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So, I don’t like smoothies, really. The reasons why I’m not a fan of fruit smoothies are pretty obvious (it’s a lot like a juice cleanse…), but I thought I’d dive into keto smoothies as well, because I see a lot of people posting about their keto smoothie habit, and while I’m sure it works well for some people – it’s not for everyone!
1.) Chewing is actually pretty important.
Smoothies aren’t really a chewing food, and there actually are things about chewing that are pretty important! Chewing signals your body that food is on the way, and promotes the production of stomach acid, so food can be properly digested! Additionally, saliva contains a digestive enzyme called salivary lipase, which starts to break down fat for digestion in your mouth. Chewing, and utilizing salivary lipase eases the burden on your pancreas!
2.) Smoothies are full of water!
Uh, isn’t drinking water a good thing? Yeah, yeah, it still is. Calm down. The thing is, you shouldn’t be chugging water with your meals. Taking small sips to help swallow (after chewing well!) is fine, but when you drink too much liquid, the acid in your stomach is diluted. Stomach acid is key for triggering all the digestive processes that happen down the chain. Further, diluting stomach acid just means your body has to work harder to make more, which can cause problems down the line.
3.) Smoothies don’t teach satiation
Another benefit to chewing our food is that it’s kind of time-consuming, and forces you to know when we’re full. Smoothies kind of bypass this aspect of eating. We tend to just chug the whole thing, without really taking note of whether or not we’re hungry. Not great. Studies have demonstrated that our brains don’t register calories we drink in the same way as those that we eat, and that people tend to over-consume liquid calories.
But really, smoothies aren’t all bad!
If smoothies are the only way you can get your greens, or protein in – then go for it! There are way worse things for your health out there, and fear-mongering about little things like smoothies is not what I’m going for at all! I just want to bring some things to light in hopes that people make healthier smoothie decisions!
Later, we’ll look at ways to upgrade your smoothies for optimum healthiness and yumminess! 🙂
