Sip or Skip: McDonalds Fruit Smoothies

I was pressed for time this morning, rushing to get off to a doctor’s appointment after letting myself sleep in for a few minutes, so I wasn’t able to make myself a nice blended drink at home like I had anticipated the night before. When I left my doctors office, the first place I saw was, of course, McDonalds. They are everywhere. I had recently seen their commercials for their new fruit smoothies, and I thought that would be perfect for breakfast. So I swung through and grabbed a small, 12 oz. cup for $2.79 of the strawberry/banana smoothie. My first impression on the taste: YUM! I thought it was delicious, so good in fact I had to immediately check out if this drink truly was healthy. My taste buds enjoy foods that are not good for me: junk food, fast food, etc. so I thought there could be no way I was actually drinking something healthy. Turns out, I was sort of right. The McDonalds fruit smoothies are not quite as healthy as the ones I can make for myself at home, mainly because of the sugar content. The smoothie consists of a banana/strawberry puree blend, low-fat yogurt, and ice. Both the fruit blend and yogurt contain sugar, 44 grams total.  The total calories for the drink were 210, but you do get about 70% of your daily value of Vitamin C from the drink. So it may be better to stick with the real fruit smoothies I make home, with my fresh strawberries, banana, and yogurt, without all that added sugar to it. The McDonalds version could be a good choice on some occasions, but probably best to stick to my at home blend!