Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and proponent of a low-fat, whole-foods, plant-based diet, said this about juices and smoothies:
Juicing- Is it all right to juice?
Do not juice. You lose all the fiber and its benefits.
Fruit juice – What about fruit juice?
Drinking fruit juice is like pouring the sugar bowl down your throat. It is fine to eat the whole fruit. Do not drink the juice.
Smoothies – How about smoothies? I love them!
Avoid smoothies. The fiber is so finely pureed that its helpful properties are destroyed. The sugar is stripped from the fruit, bypasses salivary digestion and results in a surge of glucose and the accompanying fructose contributes to inflammation and hypertension.
From:
Q&A with Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD
This has been my experience working with people with diabetes - juices and smoothies are a problem. Although nutrient-dense, they are nonetheless concentrated sources of calories, mostly calories from carbohydrates, which, owing to the nature of consumption - drinking - deposit a mother lode of simple sugar into the GI tract and into the bloodstream in less time than it takes to blend and squeeze the stuff. Not good for people with prediabetes or insulin resistance either, which along with diabetes make up a third of the US population.
3 comments:
I agree, whole fruits are healthier. However, we dietitians and nutritionists are sometimes too categorical.
One or two small classes of orange juice might be good for health, at least if your are not able/willing to eat any fruits or berries as such. The postprandial studies have shown remarkable benefits on fruit juices.
http://1.usa.gov/SBGTJy
I also agree whole fruits and veggies are better. However, I will still drink my 8 oz. glass of orange juice with breakfast every morning. I've been doing this since I was a child. I also like oranges and eat one most every day.
However, I think its better to drink fruits and veggies as opposed to alternatives people seem to love like sodas, sport drinks and energy drinks. So is fruit/veggies juices can move people away from the bad stuff, I think its a good thing.
I also prefer to eat my fruits and veggies because juicing the stuff is a lot of work. One still has to chop thinks up before putting them in a blender and juicing makes a big mess the needs to be cleaned up.
I make a smoothie of yogurt, strawberries, bananas, mangos and ice. Nothing else added. about 20 oz that I can drink for breakfast. Consistently for the last six months, I would measure my BG 1 hour and 2 hours post ingestion. At 1 hr., it's 130 mg/dL, at 2 hrs it's 110 mg/dL. I'm not diabetic but I work for LifeScan and so have access to strips for experimentation. I don't see why this is bad because there is no way I can sit and eat this much fruit in less than an hour.
I also do vegetable juicing for the same reason: I can't ingest that large a volume of vegetable in less than an hour.
Post a Comment