A Nutritionist"s Smoothie Science
'But it is just fruit with no sugar and no additives so it has to be good for me?' you may protest.
Well, not quite...
we're sorry to burst your fruity bubble...
Smoothies are a health craze.
They sell really well due to their rainbow colours and scrummy taste.
This is why juice bars seem to be popping up on every street corner - and we certainly celebrate the fact that children and teenagers are overcoming their phobia of fresh produce! These drinks are being hailed as THE invention of our time when it comes to healthy convenience food.
Manufactures are doing a pretty good job in telling us how good they are for us.
This might be because with attractive commodity comes booming trade and even the so-called 'innocent' smoothie corporations may not always have your best interests in mind.
Things are not always as they seem, and a word of caution should be spoken by your nutritionist at this stage...
First of all, let's get our facts right.
Fruits are very high in anti oxidants and other phyto-nutrients, some more than others.
But they also contain quite a bit sugar - fructose to be precise.
And just because this sugar comes from fruit does not make it angelic.
Fructose behaves in a similar way as regular sugar and too much of it will end up on your hips, bum and thighs.
Fruit sugar is absorbed very quickly and thrust into your blood stream.
You will get an energy spike swiftly followed by big slump with consequences like headaches, irritability and food cravings.
From this point of view it is not much different from scoffing a Mars bar.
Then there is the allure of your 5 a day, which actually should be closer to 10 (mainly vegetables).
When you have a look on the ingredients list on one of those drinks in question you will notice that the majority is banana.
It is quite high in potassium which is important but it is also high in sugar.
Then we may typically find 5 blueberries, 2 grapes, the juice of one apple and 3 raspberries.
In order to count as a portion of fruit is needs to be a least the size of a small apple or a handful of berries.
Now you may be fooled by clever advertising, into thinking that you are sipping the equivalent to a well-endowed fruit bowl, but actually it is much nearer to 1 portion.
Nevertheless, smoothies are certainly a convenient way of injecting a quick fix of nutrition into you when they are made correctly.
Not enough time for breakfast, a convenient snack, nourishment after the gym; these are all very good excuses to make yourself a healthy, balanced drink - minus the blood sugar turbulence...
As with any other meal, the word 'balance' should jump out at you in flashing lights and we revert back to our three golden rules of creating a healthy meal: Protein, complex carbohydrates and some sort of fruit or vegetable, preferably green.
Here's how to make a smoothie with a true health kick...
Get your blender or food processor out and start with the following: In smoothie terms, we shall start with a base of 2 tbsp of porridge oats, this will make up your complex carbohydrate portion.
Then we shall add some protein in the form of ground almonds or nut butters, 1 tbsp to your liking.
Then comes the essential ingredient of a smoothie - some fruit.
One handful of blueberries will provide a burst of anti oxidants, vitamins and phyto nutrients.
Two chunks of pineapple will provide you with some natural digestive enzymes and a touch of tropical taste.
Then the surprise ingredient: a handful spinach.
This might blemish your drink with a less than aesthetic colour but this won't reflect in the flavour and the consistency will be sensationally smooth.
Having incorporated some greens into your drink, you deserve to be smug as you glug! Last but not least we need to add some liquid.
You may use just plain water but rice, soy, oat or almond milk are delicious and add a little extra protein.
And there you have the perfectly balanced smoothie, which will make other innocent versions look like evil dribbles of the sugar monster...
Well, not quite...
we're sorry to burst your fruity bubble...
Smoothies are a health craze.
They sell really well due to their rainbow colours and scrummy taste.
This is why juice bars seem to be popping up on every street corner - and we certainly celebrate the fact that children and teenagers are overcoming their phobia of fresh produce! These drinks are being hailed as THE invention of our time when it comes to healthy convenience food.
Manufactures are doing a pretty good job in telling us how good they are for us.
This might be because with attractive commodity comes booming trade and even the so-called 'innocent' smoothie corporations may not always have your best interests in mind.
Things are not always as they seem, and a word of caution should be spoken by your nutritionist at this stage...
First of all, let's get our facts right.
Fruits are very high in anti oxidants and other phyto-nutrients, some more than others.
But they also contain quite a bit sugar - fructose to be precise.
And just because this sugar comes from fruit does not make it angelic.
Fructose behaves in a similar way as regular sugar and too much of it will end up on your hips, bum and thighs.
Fruit sugar is absorbed very quickly and thrust into your blood stream.
You will get an energy spike swiftly followed by big slump with consequences like headaches, irritability and food cravings.
From this point of view it is not much different from scoffing a Mars bar.
Then there is the allure of your 5 a day, which actually should be closer to 10 (mainly vegetables).
When you have a look on the ingredients list on one of those drinks in question you will notice that the majority is banana.
It is quite high in potassium which is important but it is also high in sugar.
Then we may typically find 5 blueberries, 2 grapes, the juice of one apple and 3 raspberries.
In order to count as a portion of fruit is needs to be a least the size of a small apple or a handful of berries.
Now you may be fooled by clever advertising, into thinking that you are sipping the equivalent to a well-endowed fruit bowl, but actually it is much nearer to 1 portion.
Nevertheless, smoothies are certainly a convenient way of injecting a quick fix of nutrition into you when they are made correctly.
Not enough time for breakfast, a convenient snack, nourishment after the gym; these are all very good excuses to make yourself a healthy, balanced drink - minus the blood sugar turbulence...
As with any other meal, the word 'balance' should jump out at you in flashing lights and we revert back to our three golden rules of creating a healthy meal: Protein, complex carbohydrates and some sort of fruit or vegetable, preferably green.
Here's how to make a smoothie with a true health kick...
Get your blender or food processor out and start with the following: In smoothie terms, we shall start with a base of 2 tbsp of porridge oats, this will make up your complex carbohydrate portion.
Then we shall add some protein in the form of ground almonds or nut butters, 1 tbsp to your liking.
Then comes the essential ingredient of a smoothie - some fruit.
One handful of blueberries will provide a burst of anti oxidants, vitamins and phyto nutrients.
Two chunks of pineapple will provide you with some natural digestive enzymes and a touch of tropical taste.
Then the surprise ingredient: a handful spinach.
This might blemish your drink with a less than aesthetic colour but this won't reflect in the flavour and the consistency will be sensationally smooth.
Having incorporated some greens into your drink, you deserve to be smug as you glug! Last but not least we need to add some liquid.
You may use just plain water but rice, soy, oat or almond milk are delicious and add a little extra protein.
And there you have the perfectly balanced smoothie, which will make other innocent versions look like evil dribbles of the sugar monster...