SMOOTHIE MYTHBUSTERS

Each summer, smoothie bar sales skyrocket and lineups trail out the door. Unfortunately the unwavering belief is that these refreshingly cool drinks are a healthy snack. It’s time to shine a light on the truth: not all smoothies are good for you. In fact, you may be better off having a piece of cake than a retail-bought smoothie.
The most dangerous part of a smoothie is its healthy reputation. If you believe you’ve chosen the healthy snack option, you are less likely to alter your eating habits to compensate for the snack, and therefore you will end up taking in sufficiently more calories overall. But if you’ve eaten a chocolate bar, you know it’s a splurge and are more prone to watching your diet the rest of the day, keeping the overall rise in calories on the low side.

Smoothie Dangers

Smoothie Danger #1:
Packing a Sugar Wallop

While fruit has traditionally been the central ingredient from which a smoothie was made, in many commercial versions, refined sugar is taking its place. In fact, many smoothies contain more sugar than a can of cola or a cupcake. The rows of flavored syrups behind smoothie bars are often made from pure corn syrup or other highly refined sugars such as beet or cane, and your smoothie may get several pumps. The added sugar content goes for ready-made “smoothie” drinks, too. Not only is this going to spike your calories for the day (most commercial smoothies range from 200 to 600 calories), you’ll also feel a sugar high followed by an energy crash that will make you crave more sugar shortly afterwards to perk you up again.

Something else to beware of with corn syrup is a possible mild allergic reaction. Because of the high concentration of corn derivatives in many processed foods, it’s common to develop an allergy or intolerance to it without your being aware. I myself discovered my own allergy to corn, which came on as symptoms similar to hay fever each spring, and disappeared after I limited my intake.

Smoothie Danger #2: “Boosted” Smoothies Contain Extra Chemicals

The supplements used to give smoothies a “boost” are often genetically modified and contain chemical fillers and synthetic ingredients. Many times, the vitamin or mineral giving the “booster” its name is actually the last item on the ingredient list of the booster itself. Furthermore, the quality of the vitamin or mineral infused in the booster does not have to be accounted for, so the rate at which it absorbs in your body may be so low that it provides little extra by way of nutrition. The best way to ensure a “booster” is indeed a healthy option is to make the retailer accountable for its ingredients. The ultimate scenario is that the retailer is using a smoothie booster made from highly raw and organic whole foods in powder form, without any added chemicals. That way, the vitamins and minerals are all naturally occurring and easily absorbed in the body.

Smoothie Danger #3: “Sugar-Free” or “Light” = Harmful Artificial Sweeteners

Before buying the smoothie with “no added sugar” to cut your calorie count, ask if there are other sweeteners added. Chemically altered sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose may be worse than sugar. Although they save you calories, they also lack any other nutrients whatsoever and still have ongoing studies exploring negative health implications such as migraines, long-term memory loss, fybromalgia, and lymphoma.

The Ultimate Healthy Smoothie

By no means should you exclude smoothies from your diet. Smoothies can be the healthiest part of your day, if done right. In fact, as a professional athlete, I know they’re essential for quick cellular regeneration.

My first suggestion is to get your smoothie fix at home, before you head out for the day. The pros of making a smoothie for breakfast: it’s quick to make, you have complete control over the ingredients, you can run out the door with it, and it’s very easy on the digestive system. I have yet to find any cons.

When making your own smoothie at home, it’s easy to unknowingly mix up a sugar-bomb more likened to a slushy than a healthy smoothie by adding too much fruit juice. Don’t be afraid to use mostly water and ice instead of juice – you’ll likely find the fruit alone makes the smoothie sweet enough. If not, you can add low-glycemic whole food options like agave nectar to sweeten it up, or use higher-glycemic whole food options like dates and offset it with plenty of fiber.

The beauty of a smoothie is that you can add superfood boosts such as flax, hemp, and even greens like kale without greatly affecting the flavor. By using this technique, you can actually ensure your smoothie contains all the nutrients of a complete meal. Good protein sources to use in smoothies are whole foods with a high pH, such as previously mentioned hemp, which has a very high protein content and high digestibility. Other great protein sources are pea and rice protein.

Maintaining an alkaline pH in the body is very important for optimal health, so I make all my smoothies with plant-based ingredients. Here is one of my favorite homemade and nutritionally complete smoothies:

Sweet Green Melon Smoothie

Never mind the fact that this smoothie contains romaine lettuce; you’ll find it’s surprisingly delicious. The natural sweetness of the romaine leaves blends with melon to give the smoothie an especially fresh taste.

3-6 leaves of romaine lettuce
2 fresh or soaked dates
2 cups water (or 1 ½ cups water plus 1 cup ice)
1 cup honeydew melon
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1 Tbsp hemp protein
½ Tbsp grated fresh ginger

Blend and enjoy!