Top 10 strawberry smoothie recipes for weight loss

Many people like strawberries for their aroma and pleasant taste. In the season of its ripening, few people can resist this berry. You can use it to prepare a vast variety of desserts, pies, compotes. But not only that! What we want to focus on –  smoothies. That’s why we decided to make a selection of strawberry smoothie recipes for weight loss. However, the berry is valued not only for its unique taste.

The benefits for human health are countless. It contains many vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. It is necessary for those who watch their weight. This tasty fruit helps to care of the skin of the face and hands, hair. Don’t hurry to discard the leaves, though. They have been used for the preparation of various infusions and teas from ancient times. They also contain a large number of substances necessary for the proper functioning of the body.

The heart-shaped red berry contains an enormous supply of vitamins: A, B, C, and others. Your skin will become firm and elastic thanks to the antioxidants, and folic acid is indispensable for the normal functioning of the reproductive system.

Benefits of drinking strawberry smoothies for weight loss

The titular red fruit is like a blast of nutrients! Consuming frothy drinks with it will inevitably make you healthy and fit. Here’s what it contains:

• vitamins: A, B9, E, PP, C;
• minerals: magnesium, potassium, iodine, copper, manganese, calcium, iron, cobalt;
• fiber
• fruit acids (salicylic, amber, malic, ellagic and other).

There are 3 ways that the ellagic acid that is contained in strawberries encourages weight loss:

1. It acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. And this is important, because if you have an inflammation in your body – the hormones that are engaged in keeping you slim are blocked. And it’s crucial that we unblock them.
2. A hormone called adiponectin is responsible for your metabolism. It also helps to give you a feeling of fullness. And this useful hormone is released if you eat the little red fruits.
3. The combination of the two aforementioned points slow down the assimilation of food containing starch. And that’s beneficial because the blood sugar rises after eating such food.

It significantly contributes to the rapid healing of wounds and the renewal of cells and tissue. Being one of the most potent antioxidants, it helps to eliminate harmful substances and excess fluid from the body.

Also, the systematic use of berries in food at times reduces the risk of the emergence and development of cancer. The product activates the protective mechanisms of the human body, helps to cope with the effects of the environment and free radicals. It also slows down the aging process and the development of chronic diseases.

These guys have a beneficial effect on the heart. Also, the substances contained in it, support the normal functioning of the central nervous system, relieve sleep problems, fatigue, irritability, and anxiety. Among other things, strawberries have a positive effect on the work of the stomach and the entire gastrointestinal tract.

Fresh berries are preferred in making fruit beverages. It is essential to have time to eat the required amount of them in the ripening season. However, it’s a seasonal fruit and cannot be procured in the winter, when our need in vitamins is crucial. But don’t despair, you can always use frozen fruit to prepare yourself a glass of your favorite weight loss cocktail.

Top 10 strawberry smoothie recipes

Strawberry Diet Meal Plan

There are many diets to lose excess weight, and this strawberry diet is one of them. This is a particular way of rapidly shedding those extra pounds, and it’s not one of those meal plans where you have to starve yourself. You will feel full because of the fiber and light because of the low-calorie content at the same time. It doesn’t mean eating this fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You just add it to each meal, and it will promote weight loss.

This eating regime is even favorite among celebrities. It’s not a wide-spread fact, but Victoria Beckham herself used this diet to fit into her favorite skinny jeans. There’s an extreme version, and there’s the more mild one. The one that former Posh Spice followed was extreme. That means eating a helping of the mentioned fruit every day as much as you want. But we don’t have fashion shows and red carpets to attend, so we’ll just try a more natural way.

The trick is to add this fruit to every breakfast, lunch, and dinner a few days a week. Usually, it’s a smoothie (because it’s faster and more delicious than just a handful of these berries that you’ll grow tired of eventually). Here is a prototype of a daily meal plan that’s 1200 calories tops.

Option 1:

Breakfast: the Minty Red Jazz beverage that ranked #1 in our top smoothie list.

Snack: the Healthy Milkshake from our list.

Lunch: turkey salad (150 grams of the titular fruit, chopped cucumber, 1 piece of turkey breast, preferred herbs to taste, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper).

Snack: low-fat yogurt with 100 grams of the red berries.

Dinner: potato salad (boiled potato, finely-chopped celery, parsley, a clove of garlic, non-fat Greek yogurt, salt, pepper).

Option 2:

Breakfast: a slice of whole-wheat bread with low-fat cheese.

Snack: 200 grams of our titular berry with honey and other fruit (blueberries, kiwi, banana, etc.)

Lunch: salad (100 grams of strawberries, a small tomato, 1/2 of iceberg lettuce, 50 grams of low-fat cheese, yogurt, salt, pepper, lemon juice) Serve with a whole-wheat bread toast.

Snack: the Pineapple Pal cocktail from our list.

Dinner: a strawberry bowl with cottage cheese.

This is it for the meal diet plan. Feel full throughout the day and burn fat almost effortlessly!

Probiotic strawberry smoothies with water kefir

What are probiotics, what are their benefits for the intestines and why are they used? Of course, to colonize the intestines with healthy microflora, vital for our health and well-being, it is for this that we take drugs with lacto and bifidobacteria. Once in the sick, clogged intestines, which is full of slags, toxins, rotting food debris, feces and other awful things, living and healthy bacteria are attacked by multiplying pathogenic flora, and die very quickly; the person is drinking probiotic drugs again, and again all efforts come to naught.

You can take probiotic preparations for months and even years, but nothing will change – at least for the better, if you do not clear the intestines and prepare a fertile ground for the reproduction and development of healthy intestinal bacteria.

Probiotics are prescribed not only for the treatment of dysbacteriosis and restoration of the intestinal flora: since our immune system depends on them, they are prescribed for allergic diseases, a tendency to SARS and colds, with frequent stresses, pharyngitis, sinusitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, helminthiasis, intolerance to dairy products, diseases of the genitourinary system, inflammatory diseases of the vagina – including those caused by a bacterial infection, etc.

The benefits of probiotic preparations are undoubtedly for such problems as:

• diarrhea, persistent constipation, irritable bowel syndrome;
• with various intestinal infections and chronic gastrointestinal diseases:
• colitis, enteritis, peptic ulcer, gastritis, etc.

One of the famous drinks that contain probiotics is water kefir. A beverage prepared with Japanese water crystals. You can learn all about it in our article. The main idea of using this special liquid is that it helps lose excess water weight and its favorable effect on the intestines. And what’s good for the gut is good for the entire body.

Just imagine what it can do in combination with our titular ingredient! It’s recommended making water kefir with different fruit juices to feed the good bacteria, but we want to focus on frothy cocktails and shakes in particular.

Conclusion: consume moderately

Among the aforementioned benefits, it also improves eyesight. Especially for those who see poorly in the dark. It also prevents the development of cataracts, blindness, and other eye diseases.

Thanks to salicylic acid, the strawberry has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties. Also during a cold, it helps to reduce the temperature and speed up the healing process.

And lastly, it’s a must for those who watch their figure or want to lose weight. It activates metabolic processes, fills the body up with vitamins and has only 36 kcal per 100 grams. Also, it prevents the formation of new fat and helps to burn the existing one. However, it should not be consumed too much, because in some cases it can be harmful. One could be allergic or have issues with stomach acidity. So be sure to okay it with your doctor before gorging yourself with these delicious little berries.

Sources and references:

1. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2004;44(1):1-17. “Potential impact of strawberries on human health: a review of the science.” Hannum SM. Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, USA.
2. Int J Mol Sci. 2008 Mar;9(3):327-41. Epub 2008 Mar 12. “Dietary berries and ellagic acid prevent oxidative DNA damage and modulate expression of DNA repair genes.” Aiyer HS, Vadhanam MV, Stoyanova R, Caprio GD, Clapper ML, Gupta RC. James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, KY 40202, USA.
3. J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Nov 5;51(23):6887-92.”Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of strawberries.” Meyers KJ, Watkins CB, Pritts MP, Liu RH. Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-7201, USA.
4. Full Text: “Diet and Inflammation” Leo Galland, MD, Nutr Clin Pract December 7, 2010 vol. 25 no. 6 634-640 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Galland