Smoothie in a Package?

The other day I was at a store and I saw a rack with packets hanging on it. They were about twice the size of a Cool-Aid packet. As I glanced at them what was on it caught my eye. The packets said Smoothie on them. So I went over to check them out. Each one was a different flavor like "Orange Smoothie, Strawberry Smoothie or Banana Smoothie. I thought to myself "are you kidding me, a Smoothie in a packet?" I took the Orange Smoothie packet off the rack and under the main title it says "Just add Oranges, Water, and Ice. "Ha Ha" I actually did LOL and my wife wondered what I was laughing at. When I told her, she said exactly what I was thinking "Then what's in the packet?" So I turned it over and looked at the ingredients and the first one was Sugar, the second one was Corn Syrup, and there were about 4 more things but I don't remember what they were now but nothing good. So, in case you don't know, the way you make a Smoothie is by putting fruit, ice and water in a blender and blend away. You can also add some milk too for some more flavor. So basically if you get this Smoothie packet what you are doing is making a Smoothie then adding a packet of sugar to it. If you're going to go through the trouble of making a Smoothie why would you buy this pack of sugar to put in it. Smoothies are supposed to be a type of healthy drink with lots of vitamins and nutrients in them, but here you are putting sugar in it. Why? Fruits are naturally sweet anyway.

Then in the directions on the Orange Smoothie packet it says "you can also substitute Orange Juice for the Oranges and Water." Now what you have is a packet of sugar mixed with processed juice loaded with preservatives and other things. Sorry, but you have now gone out of the realm of a Smoothie and into the realm of a Smoothie Flavored Drink. The sad think is, I can see people unwittingly picking up some of these thinking "I'll have some healthy drinks." when in reality they are't that healthy after adding the packet.

If you're going to make a Smoothie please don't add this packet to it. If you're going to use the fruit, water and ice and blend it up just leave out the packet of sugar. If you want some more flavor try adding Almond Milk or you can always mix several different fruits and try mixing in some veggies too.

Have you ever found something disguised as being healthy?

Health Tip of the Week - Snack Time

Snacking between meals can be healthy but not if what we snack on is loaded with sugars, nitrates, sodium and other chemicals. Try switching out those chips and sweets for some easy to snack on fruits and veggies. Small fruits make great snacks. Most fruits are naturally sweet and are loaded with nutrients. Take grapes for example, there are several different kinds of grapes which also have different flavors. Grapes are loaded with polyphenols which fight free radicals in the body. Strawberries, Blueberries and Blackberries also make great snacks and have antioxidants as well and the darker the color the more they have. I like my berry snacks cold so when I get to work I put them in the fridge and by the time I get snacky, there's a nice cold sweet treat that's good for me. Celery and baby carrots make great veggie snacks that are easy to take along too.

I did a health tip video on my YouTube channel: Here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuwtPti4GQo

Some other great snacks can be apples, pears, bananas, plumbs, peaches, nectarines and oranges and many more. You can also cut up some cantaloupe, watermelon, honey dew, and things like that. I also like to make my own nut mix. I generally use some pecans, walnuts, almonds, and cashews. Then I throw in some dried cranberries to add a little sweetness to it.

Have you switched out any snacks for healthier ones? 

Let me know some of your favorites,