How Many Calories are in Your Weight Loss Smoothie?

By WLR's Food Information Executive, Laurence Beeken

The total calories in a smoothie can range anywhere between 200 to 800, so it is important to choose the right ingredients.

Take a look at the calories in popular ingredients.

Many of the so called diet smoothies claim to contain most of your 5 a day, and some even suggest that they can help weight loss.  Premade smoothies are designed to be very palatable and this is what keeps us going back for more.

However, many of the low fat and low calorie smoothies available are not as good for your diet as you may think! Hidden in many are a number of ingredients in a smoothie that can undo all your good work in shifting the pounds.

How Can You Make a Low Calorie Diet Smoothie?

If you want to be sure that you are getting the most from the calories in your diet smoothie, then the best thing to do is make your own.  Weight Loss Resources has many low calorie smoothie recipes for you to try in the recipe database.  Make sure you add them to your food diary to see exactly which nutrients you are getting.

Diet Smoothie Calories – Fruit Information

One of the favourite smoothie ingredients is the banana, which can contains around 140 calories for a medium sized one, although as fruits go, it is one of the more calorie dense. Other popular (and lower calorie) fruit suitable for smoothies include:

Table 1: Nutritional Information for Popular Smoothie Ingredients - Fruit

Data per 100g edible portion	Calories	Carbs	Sugar	Protein	Fat
Kiwi	49.0	10.6	10.3	1.1	0.5
Mango	39.0	9.6	9.4	0.5	0.1
Grape	61.5	15.2	15.2	0.4	0.1
Grapefruit	21.0	4.8	4.8	0.6	0.1
Cherry	49.0	11.2	11.2	0.9	0.1
Pear	34.7	8.4	8.4	0.3	0.1
Pineapple	49.4	11.6	11.2	0.4	0.1
Apple	47.5	11.3	11.3	0.3	0.1
Blueberry	53.5	12.6	9.0	0.8	0.3
Orange	62.1	15.6	12.3	1.0	0.3
Peach	31.5	7.2	7.2	0.9	0.1
Raspberry	25.0	4.7	4.7	1.3	0.3
Papaya	26.1	6.6	4.0	0.4	0.1
Melon	15.0	3.4	3.4	0.4	0.1
Blackberry	29.5	6.0	6.0	0.8	0.3
Strawberry	27.8	6.0	6.0	0.8	0.1
Banana	95.0	20.9	1.2	1.2	0.3
Broccoli	29.6	2.0	1.7	3.6	0.1
Kale	33.0	1.4	1.3	3.4	1.6
Spinach	25.0	1.6	1.5	2.8	0.8
Lettuce	15.0	2.8	0.8	1.4	0.1
Peas	81.0	14.5	5.7	5.4	0.4

Weight Loss Resources' database contains the calories for many other fruit and vegetables, try it free for 24 hours

Diet Smoothie Calories – Liquid Information

Liquids naturally form the main part of the ingredients, but what you use can make a big difference:

Table 2: Nutritional Information for Popular Smoothie Ingredients - Liquids

Data per 100ml	Calories	Carbohydrate	Sugar	Protein	Fat
Apple Juice	46.5	11.2	11.0	0.1	0.0
Pineapple Juice	50.0	11.7	11.5	0.3	0.1
Cranberry Juice	55.7	13.4	0.1	0.1	0.1
Orange Juice	33.0	8.1	8.1	0.6	0.1
Skimmed milk	34.2	5.0	5.0	3.3	0.1
Whole milk	66.9	4.7	4.7	3.3	3.9
Soya milk	34.1	0.9	0.7	3.3	1.9
Ice or Water	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fruit Tea Infusion	2.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0

Weight Loss Smoothie Calories – Other Ingredients

Other popular ingredients that can be added to your smoothie include:

Table 3: Nutritional Information for Popular Smoothie Ingredients - Miscellaneous

Data per Dsp	Calories	Carbohydrate	Sugar	Protein	Fat
Vanilla Ice cream	20.1	2.4	2.1	0.4	1.1
Honey	31.2	7.8	7.8	0.0	0.0
Peanut Butter	62.3	1.3	0.7	2.3	5.4
Low Fat Natural Yoghurt	5.9	0.7	0.7	0.5	0.1
Protein Powder	39.9	0.5	0.5	7.6	0.8
Egg, Medium, Raw (each)	71.5	0.4	0.4	6.3	5.0

 

Tips to Make Your Smoothie Lower in Calories

If you have a favourite smoothie, you can try a few simple tweaks to bring the calories down:

• Substitute milk for water or fruit tea.
• Swap the fruit for lower calorie options.
• Substitute greens! One cup of spinach contains approximately 7 calories.
• Sweeten with artificial sweetener if you must (or go without) instead of syrups and save.
• Go for low fat options for ingredients where possible.