Making a healthy smoothie for dinner – easy and nutritious!

Smoothies in general are considered as a break-fast option or even maybe lunch. We don’t consider smoothie as something we have at dinner.

Even myself- am a morning smoothie fan, but  I have often seen and observed among my clients that smoothies make for a an easy and effortless dinner option too (of course keeping the nutrients in balance). However, there are a few considerations to make your dinnertime smoothie to support your wellness and health goals.

 

Here are a few things that you can keep in mind while making a smoothie for dinner.

1. Keep the sugar low – High sugary foods acts like like stimulants . Adding juices, extra sugar etc at specially dinnertime will cause a huge spike in blood sugar levels and will lead to an equally big crash. Just to stabilise the sugar levels body needs to pump more cortisol ( stress hormone), this inhibits secretion of your sleep hormone melatonin causing a disturbed / interrupted sleep or even wakefulness. Stick to low GI fruits only-strawberries, raspberries, blackberries etc especially at dinner time.
2. Avoid adding stimulants – Coffee, tea, matcha, cacao etc are great additions during breakfast or lunch smoothies. However, at dinner it is best to avoid them as they inhibit the secretion of  melatonin. This hormone is essential for us to get a good nights sleep. Poor night’s sleep is very closely linked to increase in hunger and obesity.
3.  Get your protein – A smoothie is not complete if there is no adequate amounts of protein. I aim for 20 grams of complete protein ( through my protein powder). Getting enough protein is essential for maintaining a stable sugar level, reduce hunger pangs and support muscle mass growth. Greek yogurt, protein powder( unsweetened), greek yogurt, kefir etc make for a good option.
4. Don’t go too heavy on the fats – This is essential speically at dinnertime. Too much fat at dinner can cause the digestion to slow down. Anyways our digestive system slows down in the evening ,overloading it with fats will slow down further. However, do not skip the fat completely- as good fats stabilise sugar levels and prevent cravings.
5. Check out this recipe here to get an idea for a nighttime smoothie –

 

Kefir strawberry smoothie

ingredients

1/2 cup unsweetened Kefir

6-8 oz of water

1.5 tbsp of almond butter

1/2 cup strawberry

2 scoops protein powder( vanilla flavour preferably- I use Nuzest)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Blend and enjoy!

 

PS-  You can always sub kefir with a cup of almond or coconut milk ( unsweetened and add water to adjust the kind of consistency you like.) To make it probiotic rich , add a probiotic supplement. I do use Synbiotic 15 – it is a perfect blend of pre and probiotics to aid better digestion and overall help the gut microbiota.  Super Synbiotic is currently giving 15 % discount on your first order with the code SWATI15 here  – https://supersynbiotics.sg/product/synbiotic15/

 

Enjoy your dinnertime smoothies keeping these basic  and simple rules in mind.I did use kefir as a base for this recipe.Kefir is a great source of probiotic and has qualities that can aid better digestion, sleep ( as it secretes tryptophan- making serotonin). Experiment with your smoothie keeping the protein + fat + fibre and low sugar specially for a dinnertime smoothie!

 

Stay healthy,

Swati

 

Ref

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3632337/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8502778/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7655491/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7581511/