The previous Great NEWS post asked Are Insect Repellents a Health Hazard and today we ponder Are Smoothies Health Hazards? Smoothies show up as the shining stars in books, grocery stores, juice bars, magazines, packages, restaurants and smoothie stores on a regular basis these days. Is this bad news or good news? Most of these smoothie promoters would like you to believe that it is good news? While some smoothies may be healthy, the key is to discover the recipe and secret ingredients to determine if they are a foe or friend. Many people have been told that smoothies are healthy and while some are, many are not. Today we will reveal easy steps for you to decide Are Smoothies Health Hazards?

The Great NEWS Coach Health Hazard series is shared to help health seekers become more aware of common health hazards that unleash havoc on our happiness and health. Many smoothies are harmful even though they are disguised to look healthy. Most people do not stop to ask or read the ingredients before consuming them. The devil is in the details and we must learn to be a detective and investigate the ingredients first to make better choices.

Fruit Smoothie

Important factors to consider when it comes to selecting your smoothies are the ingredients, methods, recipes and sources.

While smoothies are widely promoted as delicious, healthy and nutritious, like anything in life it is prudent to invest the time to investigate the details to be sure. People deserve to know what they are consuming and the possible pros and cons in order to make informed decisions to better care for themselves. We are what we eat so it is essential to choose wisely.

Important factors to consider when it comes to selecting your smoothies are the ingredients, methods, recipes and sources. There can be a major difference between smoothies you make yourself and those purchased at commercial store locations. This post will help with ideas and information to help you make better choices regarding smoothies. We must all learn to read the labels and research the products we use to make informed choices that enhance our health.

People enjoy smoothies for a wide variety of reasons including: blended meal, creamy, delicious, easy, fruity, frosty treat, healthy (perception), icy cold, nutritious, sweet and tasty treat. They are normally made with blended ingredients and ice to make a semi-frosty treat served in a cup to be consumed with a straw. Some of the most common ingredients include almond milk, fruit, ice cream, homogenize and pasteurized milk, soy milk, soy protein powder and yogurt.

Why Avoid Common Smoothie Ingredients?

Blueberries and Rasberries

Also fruit and milk products do not digest well according to food combining guidelines.

Boxed almond milk and soy milk contain excess sugar. Both are energetically dead foods that have been pasteurized. Most soy is not properly fermented and therefore a health hazard due to anti nutrient enzymes. Homogenize and pasteurized ice cream, milk and yogurt are energetically dead foods with antibiotics, hormones and milk fat globules that affect the intestines and often cause allergic reactions and inflammation.

Why is fruit in these smoothies unhealthy? First the fruit is usually cooked and energetically dead. Often times they use fruit syrup with HFCS instead of fresh fruit.  Also fruit and milk products do not digest well according to food combining guidelines. Fruit digestion starts in the mouth and happens rapidly in the small intestines. Milk is a protein that digests with stomach acid and this causes fruit to sour and ferment in the gut. The high heat, processing and refining of these ingredients results in an inferior product.

My goals for sharing my life lessons learned about smoothies is to help you avoid the unhealthy versions that may actually harm your health and select the ones most likely to be healthy. In the distant past I enjoyed starting with fruit, ice cream and milk smoothies. At the time I did not know better and was not aware of good nutrition guidance to help me consider whether they were health hazards or healthy habits.

Today it is fairly common knowledge that some smoothies are better options for you than others. Many smoothies today are a commercial concoction of corn syrup, fruits, fruit juice, fruit syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), honey, milk, soy milk, soy powder, sugars, sweeteners and syrups. If that sounds like a lot of sugar, you are absolutely right. People are easy to be influenced with marketing manipulation and fall for a great story, pretty color, sexy name and sweet sugary taste.

When we stop to look closely at the ingredients and associated risk factors we may well be advised to avoid most commercial smoothies. When you consider the factors like: artificial ingredients, bacteria, cost, flavor enhancers, fungicides, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), health risks, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, sugars and other toxic bonus ingredients in commercial smoothies there must be a better way.

When we consider having a smoothie we must decide if it will harm or help our health? Most people do not invest the energy and time to ask basic questions and read the ingredients. They are simply feeding their emotions and sweet tooth with something fast, easy and super sweet. Our common sense will tell us that paying to put harmful things in our body is not a smart choice.

Stop Sugar Smoothies and Start Smart Smoothies

Fruit and Smoothie

Consume smart smoothies.

Now that you are better educated about the ingredients that make commercial smoothies unhealthy it is important to stop consuming sugar smoothies and start consuming smart smoothies instead. SMART smoothies include ingredients like:

  • Berries – acai, blackberries, blue berries, gooseberries, lingon berries, mulberries, raspberries, sea buckthorn berries, strawberries
  • Coconut – brown and green
  • Fruits – organic bananas, grapes (with seeds), mango, mangosteen, noni, papaya, passion fruit, pineapple, plantain.  Citrus fruit like lemons, limes and oranges
  • Green leafy plants – aloe vera, bean leaf, cactus, chard, lettuce, spinach, young choy
  • Herbs – dandelion, nettles, parsley, water cress
  • Nuts – raw almonds, Brazil nuts, cashew, hazel nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts
  • Roots – burdock, celery root, ginseng, ginger
  • Sea weeds
  • Seeds – Chia, flax, hemp, pumpkin, sesame or sunflower seeds
  • Spices – cinnamon, clove
  • Super foods – chia seeds, chlorella, goji berries, maca, medicinal mushrooms, moringa, spirulina
  • Veggies – celery, cucumbers, fennel, bok choy

Are Smoothies Health Hazards?

Most commercial smoothies contain many harmful ingredients like: artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, GMO soy, HFCS, pasteurized Commercial Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) dairy (with antibiotics and hormones), sugar and syrups and therefore also contain fungicide, herbicide, insecticide and pesticide residues. Unfortunately most people do not look at the ingredient list and read between the lines to uncover the hidden ingredients that are not being disclosed. These unwanted bonus ingredients are the chemicals that are harmful to our long term health and well being. These unhealthy ingredients have been linked to adverse effects such as: endocrine, immune, neurological, respiratory and reproductive damage and disruption in addition to cancer.

Smart Smoothies Are Super

Fruit in Blender

Smoothies are fast and easy to make and consume.

It is easy to see why people like smoothies. They are fast and easy to make and consume. With a good blender they can usually be made in less than 5 minutes. They also save time because the blender does the chewing for us and we can also consume them easily on the go. Be sure to chew your smoothie since it is important for assimilation and digestion.

Today we revealed some serious smoothie health hazards. Avoiding commercial sugar smoothies and making smart smoothies will help reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals and compounds. Following the smart smoothie strategies in this post will help us enjoy delicious and nutritious organic whole food smoothies. This is important information to help more people discover the dangers of sugar shock smoothies and shift to super smart smoothies instead.

This Great NEWS post regarding “Are Smoothies Health Hazards?“ offers simple and smart suggestions to make healthy smoothies that support our health and well being. As more people discover why commercial smoothies are health hazards more people will stop supporting sugar smoothie shops and help them improve their ingredients. We can collectively manifest the mindset to stop the harmful ingredients and start using the healing ingredients instead. This will help protect people and the planet from harmful additives, chemicals and compounds. “Are Smoothies a Health Hazard” is offered to help people make healthier smoothie selections to stay happy and healthy.

What is your current Gap?

Are you consuming commercial sugar smoothies and misleading yourself by thinking they are healthy? How often do you choose fast food smoothies or cut corners with unhealthy ingredients?  What example are you setting for your family?

Mastery Action Plan (MAP)

What mastery action plans will help you stop eating sugar smoothies and start making smart smoothies instead?  What else can you do to produce and promote smart smoothies for energy and vitality? Check out the Great NEWS Coach site for Exciting Energy Elixir smoothie recipes.

Call to Action

What comments, commitments or concerns come to mind regarding sugar shock smoothies?  What else can we do to stop eating sugary smoothies and start eating nutrient dense organic whole food smoothies instead?

Next week the Great NEWS blog will share:

Is Pasteurized Dairy a Health Hazard?

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