Summer Smoothies

5 tummy-slimming summer drinks
By Tanya Zuckerbrot
Published July 22, 2014 FoxNews.com

Many sugary summer drinks can load you down with excess calories. Not these: Smoothies can really pack on the calories, especially those sweetened with sugary ingredients like fruit syrups or some cases even ice cream! For a super-cool and refreshing summer drink that's delicious, nutritious and easy on your waistline, treat yourself to a watermelon smoothie. Watermelon is 91 percent water, making it low in calories and one of nature's most perfect hydrators. Plus, naturally sweet watermelon is packed with nutrients including the cancer fighting antioxidant, lycopene. Tanya's tip: For a quick and tasty watermelon smoothie simply blend a 'cup' of chopped watermelon with skim milk, almond milk or soymilk and some ice cubes.

Pineapple-Coconut Frappe
Pineapple is a sweet tropical fruit that contains the enzyme bromelain, which helps digestion and rids bloating. This tangy, belly-flattening fruit whips up into a cold and frothy frappe when blended with some lite coconut milk, low fat milk and ice cubes.

Dark Chocolate Shake
Dark chocolate is more than healthy, it's also great for appetite control. Even a little dark chocolate containing at least 70 percent cocoa will help calm a sweet craving, and the steric acid in dark chocolate is known to helps slow digestion so it helps you feel fuller longer. For a creamy mocha smoothie toss in a blender a few squares of unsweetened dark chocolate with fat-free plain Greek yogurt, some brewed coffee, crushed high-fiber cracker crumbs, cinnamon, and some ice.

Iced Peppermint Tea
Iced tea is a great thirst quencher. Adding mint not only adds natural coolness to your brew, peppermint also helps your body digest food more quickly, resulting in less bloating. It's easy to make a pitcher of mint tea: start with peppermint tea bags, add ice, and then garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Flavored Water
Though plain water is the perfect thirst quencher, admittedly it can be a bit boring. The good news is that there are all kinds of ways to infuse water with refreshing flavor without adding lots of calories or ingredients that can leave you bloated. Cucumbers for example are a natural diuretic, which eases bloating. Fresh berries not only lend tangy sweetness to water, berries are also packed with belly-filling fiber that promotes healthy digestion and help keep hunger at bay.

For delicious high fiber meal plans, recipes and tips on healthy eating, drinking and losing weight, check out my latest book, The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories and Fat Disappear - with Fiber! Tanya Zuckerbrot MS, RD , is a registered dietitian in New York City and the author of two bestselling diet books: The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories and Fat Disappear - with fiber and The F-Factor Diet . Follow Tanya on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn , and subscribe to her free weekly weight loss newsletter.