Are Smoothies Good or Bad?!

[bearbear287]

I personally love smoothies, and have many a day, I have found it much easier for me because freezing the fruit makes it last so much longer, and I find smoothies so tasty! You can also put lots of leafy greens in there too, and it will still be delicious!
Do you think liquid calories a bad thing?!
Are some people packing in way too much in there smoothies?!
Tell me your opinions, and relations with smoothies!

[brimstoneSalad]

Using apples or bananas is probably bad (junk food fruits), but using berries and greens is probably very good overall.

Liquid calories are fine, as long as you blend it up to retain the fiber, and don't juice them (which loses most of the fiber, one of the important things that makes fruits and veggies so nutritious). Blending also makes it easier to digest, since most people do not chew food very well (this includes me).

Berries are more nutritious, with more antioxidants and fewer calories, but aren't as good at sweetening a smoothie, so you may want to also add a bit of stevia or sucralose to make it sweeter,

[bearbear287]

I believe there is no such thing as "junk fruits" all fruit is good for you, and you shouldn't ever have to add any sweetener, that is not healthy. Berries can actually be very sweet, like strawberries. And you shouldn't be counting how many calories are in your smoothies, it's fruit, you can have as much as you want.

[brimstoneSalad]

I believe there is no such thing as "junk fruits" all fruit is good for you,

That's not a scientific perspective, and it's not what the evidence says. That's a dogma. You shouldn't just blindly "believe" things without evidence -- or in this case, in spite of evidence. That's the same problem of blind faith that is religion.

The truth is there is nothing that is just "good for you" or "bad for you" inherently.

Different foods lie on a spectrum of bad to good. Some foods are better or worse than others.
Meat, dairy, eggs, palm oil, trans fats, processed sugar -- these are closer to one end of the spectrum (the bad side)
Green vegetables, beans, garlic/onion, certain nuts and seeds -- these are closer to the other end (the good side).

Fruits are very diverse, and span the spectrum from bad to good.

I already linked this video in the other thread: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/best-berries/

and you shouldn't ever have to add any sweetener, that is not healthy. Berries can actually be very sweet, like strawberries.

If you like berries + greens, and it's sweet enough for you, then drink that. Sweeteners don't add nutrition, they just add taste.

But if you decide that it's not sweet enough, it's better to add a non-caloric sweetener like stevia or sucralose, compared to adding an unhealthy junk fruit like banana.

And you shouldn't be counting how many calories are in your smoothies, it's fruit, you can have as much as you want.

False. Fruit is not harmless. They can cause weight gain and malnutrition if you eat too many of them, in addition, they could promote cancer (particularly bananas).

Not all plants are healthy for you. That's a dangerous belief that could harm your health, and the health of those you give mistaken advice to.

[bearbear287]

This is off topic, but. brimstoneSalad I am just curious, what is your diet like? On one of your reply's to a post I made you said do not agree with the books I mentioned, The starch solution, and The china study. So do you not eat a lot of starch? You seem to really know what your talking about, and I wanna know more. And I did not realize that berries were actually that good, especially blackberries, wow thanks. But in the end how will we ever know the "perfect diet" for everyone. Thanks

[brimstoneSalad]

This is off topic, but. brimstoneSalad I am just curious, what is your diet like?

I tend to eat mostly bean/legume and whole grain products, along with veggies. My diet contains a moderate amount of starch, but I avoid rice and corn as significant parts of my diet. I mainly eat whole wheat as a grain.

I eat sweet fruits less frequently.
Beyond being less nutritious, sweet fruit is also bad for the environment, since it is not efficient in terms of cultivation.

On one of your reply's to a post I made you said do not agree with the books I mentioned, The starch solution, and The china study. So do you not eat a lot of starch?

I'm not against starch, but it needs to be in balance with vitamins, minerals, and other macro nutrients.
The problem with these books is that they promote rice, potatoes, white and yellow corn, etc. These are not very nutritious foods.

There are better sources of starch which contain more protein, like beans and legumes, whole wheat, buckwheat, oats, etc.

White/brown Rice and white/yellow corn are the worst starches, they're like the apples and bananas, compared to the other fruits.
Potatoes are mediocre, particularly white potatoes. Sweet potatoes, or purple potatoes are better for vitamins.
Buckwheat, oats, whole wheat, etc. are the good starches, which provide more nutrition. They're like the berries in the fruit comparison.

And I did not realize that berries were actually that good, especially blackberries, wow thanks.

No problem. Yes, berries are great. Which is why I say apples and bananas are junk food -- when you compare to berries, if you eat bananas, you miss an opportunity to eat something healthier. That's how junk food works -- it fills up your stomach, and prevents you from eating more healthy foods.

This is called "opportunity cost"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost

But in the end how will we ever know the "perfect diet" for everyone.

When we have a choice, we just need to choose the better options.

Doughnut, or whole wheat dougnut? Well, neither are very healthy, but the whole wheat doughnut is probably better.
Apples or strawberries? They're both better than then doughnuts, but compared to strawberries apples are worse, choose the strawberries.
Rice or wheat? Rice is way worse, and wheat is much healthier. Choose the wheat.

It's about having a better diet, or the best diet we can find/afford, not a perfect one.

[bearbear287]

I personally find rice to be amazing, how are these "bad starches" or "bad sugars" going to actually effect your diet, what is really that bad about them? I know you talked about opportunity cost, but what if you prefer the taste of rice and corn over beans, legumes, whole wheat, buckwheat, oats. A lot of times people just don't consider peoples taste, and what if you hated berries, and only liked apples and bananas. are those foods going to be a determent to your health?!

[brimstoneSalad]

are those foods going to be a determent to your health?!

Yes. If you mainly ate those foods, just as if you mainly ate cookies and potato chips, you would become malnourished and you would eventually die (it might take a couple years, or it might happen faster depending on exactly what you ate).
It is not biologically possible for a human being to eat that way and meet basic nutritional needs long term.

When people go vegan and try to eat this way, they will become chronically ill due to a number of diseases caused by being malnourished, then they will visit doctors who will tell them correctly that their diets are not adequate.
The doctors, being meat eaters and knowing nothing about nutrition, will incorrectly recommend eating meat.
Because they have been misinformed and told that these starch and sugar based diets were the healthiest vegan diets, these once vegans will quit veganism entirely and just go back to eating meat -- or even change to a "paleo" diet of pure meat -- Instead of changing their diet to include beans and other kinds of non-rice/corn whole grains, veggies, and nuts (which is a proper vegan diet).

In this way, bad nutritional advice harms animals, because it misleads people and makes them think that veganism is not healthy, when in reality, it is only a specific type of veganism (this empty carb and sugar based diet) which is unhealthy.

I personally find rice to be amazing, how are these "bad starches" or "bad sugars" going to actually effect your diet, what is really that bad about them?

I find vegan icecream to be pretty amazing. But you can't live on it, for the same reason you can't live on rice.

It's not what the rice and corn have in them that's bad, it's what the rice and corn DON'T have in them. They are lacking in nutrients.
Rice and corn should be viewed in the same way as vegan icecream. It's OK now and then as a treat if you like it, but it should not be considered food.

It's kind of the opposite problem of meat. Meat has BAD things in it that harm you. Rice doesn't have bad things in it, it's just lacking in GOOD things.

And if you eat rice or sugary fruit, you will fill up on that, and not eat enough good things that will nourish you. As a consequence, you will die of malnourishment.
Meat eaters won't die of malnourishment, they'll die of heart disease, stroke, or cancer instead because of the extra bad stuff that's in meat.

I know you talked about opportunity cost, but what if you prefer the taste of rice and corn over beans, legumes, whole wheat, buckwheat, oats. A lot of times people just don't consider peoples taste, and what if you hated berries, and only liked apples and bananas.

What if you prefer icecream over vegetables? What if you hate vegetables, and only like potato chips and soda?

Some people just have bad habits. You need to re-train your tongue, and learn to enjoy more healthy foods. It will take time, but you can do it.

It may suck to not be able to eat what you like, but if you don't change your diet, you can choose between death due to being malnourished as a sugartarian, or death from heart disease and cancer due to continuing eating animal products.

[ThatNerdyScienceGirl]

I personally love smoothies, and have many a day, I have found it much easier for me because freezing the fruit makes it last so much longer, and I find smoothies so tasty! You can also put lots of leafy greens in there too, and it will still be delicious!
Do you think liquid calories a bad thing?!
Are some people packing in way too much in there smoothies?!
Tell me your opinions, and relations with smoothies!

Eh, it really depends on what you put in them. If you load them with sugar, than not really. But green smoothies with kale, berry-laden smoothies, and even banana-and-soymilk smoothies are fine. Just watch your nutrition, smoothies are usually not a good source of protein and B-vitamins, unless you add in soymilk, almond milk, or oats.

[brimstoneSalad]

Just watch your nutrition, smoothies are usually not a good source of protein and B-vitamins, unless you add in soymilk, almond milk, or oats.

Greens are actually substantial, and so are some low sugar berries (like blackberries). Something like a blackberry and greens smoothie would offer substantial protein. Add some soy milk to that, and you'd really have something great.

You just have to avoid the sweet fruits, like bananas, and sweeten with non-caloric sweeteners like Stevia or Sucralose instead.