Smoothies and Fruit Juices. Yay or Nay?

CLH00

I was told by a dietician once to avoid fruit juices and smoothies because of the high sugar content, but lots of dieting advice recommends drinking smoothies for the vitamins etc. The advice the dietician gave me was to only eat fruit in it's full form because the fibre slows down the digestion of the natural sugars. However, lots of diets and detox's recommend having smoothies to up your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.

I'm confused!

jchecks

i say yay to smoothies and fruit juice! that is if you make them yourself. if you're going to the store and buying them...you definitely have to watch the sugar and all the 'added' stuff in there. but i love to make smooties for breakfast or after a great work out!

foxyforce

if you blend fruit...it is still in its original form in my opinion. the blender just does the chewing for you!

countjackula

I was told by a dietician once to avoid fruit juices and smoothies because of the high sugar content, but lots of dieting advice recommends drinking smoothies for the vitamins etc. The advice the dietician gave me was to only eat fruit in it's full form because the fibre slows down the digestion of the natural sugars. However, lots of diets and detox's recommend having smoothies to up your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.

I'm confused!

Fresh whole fruit is almost always going to be the better option.

Fruit juices (100% fruit juice ONLY with no added sugars, etc.) is better than nothing IF whole fruit isn't available.

Fruit smoothies should be avoided since they almost always contain artificial sweeteners (e.g., corn syrup, honey, sugar). I suppose if you absolutely cannot get whole fruit or whole fruit juices then having a fruit smoothie is better than, say, having a bar of chocolate but...

PokenStick

Fruit juice is bad mostly, however if you make your own smoothies using water and frozen/fresh fruit it's a nice treat. Still be cautious of the sugar though! You should really only have about two servings of fruit a day.

fitterpam

There is a higher sugar content and blending fruit does not keep it in its original form, there is some calorie burn from chewing and digesting bigger pieces of food, but I'm not sure how much.

I do juices every once in a while. The key to dealing with higher natural sugar foods is to pair them with protein and fibre. So if you combine fruit with organic greek yogurt and ground flax, you will be reducing the sugar spike that you get from it because protein levels out your blood sugar levels and fibre delays the way your body absorbs the sugar, again keeping the spikes down.

I think they're fine, but a few things. Focus more on jucing the veggies than the fruit. Fruit should be consumed in moderation because of the sugar levels - I try and eat only 1 for every 4 veggies that I eat (so if I have 8 veggies and 2 fruit or 3 veggies and 1 fruit for the day, it's balanced). Drink the juice immediately (within seconds of making it) - the nutrients start to break down, like in any other form of processing immediately after you process, so you won't gain as much if you don't drink it quickly. Try and only juice 1/3 of your daily fruit and veggie consumption.....whole products are still better for you.

Hope that helps. Typically my juices are 2 veggies and 1 fruit per person (Christmas morning I made an orange-cucumber-carrot juice for the breakfast table) and I only juice a few times a week. Smoothies I consider a dessert and load up with the greek yogurt (it has more protein in it than regular yogurt) and ground flax like I said before

skinnydreams

I start my day with a smoothie everyday! Using fresh banana, frozen unsweetened strawberries or blueberries or both! Some vanilla yogurt and a splash of freshly squeezed orange juice..............couldn't imagine my day starting any other way!

hpsnickers1

i say yay to smoothies and fruit juice! that is if you make them yourself. if you're going to the store and buying them...you definitely have to watch the sugar and all the 'added' stuff in there. but i love to make smooties for breakfast or after a great work out!

This what I thought. I don't drink fruit juice - would rather eat the fruit - but as long as your smoothies are made at home (berries are the lowest in sugar) and you know what is going into them then they are fine.