On a hot day I’m usually ready for a nice cold treat by the time the afternoon rolls around. A frozen fruit smoothie made from plenty of berries and banana and a little yogurt and skim milk fits that bill perfectly. Not only does it taste delicious, it’s actually quite healthy. Let’s take a look at what makes this beverage so healthy.

Ingredient #1 – Frozen Fruit: You already know that you need to eat plenty of fruit. It is full of fiber and of course vitamins. It’s also beneficial to use frozen instead of fresh fruit. By using frozen fruit, you make sure you get produce that still has the maximum amount of nutrition in it. Frozen fruits and vegetables are often better for you than their fresh counterparts since they are often several days old before you take them home. Remember it takes time to pick it, process it and ship it to your grocery store. And it looses important nutrients, including vitamins, during that period. Using frozen fruit in your smoothie makes it even healthier.

Milk and Yogurt – Next we’ll take a closer look at the dairy ingredients for our frozen fruit smoothies. They are low-fat yogurt and skim milk. Both of them have quite a bit of calcium that our bones need. As women we particularly benefit from this important mineral. As we get older our bones are depleted of calcium and we have to replenish it or risk osteoporosis as we get older. For the same reason, smoothies are also healthy for kids. Their bones are still growing and need lots of calcium to grow strong.

Both yogurt and milk also contain protein which plays an important factor in muscle building and maintenance. It is particularly important to get lots of of protein when you are trying to lose weight or most of your weight loss will be in muscle instead of body fat.

Let’s Talk Hydration – Since smoothies have quite a bit of liquid in them from the milk and all the juice in the fruits, they are a great way to hydrate. Without plenty of water our bodies can not function and during a hot summer day we tend to lose even more than usual of the precious liquid. Smoothies are a great way to help us stay hydrated – of course you should still make sure you drink plenty of plain water as well.

Because these smoothies are frozen, they also help us cool down when we drink them. It’s just one of the many benefits of drinking a frozen fruit smoothie. By far my favorite though is the fact that they taste absolutely delicious and help fill me up with just a few calories. All this makes it the perfect summer treat.

Create the best fruit smoothie with this strawberry smoothie recipe. It’s fun and easy and you can find more tips for making frozen fruit smoothie here.