I blame Jamba Juice. And McDonalds. And any other fast-food chain restaurant that offers treacly sweet smoothies touting them as a healthy alternative to coffee and sodas. The truth is, these smoothies offer not much in the way of a healthy drink and a lot in the way of unnecessary fructose.
Let’s take a look at exactly what’s in a McDonald’s ‘real’ fruit smoothie:
Strawberry Banana Fruit Blend
Strawberry puree, banana puree, water, sugar, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: Cellulose powder, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, citric acid, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, pectin.
They also add ice and low-fat yogurt for good measure. Does it taste good? Indeed. But so do hot …show more content…
We do not produce it in our bodies and for millions of years our ancestors ate very little of it except when certain fruits were in season in that local area.
Here is the main thing you need to remember from this lesson:
Glucose and fructose are metabolized VERY DIFFERENTLY in our bodies. While every single cell in our body can instantly use glucose, our liver is the only organ that can metabolize fructose.
So what happens when people, like most people in the Western hemisphere, consume high amounts of fructose? Our liver becomes overloaded and soon has to start turning all of it into fat. And we all know the ending to that story: Little Red Riding Hood became really fat, developed type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and was on her way to developing cancer of the something-or-other.
But Isn’t the Fructose in Fruit Good for Us?
Kind of, sort of, but in a way, not really. If there was a gun to your head and you had to choose between a Snickers bar and a mango, for the love of God, choose the mango. Processed foods are the devil, we all know that. And this article is not intended to villainize fruits. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with important nutrients that nourish our
Let’s take a look at exactly what’s in a McDonald’s ‘real’ fruit smoothie:
Strawberry Banana Fruit Blend
Strawberry puree, banana puree, water, sugar, concentrated apple juice, contains less than 1% of the following: Cellulose powder, natural (botanical source) and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, citric acid, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, pectin.
They also add ice and low-fat yogurt for good measure. Does it taste good? Indeed. But so do hot …show more content…
We do not produce it in our bodies and for millions of years our ancestors ate very little of it except when certain fruits were in season in that local area.
Here is the main thing you need to remember from this lesson:
Glucose and fructose are metabolized VERY DIFFERENTLY in our bodies. While every single cell in our body can instantly use glucose, our liver is the only organ that can metabolize fructose.
So what happens when people, like most people in the Western hemisphere, consume high amounts of fructose? Our liver becomes overloaded and soon has to start turning all of it into fat. And we all know the ending to that story: Little Red Riding Hood became really fat, developed type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and was on her way to developing cancer of the something-or-other.
But Isn’t the Fructose in Fruit Good for Us?
Kind of, sort of, but in a way, not really. If there was a gun to your head and you had to choose between a Snickers bar and a mango, for the love of God, choose the mango. Processed foods are the devil, we all know that. And this article is not intended to villainize fruits. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with important nutrients that nourish our