LightFull Foods: Satiety Smoothies

A serious (and healthy) weapon against the urge to snack

Of all the sample products I've received as About.com's Guide to Celiac Disease, the Satiety Smoothies from Lightfull Foods are among the few I've actually gone out to purchase after using up the supply that was sent to me for review consideration. Why do I like them? First, I'm always looking for ways to cut down on my snacking, and these drinks help. Second, they taste good. Third, they're healthy.

Satiety means "the state of feeling full and gratified to the point of satisfaction," the manufacturer's website explains. When they set out to develop their Satiety Smoothies, Lightfull Foods specifically intended to give consumers a drink that would create a sensation of fullness. Each 8.25 calorie bottle contains 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein in only 90 calories. The company predicts a single bottle will keep you feeling full for 2 to 3 hours.

The smoothies come in 5 flavors: mango, chocolate, peach, strawberry, and coffee. The drinks are high in calcium (each flavor contains at least 200 mg of calcium), with a low glycemic load and no artificial sweeteners.

The one drawback to these delicious and all-natural appetite-satisfying drinks is the price. They're sold in only one of my local stores, and this store is charging nearly $3 for a single bottle. (The price is almost the same for a single-serving bag of gluten-free pretzels... but that's another issue.) The smoothies can be ordered online for considerably less. Buying them on a subscription basis from Amazon (12 bottles of a single flavor at a time, on a schedule of your choosing) brings the price down to less than $2 per bottle. I wish Amazon would offer to ship an assortment of flavors by subscription.

The bottom line: I love these drinks, and I've been buying them when my cash flow allows. They're a serious (and healthy) weapon against my constant urge to snack.