Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagold the nutrition diva here with your quick and dirty

tips for eating well and feeling fabulous and today I've got tips on how to make a

delicious healthy smoothie.

Smoothies are super popular with the healthy eating crowd and with the right ingredients,

smoothies can make a nutritious breakfast, snack, or a post-workout meal.

But if you're not careful, a smoothie can easily turn into a sugar-loaded calorie bomb.

So here's how to make a smoothie that's both good and good for you. First, you need some sort of

liquid or semi-liquid base. You can use milk or a non-dary alternative such as

soy milk, but if you use soy or another non-dary milk, be aware that even the plain unsweetened ones can have a lot of added sugar.

As I suggested in my show on non-dary milks, try to find a brand that has no more than 12 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving.

Even better, use plain yogurt as the basis of your smoothie.

Yogurt contains beneficial bacteria, which, as I explained in my article on frozen yogurt, are not at all harmed by being blended up with ice or with frozen fruit.

I don't recommend using fruit juice as the base for your smoothie, however, because it's so high in sugar.

And that's my biggest gripe with smoothies from Jamba juice and other juice bar chains.

They're usually made with a lot of fruit juice, and as a result,

they can be very high in sugar and calories.

Anyway, put about one cup of your base into the jar of your blender.

Next, you need some fruit.

Fruit adds some natural sweetness to your smoothie but also fiber and other nutrients.

And if you use frozen fruit, it will also make your smoothie thick and frosty, sort of like a milkshake.

Frozen bananas are great for this because they contain peectin, a sort of fiber that makes the smoothie extra creamy tasting.

Whenever you have bananas that are getting a little too ripe, toss them in the freezer and use them for smoothies.

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