Don’t Count on Smoothies to Get the Job Done

Appetizer

Eat LESS smoothies. Yeah, I know that they are made with real fruit, but they’re not the same as actually eating real fruit – especially when they’re chock full of other stuff like fruit juice concentrate, whole milk dairy products, added sugar, chocolate, or peanut butter.

While dieticians agree that smoothies are still better than soda, health experts say that “the smoothie revolution has gone too far.” People are chugging these sweet & tasty drinks down as if it’s the same as eating a piece of fresh fruit.

Main Course

Here are some comparisons to further drive home today’s Appetizer:

Mr. Smoothie
Strawberry Banana = 300 calories, 58g sugar
Peanut Butter Banana = 795 calories, 41g sugar

Planet Smoothie
Spazz (strawberries, bananas, etc.) = 266 calories, 68g carbs
Chocolate Elvis (chocolate, peanut butter, bananas, etc.) = 522 calories, 109g carbs

Jamba Juice
Strawberry Whirl = 310 calories, 64g sugar
Peanut Butter Moo’d = 840 calories, 122g sugar!!!!

Now check out some examples of regular fruit:
1 med. Apple = 80 calories, 22g carbs, 16g sugar
1 med. Banana = 110 calories, 29g carbs, 21g sugar
100g Strawberries = 30 calories, 8g carbs, 5g sugar

Dessert

I think this whole smoothie thing is really interesting. All of the smoothie shops advertise how healthy they are, and there’s even a smoothie bar in my gym. That pretty much makes people feel like smoothies are “super foods” since a gym wouldn’t really endorse something that’s not absolutely great, right? I mean, you wouldn’t find a burger joint at the gym or a candy machine, so why a smoothie bar?

I guess it all goes back to moderation. Smoothies are OK for us – in moderation. We can eat all of the different flavors and enjoy them guilt-free if we eat them…What? IN MODERATION.

That’s all. (<<< style="font-size:85%;">

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.