Health diet: smoothies..are they bad for you?

I love my smoothies, have about three a week and they might be high in fruit sugar but I don’t smoke or drink alcohol so I think I might get away with that. ?
I also use a protein powder, vanilla ice cream flavour makes it delicious…?

I'll need one as big as a bucket at this rate!

Smoothies were mentioned on my diabetes prevention course. Fruit smoothies break down the fibre and release the natural sugars of the fruit so that the sugars in them are absorbed almost immediately into the blood stream and sugar =sugar, so getting all that sugar into you allat once is not good, same with juice, when I was younger fruit juice was drunk in small amounts and not often. Non starchy veg in smoothies - ok, quite a wake up call that seemingly healthy drinks are actually not that good for you in uantity and often. Lookat how smoothie manufactures boast about how many items of fruit there are in a bottle of their smoothie. I learned that of your 5 a day 3 should be veg, portions the size of a couple of handfuls, only 2 of fruit, of which the portion size should be only one handful. So getting a large amount of liuidised fruit in one is actually really bad for your health as it is like eating the euivalent amount of a sugary drink, albe it with some fibre and vitamins and minerals included
I was gutted to learn abuot juice and smoothies but my blook sugar levels have gone down to non dangerous levels a voiding them [and obviously other stuff]
This is all NHS guidance based, the courses are ru on behalf of the NHs
Smoothies with yoghurt in better as they contain protein which helps slow down the absorption of sugar, if the fruit is just a flavouring for vegetable juice
As for don't teeth break the fruits down, well yes but to a lesser extent. But how long would it take to chew all that fruit to a liquid consistency, like a blender does, with blades. We'd be like Mr Gladstone who said "I have made it a rule to give every tooth of mine a chance, and when I eat, to chew every bite thirty-two times. To this rule I owe much of my success in life."
How long would that take compared to how long it takes to drink a glass of a smoothie or juice
And Marketing - contains no added sugar, well true but it doesn't need added sugar with all that sugar already there

So, it's a bit like drinking an energy drink, in effect?
A huge sugar rush?

Eating fresh raw fruit and vegetables depends on the state of your teeth. I received no dental examinations or treatment as a child, my Mother had all her teeth removed as a 21st birthday gift (yes!) and she fully expected that to be my future.
I only started dental care when I started secondary school, so the few teeth i have left are fragile.
There must be many 80+ year olds in the same state.
All my fruit is cooked or whizzed.

I've been using a Nutri Bullet to make "health" drinks for a number of years .I dont put a lot of fruit in them my favourites are celery ,spinach and banana sometimes with applejuice instaed of water and whole peeled oranges with carrot ,ginger and turmeric ,diluted with water if needed.
I buy ginger paste and large bags of turmeric from Amazon and do feel I have more energy from the daily drink .

Ah, I was wondering what veggies could be used.
That sounds good.

I do put in broccoli, celery and carrot a lot of the time. You don’t taste it at all. And I’ve got a peanut flavour boost and a salted caramel one. They are yummy.

I have a Nutribullet too and have a daily smoothie most days. I steer clear of fruit juices except for a few strawberries or blueberries if I have them and load up on (mainly green) veggies. I use almond or coconut milk, sometimes natural yoghurt, and chuck in a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil or olive oil or a nut butter. Sometimes I throw in a raw egg too (can't taste it and it ups the protein and nutrient level). All depends on what I have in the fridge really. It's all about keeping the sugar out and loading up the protein and fat to stop a sugar rush.

The problem with juices is the sugar rush - even many vegs (like carrots) are high in sugar. A sugar rush means a huge insulin response, which is eventually the cause of insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver. Even a smoothie made with fruit isn't good - it unlocks the sweet juice from the fibre and makes it instantly available in the bloodstream. It's marginally better than a juice only because it does include dietary fibre.

If you pack your smoothie full of things like green leaves (for fibre and nutrients), low sugar veggies and some good oils, it not only reduces the amount of sugar in the smoothie (because less fruit) but slows down the absorption of the sugar into the blood stream, causing a lower but longer insulin response.

i got bowel cancer 4 years ago, surgeon asked me about my diet, i had severe depression and panic attacks (these turned out to be epilepsy) i ate the same thing every day 2 rolls with cold meat, lettuce and tomato twice a day with a glass of milk, now and again i would have a banana, bag of crisps or some chicken, this had been my diet for over a year, he sat there and looked at me and said, your tumor has been caused by all the processed meat, i don't know if this is true but he is a doctor and i am supposed to take his word for it, you get all these experts saying don't eat this eat more of that, i am 59 so by now i should know what is healthy for me, i take all these experts with a pinch of salt and try and do what is right for me. as a ps, my father has smoked canabis every day for 40 years, i have never tried it but i do know that i need extra painkiller when i visit once a year as it gives a massive sore head...lol

The podcaster said to avoid processed meat. And, if eating chicken buy organic. Again something that has been well publicised. Then again I listened to another podcast that said you can balance bad food with good so I would have thought that having lettuce and tomato would balance it out. And both podcasts agreed that you can’t be too strict with recommendations because people can’t and won’t stick to them. It sounds as though I listen to podcasts all the time. I probably do since the tv in the kitchen broke.

I like to keep it simple I dont add milk/yoghourt or oils to mine its just mainly veg with one fruit to sweeten it and water to thin it.You'll get loads of recipes online .

I have a simple mantra for eating. Eat well, not too much, most of it plants and its corollary (in American English) ^ If it is made from a plant eat it, if it is made in a plant, don't^

When it comes to whether it should be organic or not, that for me is an environmental and animal welfare issue, not a food issue. As far as possible all the meat and dairy products I eat are organic. For beef it is meat raised to higher Pasture for Life standards, which means that meat raised this way is environmentally neutral or close to, and the same with lamb.

After that I really do not give a toss for any other dietery advice.

* He was also very anti-dairy, even eggs*

When did eggs become dairy?

M0nica

There is no such thing as bad food, just bad diets. if you only consume vegetables in a smoothie, probably a no no, do it once a week and it doesn't matter a toss.

Repeat. There is no such thing as a bad food, just a bad diet.

Are you talking about basic foods or processed foods? There are definitely bad foods! It has been proved that processed foods seriously affect brain function and are best avoided as much as possible.

And barbecued food.

nexus63

I don't know if it was correct to state that categorically. Processed meats aren't good for you so it could be correct, but I'm wondering if any genetic testing was carried out on the tumour?
Some bowel cancers have a hereditary factor.

I hope you're well now.

I think it’s awful of a consultant to tell someone they’d caused their cancer by eating a certain sandwich each day. Most illnesses are caused by a series of contributing factors. Bedside manner at it’s worse imo.

I had a smoothie once. It had me running to the loo in minutes. Terrible memory. Never again.

But that's just me.

Chestnut processed foods eaten in moderation or as an occasional treat will do you no harm at all. A diet entirely of process foods will be bad for your health. The same could be said of diet high in meat, dairy products, even fruit or vegetables.

I repeat, there is no such thing as bad foods, just bad diets.

I do have to be careful when I have a smoothie. . Then again, if I go anywhere I have to adjust my diet accordingly for about a week beforehand!

Dear me MOnica you are so darn sensible there’s very little on most threads that I can find to disagree with you about. Have just seen this thread and I believe you are right……..again!

Farzanah, sorry!

M0nica

Chestnut processed foods eaten in moderation or as an occasional treat will do you no harm at all. A diet entirely of process foods will be bad for your health. The same could be said of diet high in meat, dairy products, even fruit or vegetables.

I repeat, there is no such thing as bad foods, just bad diets.

Well anything can be eaten as an occasional treat and it will do no harm. But ultra processed foods are definitely 'bad foods' and should be kept to a minimum. Dr Chris Van Tulleken conducted an experiment which showed they are highly addictive and actually alter the brain. This was shown in a BBC documentary called What are we feeding our kids?

More details here:
Dr Chris van Tulleken and ultraprocessed foods