Smoothies enjoy such a healthy halo, especially if it’s green. So what’s wrong with them?
If you buy your smoothie at the market or at places like Jamba Juice, you may be consuming almost 1,000 calories depending on the size. Using “whole fruits” as they claim isn’t always the case. As a matter of fact, many contain added sweeteners, reconstructed fruit purees, lemonade or other juices like white grape juice concentrate, and added flavors and sweetened protein powders. Jamba Juice’s green smoothie can be as high as 90 grams of sugar (or 21 teaspoons) for just 22 oz. Some store-bought smoothies can border a milk shake. Don’t be fooled.
It’s better if you make your own so that you’ll eat more greens but too many of us consume 20 to 24 ounces and that’s a lot. Plus, we load it up with bananas, apples, berries, etc. to make it taste good so now we have heavily loaded up on liquid fruit all at once.
Also, when we drink our food, we avoid prompting our stomach to digest, alerting our pancreas, and using salivary and other enzymes to break down food. This causes easy fermentation in the small intestine and can lead to bloating, abdominal discomfort, and bacterial overgrowth.
I always tell my clients that chewing is best since it takes 15 – 20 minutes to tell the brain we’re full. The body was built to self regulate (calorie control). Let’s go back to enjoying our food, tasting our food, and seeing the rainbow of natural colors. What is life’s rush? Why are we rushing our journey to the burial ground? Slow down and enjoy. Eating and chewing is nice. It’s fun socially and delicious alone too.
How will you slow down to be in the moment and to love all the good things in your life?
If you need help understanding nutrition and all the mixed messages out there, give us a call. We will address your stress level, eating habits, exercise, cravings, emotional eating, and overall health and happiness. Start with a free health consultation at www.HappyFoodHealth.com or (619) 876-2655. See if this is the right match for you. I do things very differently to make health a natural lifestyle and this is not for everyone. Check out Yelp for other people’s opinion of Happy Food.
~ Samantha Hua, Nutrition & Holistic Health Coach, San Diego, CA
