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Blendtec. One Apple, one pear, couple of oranges, one kiwi and some green stuff results in a smoothie portion that is easy to drink along with morning coffee.

Blendtec. One Apple, one pear, couple of oranges, one kiwi and some green stuff results in a smoothie portion that is easy to drink along with morning coffee. For lunch throw in some cucumber, tomatoes, carrot and peppers and you get a gazpacho (Google for more detailed recipe). No need to do much chopping, just throw the stuff in and let machine do the work.

orev 10y ago
Putting stuff in a blender removes one of the primary things that makes them healthy: fiber. Or specifically the digestion of fiber. That's the "work" that makes fruit healthy, because it allows for the slow release of the sugar. Once you smash all the fiber, you're just consuming a sugar bomb with some smashed fiber on the backend. At that point, the sugar rush isn't any different than drinking soda.
- eddietejeda 10y ago
  Juicing removes fiber but a blender does not impact the fiber content. More info: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/science/q-a-finer-fiber.html http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/science/q-a-finer-fiber.ht...
  - mrfusion 10y ago
    All they did there was ask a "nutritionist". As far as I know no one has ever done a study to check for intact fiber after blending. That's what I'd need to see.
  - orev 10y ago
    It does not remove the fiber but it changes the structure. The natural structure is like a balloon with good stuff inside. The digestion process breaks down those balloons one at a time and liberates the contents. That process slows down the absorption of sugar. Blending pops all of the balloons so you everything can be accessed/absorbed at the same time, leading to sugar spikes, etc...
    - jpalomaki 10y ago
      Sounds plausible, but is this backed by some research and is the quick release of sugars the only issue? Quick googling did not reveal any good information.
- ageofwant 10y ago
  You might be confusing 'juicing' and 'blending' here. The former removes a lot of fiber, as you said. The latter does not. Blending does affect the mastication phase of eating, because you're drinking now, not eating - so you get much less of the enzymes associated with that process to help with digestion. But then again the blending process have done the bulk of mechanical digestion before. Modern fruit and veg are intelligently designed and optimised for calories and aesthetic appeal. Not nutrition. They have little in common with original rootstock. What you know as an table apple is a single mutation that has been diversified over time. Original apples are only good for making booze. The healthiest food is green leaved veg. Baby spinach and the like. I build massive salads with these as base and add whatever to that. Very digestible, no need to blend and while it will never be a pizza, it's not bad at all.
  - orev 10y ago
    See my comment further up on structure. I know the difference between juicing and blending.
ibgib 10y ago
That morning smoothie sounds great...I like to add plain greek yogurt for some protein. And the veggie smoothies, I've really come to enjoy things like edamame, hummus, and spicy peppers (I wasnt sure if you meant sweet or spicy peppers). I also track many of my smoothies in my app (ends up being like git for recipes in this use case): https://www.ibgib.com/ibgib/Smoothies%5E45176571367461146179E98CDE8467CDA26F410B01DA38A847561EF289FD6E35 https://www.ibgib.com/ibgib/Smoothies%5E45176571367461146179... (currently home page is a hack to ensure reading the notice...redirected to actual link after "session login" at the bottom). Edit: Btw Im down from 212lb five or six years ago to 153lb, and i came to the same strats as the first four mentioned in this article.
DanBC 10y ago
Juices and smoothies only count as one of your five / ten per day. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Portionsizes.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Portionsizes.aspx > 5 A DAY in juices and smoothies > Unsweetened 100% fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies can only ever count as a maximum of one portion of your 5 A DAY. > For example, if you have two glasses of fruit juice and a smoothie in one day, that still only counts as one portion. > Smoothies include any drink made up of any combination of fruit/vegetable juice, puree or all the edible pulped fruit or vegetable. > Your combined total of drinks from fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies should not be more than 150ml a day – which is a small glass. > For example, if you have 150ml of orange juice and 150ml smoothie in one day, you'll have exceeded the recommendation by 150ml. > When fruit is blended or juiced, it releases the sugars which increases the risk of tooth decay so it's best to drink fruit juice or smoothies at mealtimes. > Whole fruits are less likely to cause tooth decay because the sugars are contained within the structure of the fruit.
- massysett 10y ago
  Ok, that's an argument against blended fruits. What about vegetables? I blend two packed cups of spinach, two cups mango, some chia seed, and some water. Yet this says I should stuff all this into my mouth whole. Why?
- jpalomaki 10y ago
  According to the NHS page if I eat 2 apples, 2 oranges and 1 pear I get 5/5. If I prepare two smoothies from exactly same ingredients, I only get 1/5. The only explanation I can think of would be that the blending process somehow alters to structure to be less favourable. NHS page mentioned the sugars getting released (but does not provide citation). Previous comment mentioned the fibres getting smashed (which I found a bit suspicious). Would like to know if there's some research behind this.

orev 10y ago

Putting stuff in a blender removes one of the primary things that makes them healthy: fiber. Or specifically the digestion of fiber. That's the "work" that makes fruit healthy, because it allows for the slow release of the sugar. Once you smash all the fiber, you're just consuming a sugar bomb with some smashed fiber on the backend. At that point, the sugar rush isn't any different than drinking soda.

eddietejeda 10y ago
Juicing removes fiber but a blender does not impact the fiber content. More info: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/science/q-a-finer-fiber.html http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/science/q-a-finer-fiber.ht...
- mrfusion 10y ago
  All they did there was ask a "nutritionist". As far as I know no one has ever done a study to check for intact fiber after blending. That's what I'd need to see.
- orev 10y ago
  It does not remove the fiber but it changes the structure. The natural structure is like a balloon with good stuff inside. The digestion process breaks down those balloons one at a time and liberates the contents. That process slows down the absorption of sugar. Blending pops all of the balloons so you everything can be accessed/absorbed at the same time, leading to sugar spikes, etc...
  - jpalomaki 10y ago
    Sounds plausible, but is this backed by some research and is the quick release of sugars the only issue? Quick googling did not reveal any good information.
ageofwant 10y ago
You might be confusing 'juicing' and 'blending' here. The former removes a lot of fiber, as you said. The latter does not. Blending does affect the mastication phase of eating, because you're drinking now, not eating - so you get much less of the enzymes associated with that process to help with digestion. But then again the blending process have done the bulk of mechanical digestion before. Modern fruit and veg are intelligently designed and optimised for calories and aesthetic appeal. Not nutrition. They have little in common with original rootstock. What you know as an table apple is a single mutation that has been diversified over time. Original apples are only good for making booze. The healthiest food is green leaved veg. Baby spinach and the like. I build massive salads with these as base and add whatever to that. Very digestible, no need to blend and while it will never be a pizza, it's not bad at all.
- orev 10y ago
  See my comment further up on structure. I know the difference between juicing and blending.

ibgib 10y ago

That morning smoothie sounds great...I like to add plain greek yogurt for some protein. And the veggie smoothies, I've really come to enjoy things like edamame, hummus, and spicy peppers (I wasnt sure if you meant sweet or spicy peppers). I also track many of my smoothies in my app (ends up being like git for recipes in this use case): https://www.ibgib.com/ibgib/Smoothies%5E45176571367461146179E98CDE8467CDA26F410B01DA38A847561EF289FD6E35 https://www.ibgib.com/ibgib/Smoothies%5E45176571367461146179... (currently home page is a hack to ensure reading the notice...redirected to actual link after "session login" at the bottom). Edit: Btw Im down from 212lb five or six years ago to 153lb, and i came to the same strats as the first four mentioned in this article.

DanBC 10y ago

Juices and smoothies only count as one of your five / ten per day. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Portionsizes.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Portionsizes.aspx > 5 A DAY in juices and smoothies > Unsweetened 100% fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies can only ever count as a maximum of one portion of your 5 A DAY. > For example, if you have two glasses of fruit juice and a smoothie in one day, that still only counts as one portion. > Smoothies include any drink made up of any combination of fruit/vegetable juice, puree or all the edible pulped fruit or vegetable. > Your combined total of drinks from fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies should not be more than 150ml a day – which is a small glass. > For example, if you have 150ml of orange juice and 150ml smoothie in one day, you'll have exceeded the recommendation by 150ml. > When fruit is blended or juiced, it releases the sugars which increases the risk of tooth decay so it's best to drink fruit juice or smoothies at mealtimes. > Whole fruits are less likely to cause tooth decay because the sugars are contained within the structure of the fruit.

massysett 10y ago
Ok, that's an argument against blended fruits. What about vegetables? I blend two packed cups of spinach, two cups mango, some chia seed, and some water. Yet this says I should stuff all this into my mouth whole. Why?
jpalomaki 10y ago
According to the NHS page if I eat 2 apples, 2 oranges and 1 pear I get 5/5. If I prepare two smoothies from exactly same ingredients, I only get 1/5. The only explanation I can think of would be that the blending process somehow alters to structure to be less favourable. NHS page mentioned the sugars getting released (but does not provide citation). Previous comment mentioned the fibres getting smashed (which I found a bit suspicious). Would like to know if there's some research behind this.