Keep the Doughnuts at Bay on National Doughnut Day

I don't know about you, but every time I pass a Dunkin' Donuts and catch the enticing aroma spilling out the door from the sweet treats, I want to stop and splurge. It's pathetic actually because I justify my latest workout as allowing me clearance to fill my stomach with doughnuts. I know it's awful and that I'll pay the price both in empty calories, still being hungry and needing to eat more later, but those doughnut scents are almost too much for my nose. And on National Doughnut Day, which happens to be tomorrow, the temptation is even more alluring since Dunkin' Donuts is giving away free doughnuts with a beverage purchase and Krispy Kreme is also serving up the treats for free.

But I keep remembering a little tidbit Liz told me last week after we finished up a run along the Lakefront: Doughnuts are zero-calorie foods. Not that they don't count on the calorie intake, but that they offer nothing nutritionally to benefit you or an empty stomach. So much for filling up on sweet dough--I'm just as healthy noshing on nothing or maybe even a stick of margarine. Doughnuts, laden with refined flour, sugars, saturated fat, are one of the worst processed foods out there according to an article that ran in the San Diego Union-Tribune and a nutritionist's nightmare.

Now while I may not be celebrating National Doughnut Day in the proper fashion, I found another treat to feed my sweet tooth. And a healthier, more nutritional one at that. Jamba Juice just introduced a new smoothie to its line-up, perfect for summer and paying homage to one of my all-time favorite fruits, the blackberry. Meet the Blackberry Bliss: a concoction of blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberry sherbet, plain sorbet and apple/strawberry juice. Some might argue that it's just as sugary as a doughnut, but at least there's fruit involved, and it'll fill you up for more than a few minutes. Yum. And the good news is that you can save a dollar each time you purchase the smoothie by checking out the word of the day at summerblissisback.com and saying that word when you order a Bliss smoothie at your local Jamba Juice. Stay tuned for more exciting happenings at Jamba's summer site, which promises to "make summer more blissful." Photo grabbed from raspberrii at Flickr. Posted by Kate

Note: I'm not bashing all doughnuts; I've read about a company called Holey Donuts that offers healthier options. Check out a review of them here.