of vitamins in a single drink. Vitamins that strengthen the immune system and are often found in smoothies include:

• Vitamin C from citrus fruits, berries and leafy green vegetables.
• Vitamin E from leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds, and avocado.
• Vitamin A from carrots, sweet potatoes and leafy green vegetables.

13. Sleep better

Drinking smoothies can help you to get a good night’s sleep. Ingredients such as cherries and bananas contain sleep-promoting compounds that will help to improve the quality of your sleep and make you feel more well-rested.

14. Clear your skin

The food you eat has a big impact on your skin, with vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids all helping to clear your skin and prevent skin problems. 

To clear your skin, try adding berries to your smoothie to boost your antioxidant intake, leafy greens and avocado to boost vitamins A, C, and E, and chia seeds to add some omega-3 fatty acids. We have a bunch of kale smoothies and spinach smoothie recipes you should try!

15. Try a liquid diet

Many people choose to follow a liquid diet in order to lose weight, detox the body and improve digestion. Smoothies count as a liquid because all of the solid ingredients are blended before they are consumed, which means smoothies can form a nutrient-packed basis for a healthy liquid diet.

16. Detox your body

Smoothies can help to detoxify the body by providing antioxidants and various nutrients that improve the function of the liver. Dark leafy greens like spinach and kale are high in chlorophyll, which removes toxins from the liver, while beets are high in betaine, which supports liver function and reduces inflammation. 

17. Think more clearly

Many popular smoothie ingredients contain nutrients that will help you to think more clearly and stay focused.

• Blueberries are high in flavonoids, which increase blood flow to the brain.
• Spinach is packed with folate, which supports brain function.
• Green tea contains caffeine and L-theanine, which increase alertness.
• Avocado is high in healthy fats and vitamin E, which supports brain function and reduces inflammation.

18. Prevent mood swings

Some of the best vitamins and minerals for preventing mood swings are:

• Magnesium and B vitamins, including vitamin B12, found in leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds.
• Vitamin D, found in fortified plant milks and mushrooms.
• Tryptophan, found in nuts and seeds, which is an amino acid that helps the body to produce serotonin.

19. Fight depression

While they are, of course, not a cure on their own, smoothies can help to battle depression by boosting serotonin levels through ingredients such as nuts and seeds, and reducing inflammation through ingredients that contain antioxidants.

20. Avoid carcinogens

Processed foods and drinks that are full of additives and artificial ingredients are a common source of potentially dangerous carcinogens. As smoothies are made from natural ingredients, they can provide a healthier alternative to these foods and drinks, helping you to reduce the number of carcinogens you consume. 

21. Prevent heart problems

Smoothie ingredients that can help to prevent heart problems by reducing inflammation, lowering cholesterol, and improving circulation include berries, leafy green vegetables, turmeric, ginger, oats, and flax seeds.

22. Control your blood sugar

As you will know if you suffer from diabetes, foods with a low GI (glycemic index) release sugar into the blood more slowly than high GI foods, which helps to avoid blood sugar spikes. 

Many of the most popular diabetic smoothies have a low GI, including greek yogurt, nuts and seeds, berries, leafy green vegetables, and avocado. Our roundup of paleo smoothies for weight loss are also low GI and will help control blood sugar spikes.

23. Replace less healthy drinks 

A lot of the drinks we consume aren’t particularly healthy. For example, soda contains too much sugar, while too much coffee can lead to consuming an excessive amount of caffeine.

If you choose the right ingredients, smoothies can replace these unhealthy drinks with a healthier alternative.

24. Enjoy the taste

We’ve talked a lot about the physical and mental health benefits of smoothies, but perhaps the biggest benefit is the most obvious and the main reason why most of us choose to drink them: smoothies taste great!

Plus, unlike most drinks, smoothies are available in an infinite variety of delicious flavors, which means you can keep experimenting with new recipes and discovering tasty new combinations.

25. Save time

Most meals that contain lots of different ingredients and a wide variety of nutrients take a long time to prepare. This can make them impractical, particularly for breakfast, as most of our daily routines don’t include lots of time to spend in the kitchen every morning. 

However, smoothies are different. Throw a few ingredients in a blender, add a little bit of liquid, press a button, and in just a few seconds, you’ll have a ready-to-drink meal in a cup! 

You can store smoothies in the fridge for later or you can even freeze smoothies for 2-3 months!

26. Save money

Making your own smoothie with ingredients bought in bulk can save you money in the long run. We have a whole list of cheap smoothies that will definitely save you money!

Smoothies are a less expensive alternative to other popular morning drinks and snacks, and they can be a great lunch option too. You can save a surprising amount of money by cutting out the trips to coffee shops and cafes and getting into the habit of preparing a smoothie at home every morning instead. 

Common Questions About The Benefits of Smoothies

In Conclusion: The Many Benefits of Smoothies

Smoothies can provide a massive list of benefits. It all just depends on what ingredients you use and what you’re trying to accomplish.

These benefits of smoothies can be broken down into four types:

• Physical benefits – Helping you to maintain a healthy weight and providing your body with much-needed fiber, protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and nutrients.   
• Mental benefits – From thinking more clearly to maintaining focus, preventing mood swings, and fighting depression. 
• Health benefits – Including controlling blood sugar, preventing heart problems, avoiding carcinogens, and replacing other less healthy snacks.
• Lifestyle benefits – You get to enjoy delicious smoothies in a huge variety of flavors, while saving time and money compared to making or purchasing other drinks and snacks.

That’s an amazing number of positives to get from just one beverage, so if you’re not already including smoothies in your diet, I recommend you check out some recipes and start enjoying the benefits of smoothies today!