Monthly Boost March 2006

Well moving swiftly onto this months topic of ‘smoothies’, now I am not referring to those tall, dark, handsome, charismatic varieties but those enticing drinks that are made from fruit only.

Rather like the other tall dark variety types, these fruit smoothies appear attractive on the outside but there is quite a different story on the inside. I mean they appear incredibly nutritious, healthy and of course fat-free! Can a drink be any healthier?....you ponder…

Well before I continue to answer that, I would like to say that I do not purposely go out of my way to be either controversial or facetious…but my goal or rather passion is to educate the public the truth about nutrition, so I tend to share on topics that are either miss-understood or miss-represented or even not known about….and smoothies ‘fit the bill’ this month.

During the last month of February, I have had several new clients who had purchased a fruit juicer in January thinking they were doing their body’s a great service although creating a ‘dent in their bank account’ (the best ones are not cheap).

Now then, fruit is meant to be eaten whole, with the skin and fibre for that matter. Not only does this provide the additional benefits that are missing when they are ‘juiced’ but also they keep the good old ‘nashers’ exercising! So why would fruit be better as a whole than ‘juiced’?...you may ask…

Well, I am sure you have come across the Glycaemic Index (GI) by now..if not let me tell you (without boring you too much)…it is just a measurement that gives an indication of the blood ‘sugar rush’ created by a specific food in the blood stream. So the higher the GI the greater the ‘sugar rush’. Ideally the lower the GI the healthier the food (referring to carbohydrates). So a diabetic would be recommended these low GI carbohydrates…follow so far?

Now there is also the Glycaemic Load (GL) again do not get baffled by the ‘jargon’, all this basically means is the ‘sugar rush’ from the specific food when combined with other foods. For example, the GI of an apple can ‘effectively’ be impacted if it is eaten with a yoghourt or some nuts, in other words the ‘sugar rush’ created by the apple is reduced in the presence of protein and/or fat, this is referred to as the GL.

So just imagine, when an apple (or any fruit for that matter) is juiced, the fibre is removed and the sugar (although this is fruit sugar, it is still converted to the same sugar units as table sugar) is more concentrated. The fibre (or the pulp that sometimes remains behind after juicing) reduces the ‘sugar rush’ into the blood stream, so yes the juicing increases the ‘sugar rush’. HOLD ON, I hear your subconscious scream ‘but it is fruit sugar, so it must be healthy…’ Well compared to table sugar yes of course it is healthier, but the fruit sugar still impacts the adrenals and the pancreas. So when one has a concoction of these juiced fruits, also known as ‘smoothies’ the pancreas and adrenals go into a frenzy.

The long-term impact on over-driving the pancreas and adrenals can vary from:

• Low blood sugar (also known as hypoglycaemia)
• Insulin resistance (a state that precedes diabetes)
• Diabetes (the final bang!)

Now over-worked adrenals can also result in a whole host of other conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, dizziness, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, constant hunger, weight gain, weight loss, (gain or loss depending upon the degree of adrenal stress), over stimulation of the immune system which an result in Grave’s disease, Lupus, arthritis …the list is truly endless.

Now don’t get me wrong, I would rather your child have a smoothie over the other soft drinks as their adrenals and pancreas can take a lot more than ours, but in the long-term the stress of the ‘sugar rush’ can increase the risk of health complications as adults. I also have to mention here that the high benzene load in soft drinks that has just been exposed (only last week) in the UK media will further add to ill health of our future generations. For those of you who did not pick this up or did not take it as being important, benzene is a carcinogen, in other words a cancer causing agent, it is known to cause leukemia…so please educate yourself and get yourself and your children off these toxic drinks, before they get you…(excuse the passion).

However, I would rather encourage you to eat fruit with the fibre with some protein and/or fat or use the smoothie as part of a protein shake (one of my favourite breakfast recipes is a protein smoothie!), to avoid the above bullet points but also to keep the elimination pathways open too! Most people in the UK are constipated as indicated by the sales of laxatives. Sluggish bowels just add to the cancer scenario.

To find out more about our recommended protein smoothies or book an appointment, email us on info@khushmark.com

To great health!

Khush Mark