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

I’ve found the podcast. It just popped up again after I listened to something else. It’s Nutrition and cancer. Do’s and Don’ts. University of California Television Donald Abrams MD. It’s on utube. The reason I listened to it the other night was that so much of what he said was the same as the advice given by Tim Spector and although it was specifically aimed at cancer prevention it was also about how diet affects our health in general.

My dentist said smoothies are really bad for your teeth.
Too much sugar and acids all in one go.

Smoothies are processed food.
Even babies wean on finger foods now.

I make a Nutribullit smoothie each morning for breakfast.

I put in : handful of spinach. Half an avocado. Banana.
Handful of blueberries, handful of raspberries, some almonds and maybe some ginger.
I blend it all up with some coconut water as it needs some sort of liquid.

It’s very filling and I never feel hungry even by lunchtime.

Also, I seem to have lost weight. But I have been having this concoction for a good few years now.
I must be on my third Nutribulit blender now.

Yes. I have a Nutribullet. I bought some HUEL flavour boosts recently though and I think I’m a bit addicted to my smoothies.

Not all meat eaten n sandwiches is processed meat, ham, yes, not good to eat every day, but occasional beef and chicken are not usually processed, if the bread is white that isn't good for you either. In general, it's good to eat different things not the same things every day, higher in fibre and lower in saturated fat and make sure you have a rainbow of veg. There look to be other risk factors too, genetics, Crohn's, being overweight, too much saturated fat,too much booze , tobacco use, being inactive, older. I hope the doc gave you better lifestyle advice as well as judgement

I watched the video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcTTVut78YQ

As far as smoothies are concerned, I would have thought it depends on what you put in them and why you're having a smoothie rather than eating whole foods.

Smoothies are an easily digestible way of consuming a lot of energy (calories) for people who have difficulties, for example with chewing or other difficulties with digestion. So they're good if you're ill and/or in danger of malnutrition. They're not so good if you're overweight and trying to lose weight or diabetic.

They also tend to be very sugary. It's easy to forget that fruit and even vegetables are mainly sugar. Of course, they're better for us than added sugars or starchy food and they do contain a range of vitamins and minerals. One of the biggest advantages of whole vegetables and fruit is that they contain fibre, but this is broken down in smoothies, so the sugar is metabolised more quickly. Great, if you want an instant energy boost - not so great if you're diabetic or want to feel full for longer.

It's very easy to pack a smoothie with far more calories than people think. That probably isn't too much of a problem if they're a meal substitute, but not so great if people are using them as a drink in addition to a meal.

In the video, the doctor claimed that being overweight/obese is the biggest risk for certain cancers, including breast cancer, which in many post-menopausal women thrives on the oestrogen produced by fatty cells. Smoothies can contribute to obesity, if people aren't aware what they're drinking, so they're not an "other" risk factor - they could be part of the problem.

I was very impressed by his advice. Especially when it was pointed out that certain foods might only help a few per cent of people but his reasoning was a few per cent of a million people is a lot of people.

He was adamant that people shouldn’t drink orange juice. I must listen o it again but it was quite long wasn’t it.

MayBee70

He was adamant that people shouldn’t drink orange juice. I must listen o it again but it was quite long wasn’t it.

Yes, I've heard that.
DH drinks orange juice daily, just a small glass at breakfast.
I shan't be telling him.

And he recommended soya as well. That was something that was recommended years ago. And mushrooms. There was a lot to take in and it all made a lot of sense I thought.

Put mushrooms in the sun to increase the Vit D levels (apparently).

I'm not so sure that much of it was "new".

I'm diabetic, have had a heart attack and just had surgery for breast cancer. I've never been overweight, don't smoke and haven't drunk any alcohol for years.

There's not much I can do about my genetics or environment, which is why I do try to do something about the factors I can control ie, my diet and exercise.

I know for a fact that juices and blended soups spike my blood glucose levels, so I avoid them. I've never made a smoothie, but I would imagine it would do the same thing. They're not good for my diabetes, which has a knock on effect on my circulatory system. I have no idea of the effect on cancer, but there is some evidence of a correlation between breast cancer and fatty cells in the body, which is partly why I keep my weight down.

I was interested in what he had to say about dairy, eggs and cannabis. I've never used cannabis, but I do eat quite a lot of dairy and eggs, so I'm going to investigate them further. It will require a change of diet, if there's firm evidence of a correlation between cancer and dairy/eggs. Apart from that, I've followed the doctor's "healthy" diet for years, but I'm not a good example of it working.

I’ve been doing that. I think, in future, I’ll make my smoothie but mix the yoghurt, bananas and blueberries together and eat them separately. I’ll put my golden paste and nuts in with the smoothie. And probably the broccoli. I don’t think that would go well with the yoghurt! Not sure how to fit the mushrooms in. Might have to actually cook something

I have to put on weight due to loosing weight during a recent illness. A dietician recommended smoothies and other drinks as a way of getting protein and calories when you aren’t feeling up to eating much. She even prescribed some protein smoothie powders for me. They helped me build up - so they do have a place in helping people who are maybe malnourished for whatever reason.

Tim Spector is my go to guru. I’ve bought about 6 of his Diet Myth books. I keep giving them away to friends. I hope they appreciate it?
Re: smoothies, it’s just too easy to drink a lot of fruit. If you lined up a banana, an apple and a peach and ate them individually you would feel that you had eaten a lot. Not so much with a drink?

I have some protein build up drinks prescribed.

I was thinking of turning them into a shake with fresh fruit, but I don't think I will now.

What sometimes irritates me about ‘healthy eating’ talk, is that too often it seems to include relatively expensive items that would usually rule out anyone on a tight budget - chicken breasts, salmon steaks, blueberries and goji berries (whatever they may be) are a few that come to mind.
You don’t often see any mention of e.g. carrots, cabbage and sprouts! Or at least I don’t.

My gp recommended steak for me, and salmon.

Hi Maybee ,

Chestnut hit the nail on the head by writing "so called experts " - if you enjoy making and drinking smoothies then please continue to do so !
Your diet sounds healthy to me .
Perhaps more roughage is needed .

I have friends , who rely on smoothies for various reasons and they look pretty good to me .
I'm sick and tired of the constantly conflicting advice .

These self appointed so called experts don't know everything - I just read an article on draught loving plants and the advice is wrong !

So stop worrying and enjoy your smoothies !

Witzend

What sometimes irritates me about ‘healthy eating’ talk, is that too often it seems to include relatively expensive items that would usually rule out anyone on a tight budget - chicken breasts, salmon steaks, blueberries and goji berries (whatever they may be) are a few that come to mind.
You don’t often see any mention of e.g. carrots, cabbage and sprouts! Or at least I don’t.

That’s something I criticised about Tim Spector recently. He did a ‘what I eat in a day’ video and, wonderful and healthy as it was one days food would have cost as much as enough to feed some people for a week. Eg avocados are a luxury to me, not something I just slap on toast as part of my breakfast! Plus I read that they are the worst food that you can eat regarding air miles. Having said that I, too, take his advice very seriously and I think the work he is doing to improve peoples health is excellent. It’s why I listened so carefully to Dr Abrams video. It very much followed Tim Spectors advice.

MissAdventure

I have some protein build up drinks prescribed.

I was thinking of turning them into a shake with fresh fruit, but I don't think I will now.

I buy HUEL protein powder to make my smoothies more of a meal but I am going to stop adding fruit to them. And I’ve realised that I have recently started putting more fruit than vegetables into my smoothies. Maybe it’s a summer thing.

Mine are all strawberry flavour, so no chance of putting veg in, really.

MissAdventure

My gp recommended steak for me, and salmon.

Did he/she give you a prescription for them?

Did he heck as like!