Are fruit smoothies bad for you?

While the article's headline is a bit sensationalist for my tastes, there is a bit of truth in it — with a few caveats.

It shouldn't come as news to anybody that both cola and fresh fruit are sweet because they contain sugar. Just as you can get too much sugar from cola, it is also possible to load up on too much sugar from fruit. Fruit is something you have to enjoy in moderation if you don't want to worry about weight gain.

However, there is an important difference between getting your sugar from cola and getting it from fruit...

When you get sugar from fruit, you're also getting it with lots of fiber and other healthy nutrients and anti-oxidants. The addition of fiber helps slow a spike in blood sugar, which decreases the insulin response that helps your body avoid turning that sugar into fat tissue. Advertisement

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Without fiber, cola, on the other hand, is unable to make use of this "slow down" mechanism — and almost instantaneously raises blood sugar and insulin. This usually means sugar is going to be stored as fat, unless you're an athlete.

This can happen with fruit, though to a slightly lesser extent...

When you eat too much fruit, you're still consuming more carbohydrates than your body requires, and it will end up as fat if you're not careful.

Consuming a smoothie you buy from a store is similar to eating too much fruit, and may be even worse if the smoothie has added sugar in it. The blending process also destroys much of the fiber that slows sugar digestion.

So while fruit smoothies are better than cola because you're getting other nutrients and the body's reaction to fruit is healthier than that to the sodium and high-fructose corn syrup in soda, you're still not doing yourself any favors by downing five teaspoons worth of sugar.

Do yourself one better: Make your own healthy low-sugar smoothies.