For those making their own smoothies: I use kefir as a base. It is thicker, has very little, easily overpowered taste, has the kinds and amounts of probiotics that yogurt claims but often fails to deliver, and is easier to digest than milk. I normally add a banana, protein powder, and sometimes berries (which are lower on calories than an equivalent amount of fruit). Delicious, and aside from the protein powder, these are all things I would consume as individual items.
Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
21–30 of 78 posts
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
> jello to our American cousins I think you mean jelly.
People use the word jam in the states. I first saw the word used at Denny's.
Jam, jelly and jello are 3 distinct things to Americans. Jello is a brand, its just flavored gelatin and comes in a box as a powder, sometimes people add fruit chunks. Jelly is a gel made from fruit juice and fruit pectin but contains no fruit solids. Jam is similar to jelly but contains some solids.
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#23The problem is not fruit juices, smoothies or sugar. The problem is that if you drink calories in addition to meals, you get too much calories and you will fatten. I've been drinking fruits, fruit juices and smoothies instead of most other carbs for a year now and I feel great without being fat. It's just about calories.
Calories and fat have been the go-to for mainstream publications as the cause of obesity. But I'd highly recommend watching this talk about high-fructose corn syrup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
It makes a great argument that high-fructose corn syrup might be single handily the cause of the explosion in obesity in the USA in the last two decades.
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#24Fruits contain fibers that are beneficial for your digestive system and control the spike of sugar level in you body. If you put them in a blender, you destroy much of the fibers and one of the major benefit of eating fruit.
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#25It's often quite surprising to read the ingredient list on these smoothies. They consist largely of apple juice concentrate, and rather small amounts of the fruits advertised on the front.
This is what I would like to know more about. Other day I picked up a 32oz smoothie, which said this is equivalent to 40 strawberries, 1 banana and 6 apples. How is that possible in only $5? Do they get fruits so cheap to make up for other costs? And true enough, there was strawberry puree, banana puree but apple juice concentrate and apple puree in it.
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#26DO NOT DRINK FRUIT JUICES / SMOOTHIES without a straw. The acidity from the fruit will demineralize and erode your teeth.
Here's what happened to my two front teeth. http://min.us/lbzsDfIjfJqxOz
Luckily my two front teeth are large enough to sand and grind past the damaged bottom portions and look normal again. It happened in just 2 weeks of drinking fruit juices twice a day.
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#27The problem is not fruit juices, smoothies or sugar. The problem is that if you drink calories in addition to meals, you get too much calories and you will fatten. I've been drinking fruits, fruit juices and smoothies instead of most other carbs for a year now and I feel great without being fat. It's just about calories.
"feeling great" != healthy; "not fat" != healthy
A calorie isn't a calorie. The impact that 100 calories of vodka has on your body vs, say, 100 calories of Kale is significant. The body uses different strategies to break down different types of molecules. There can be toxins. There can be impact on the gut flora. Not to mention the impact that these all have on the feeling of "fullness" (which the article mentions).
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#28Fruits contain fibers that are beneficial for your digestive system and control the spike of sugar level in you body. If you put them in a blender, you destroy much of the fibers and one of the major benefit of eating fruit.
Or worse, removing the fiber during the juicing process.
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#29Diabetes too. That's a huge problem in the US. And many people who are diabetic are not excessively over-weight. Those who are not diabetic, are pre-diabetic. "Over 25 million people in the US have diabetes, and close to 80 million are pre-diabetic." - From American Diabetes Association IMO, this problem is way larger than the former cigarette health problem as more people consume sugary drinks and foods than smoked…
Indeed, the scale of the issue extends to the very young. The worst cases of smoking-related cancer are the result of starting smoking at a very young age, not unlike how obesity and type 1 diabetes are especially destructive when encountered at very young ages.
Re: Smoothies and fruit juices are a new risk to health
#30The problem is not fruit juices, smoothies or sugar. The problem is that if you drink calories in addition to meals, you get too much calories and you will fatten. I've been drinking fruits, fruit juices and smoothies instead of most other carbs for a year now and I feel great without being fat. It's just about calories.
You are grossly oversimplifying a complicated process of digesting food and its interaction with the overal metabolism of the body. Yes, calories play a factor, but also in what form you ingest them. Then there's genetic factors, gut bacteria, physical exercise and probably a whole slew of other things that interact with each other.