To think smoothies are more than one of your five a day

[feellikeahugefailure]

I've just had a smoothie with a handful of grapes, two kiwis, handful of spinach, handful of kale and a handful of frozen mango. At least 80g of all the fruit and probably 40g of the leaves. This is 4 portions right?

[unlucky83]

feeling not explaining it very well - if you ate lots of fruit and veg you would have less space for the other crap ...
The idea is you prioritise the fruit and veg - so eg you can only eat biscuits if you have had your 5 a day
And you couldn't eat 5 big carrots followed by a packet of biscuits without feeling sick/over full ...because the carrots have filled you up ...
Does that make more sense?

[snowymountaintops]

I agree re rubbish food. I've just eaten bread and chocolate eclairs this morning - I KNOW that I should be eating celery and apples etc but just can't quite bring myself to do it....

[feellikeahugefailure]

Unlucky I doubt many eat too much fruit / veg! Especially if its whole fruit or veg blended with no fibre removed.

Too much chocolate, crisps, chips and cake more like.

[EatenEasterChocsAlready]

I think as a meal replacement rather than in addition to its great.

After all you can get your fiber and bulk elsewhere.

[unlucky83]

feel in general we eat too much! The argument is (unless you are a healthy weight now?) you should eat that veg whole - which would mean you would eat less of other stuff.
(Back to 5 a day isn't in addition to what 'one' normally eats - it is instead of...)
But as ourblanche says you might need to gain weight, or be maintaining a healthy weight away and therefore it is less of a problem...

[OurBlanche]

I doubt that there is 1 version of optimally healthy, it will always be a very individual thing - you, for instance, find green smoothies an optimal manner in which to consume your greens. I prefer most of them lightly steam fried

[pollyblack]

Gosh you never think you'll hear eating a bowl of homemade veg soup isn't optimally healthy!

I don't consider weigh loss, but i do care about health and nutrition. I do consume green smoothies as I don't love many greens and just wouldn't consume them otherwise.

[OurBlanche]

Yes, sort of. Any processing adds and takes away something.

Heating veg reduces some vitamin/minerals, increases a couple, breaks down some of the fibre, makes it more palatable - win some, lose some!

And if you are using it to lose weight, leave lumps in. It takes longer in emptying form the stomach and intestinal transit, keeps you fuller for longer!

Or zub it smooth if you have someone who won't each recognisable veg, or is feeling a bit blech.

You swing some, you roundabout others

[pollyblack]

So does the same go for soup then? Not as good as whole veg?

[OurBlanche]

Ah1 The horrors of a quick skim read

As I have said before, your smoothie is right for you. Not sure I could, but I am considering trying some, just to increase my own fruit/veg intake.

The problem is that each of the experts focusses on a slightly different aspect of 5 a day and, unless you sit down and think it through it can all get muddied.

But yes the messages are for the obese, those who may be nutritionally lacking in vitamins and minerals, those who juice for health/post exercise recovery and even those who choose Juicing as a lifestyle/religion.

You won't see a Yes/No as the answer is yes, in some respects but no in others. Satiety and kcals are areas that a smoothie is not as 'good' as the raw ingredients, but there are other (more complicated, cellular level stuff) areas that a smoothie has benefits - not least that the satiety and kcal things are what makes them good for people who are underweight, post illness

[feellikeahugefailure]

Once you mash it up into goo so you can consume much more it doesn't really have the same effect.

That statement isn't making a pro or negative about it really. Seeing as the nutrients in fruit and veg has gone down we should probably be consuming more.

Could it have a greater affect?

[feellikeahugefailure]

I was on the train, so I skim read. I thought it was the doctor who presents the hideously dumbed down "science" shows on the BBC?

What is this article again? the bbc news website?

I havent seen a yes / no to the question. Or doubt there ever could be?

It is simply not possible to eat the same volume of veg raw as if its blended. All I saw was the quote about chomping and satisfying. As i chew my smoothies, am satisfied and people often complement me on my body (not over or underweight) its a bit moot for me. Maybe they are generalising for the average person (70% obese / overweight in uk)?

[OurBlanche]

Yeah! That one man is a Professor, of nutrition, so he really has no idea. That piece explains in some detail the differences between juices, raw fruit etc. It also explains the issue of 'bulk'.

I am puzzled though, many of the early posts that were linked in response to your OP, included research that agreed with your pov, in part. Satiety is one of the factors that many people need to take into account. Why are you annoyed? Your smoothie is fine, for you. Others might want/need to consider other factors.

[unlucky83]

feel Tom Sanders is Emeritus Professor of Nutrition & Dietetics at Kings College, London. Believe me, he knows the difference between juice and smoothies...
He is a real research scientist (not a 'Dr' Gillian McKeith or someone who has bought their qualification off the internet), he has nothing to sell - he isn't encouraging advertisers to his page... or people to buy his book or his blender - he is telling it as he finds it. (I like him for his straight talking!) He really doesn't have an agenda.
Have a read of that BBC 5 a day report.
I would be extremely surprised if you found one 'real' scientist who said that smoothies were better for you than eating fruit and veg not pulped.
Like I said in my first post - smoothies are better than some things...they do contain fibre -just not as much bulk (undigested peas in your poo!). And bulk is important -you get the urge to poo when your bowels are full.
Are you better off having a smoothie or drinking a coke? The smoothie is better but eating the contents of the smoothie in its whole form is even better for you.
Smoothies are tolerated because they are 'better than nothing' as a way of getting fibre into some people's diets (and that isn't aimed at you)
I mean the kind of people that are the reason potatoes aren't included in 5 a day - because they would eat chips, crisps and potato waffles and think they have done well...

[feellikeahugefailure]

What scientifically does removing bulk mean? I was replying to all the other posters saying whole blended fruit / veg had hardly any fibre, when it has the same and could even have more digestible fibre.

That is just one persons view, and i'm not going to take him seriously as he makes no distinction between pasteurised juice from concentrate and a freshly blended whole / fruit veg smoothie. He's only talking about being satisfied by the sound of it, i chew my smoothies anyway as recommended by many green smoothie experts.

[snowymountaintops]

Eaten how on earth do you get your family to drink a green juice/smoothie?! I would get this face

[unlucky83]

feeling blending DOES remove bulk - think of a plant cell like a balloon filled with sand. The balloon is the cell wall. The sand is its contents.
Pop the balloon. You do have the same amount of fibre but in a smaller volume -less bulk. You do still have the volume from the contents (the sand) but you can digest that so you less bulk

From this article....www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20858809

The Food and Drink Federation says all fruit and vegetables count, even if they are in a smoothie or a tin.

But Prof Sanders say that misses the point.

"It's chomping your way through the fruit and veg that has an effect on satiety. Once you mash it up into goo so you can consume much more it doesn't really have the same effect."

[OurBlanche]

But there are also links and discussions about the changes in our knowledge about them, peoples opinion, other options and thoughts. Even a homemade smoothie has different characteristics to that the raw ingredients have, like the carb profile and changes in fibre. They aren't all bad, just different, as at least on of the links outlined.

And putting food though a food processor is processing it, it is no longer in its raw state. Which obviously means that most of our food is processed

[feellikeahugefailure]

Depends what you mean by 'illuminating'? Many posters are confused with the difference between juice and smoothie and many think blending removes fiber....

There is clearly a world of difference between a mixed fruit and veg smoothie made with whole fruit and veg and drank stright away. Compared with an innocent smoothie that is 100% high sugar fruit with no veg, mostly juice, lots of fibre removed, made weeks ago, pasteurised, frozen, bottled, shipped, sat in fridge for a few days and drunk.

[ovenchips]

unlucky it wasn't the OP who said that - she was quoting me!

[EatenEasterChocsAlready]

we all hate greens in our family so in a smoothie I can get us all to have a good handful of kale and spinach in one go...

[unlucky83]

oven the problem is a bit like the OP said ...people thinking they have had their '5 a day' in a smoothie/smoothies. And they haven't really.
And they contribute to another 'problem' - you are not supposed to eat what you normally would plus 5 a day - you are supposed to eat less of the other things . And people will genuinely eat lots of crap and then have extra calories in a '5 a day' smoothie (easier without feeling too full than actually eating 5 portions) and think they are being really healthy...
or worse feed their children them and then wonder why they are overweight...

[EatenEasterChocsAlready]

OP, you could try adding avocado to your smoothie. These are seriously delicious! Also a bit of coconut oil for fat absorption. I used to make mine with plain yogurt too (if I didn't want avocado). Makes it nice and creamy

pray tell why an acavaod please...


and why yogurt or avacoado> i had had with both together.

[ovenchips]

Hi OurBlanche I think what I mean is if you chose the smoothie the OP described for breakfast, rather than what a majority have: toast or coffee or cereal or a bacon sandwich etc (all the common items people have) you would be making a great choice. I am not trying to to disagree with your posts or argue a smoothie's merits against a bowl of vegetables or fruit.

I think you are right that a smoothie is processed in the sense of it has been through a mechanical process. I am using unprocessed to mean it is not a 'processed food' which is a food that has been adulterated chemically or industrially and usually produced in a factory. A shop bought smoothie is, of course, processed. But I would still say a homemade smoothie is not.