Smoothie's False Identity

We have all had smoothies before. There are several places to go to get them like Smoothie King, Smoothie Factory, and Jamba Juice. They promise good health and the perfect drink before or after a workout. Packed full of vitamins and minerals, smoothies seem to be a very tasty way to stay healthy. Today I am going to tell you why I think smoothies are overrated and why you should be more careful when choosing one to supplement your diet or workout.

I have been a big fan of smoothies for a long time. They taste great and you feel like you are being supercharged. I never would of thought something that seemed so healthy could actually be worse for you than the products they try to replace. For this post, I will use Smoothie Kings drinks for my examples.

Sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. That is what you get when you order almost anything off the menu. Yes, a lot of it does come from real fruit and that is great and all, but the amount of sugar is mind blowing in some of these drinks. They still use syrups and other liquids in these drinks that are not natural fruit. The protein shakes like Gladiator and The Shredder have fairly low amounts of carbs and sugar, so that's good. They also pack a lot of protein so I can safely say they are good for after workouts. Although, when you add the two fruits to it, they do get a little bit of sugar added. The rest of the drinks, start at around 30 grams of sugar for a small drink and can go up to 200 grams for a Hulk large. The Hulk large also has 60 grams of fat. That is like eating 3 hamburgers from McDonalds with 4 large cokes to chug it down with. Granted, the McDonalds meal has tons more sodium than the Hulk large, but I still don't think it's a "healthy" drink.

Another thing I hate about smoothies is that they are so expensive. For a medium, plus the tip they make you feel guilty about, it is around $8-9. Wow! For around that much I could go to Le Peep and have an egg and ham breakfast with fruit and a tall glass of water and it would be miles healthier and delicious. I could think of a dozen more options I could spend that money on that would get me a better meal than a smoothie.

The last thing I will say about smoothies is that you need to make sure you research them before you make it a habit and become overweight all of a sudden by being "healthy". Get a smoothie if it makes sense, otherwise pass and get something better.