Looking for a smoother way to get your FIVE-A-DAY?

Smoothies are packed with nutrients and fibre

UNLESS you've been living on the moon for the past year you can't fail to have noticed that sugar has become public enemy number one. But what many reports fail to point out is that there is a huge difference between the sugar that you might spoon into your tea or coffee or sprinkle over breakfast cereal and the natural sugars contained in a banana, glass of pure fruit juice or fruit smoothie.

 

One of the unfortunate consequences of the witch-hunt against sugar and all things sweet is that many healthy foods and drinks have been unfairly vilified.

Focusing on a single nutrient without considering what else it has to offer is short-sighted and means you could be missing out on a lot of good stuff.

Yes, smoothies and juices do contain sugar but often they are natural sugars that come from the fruit and vegetables used to make them. More importantly, that sugar comes packaged with other nutrients and fibre that can help keep us healthy and reduce the risk of a raft of medical conditions.

Here are six reasons to include them in your diet:

Smoothies and juices do contain sugar but often they are natural sugars that come from the fruit and vegetables used to make them

 

FRUIT AND VEG

You may think it's rare to find a topic on which nutritionists agree these days but one subject there is no argument about is the fact that many of us don't eat nearly enough fruit and vegetables.

Although most of us are well aware of the five-a-day message surprisingly few of us manage to reach the target.

Even people who like fruit and vegetables can find it a struggle and for those who aren't keen, it can seem like an impossible target.

A small glass (150ml) of pure fruit or vegetable juice will count as one of your five-a-day and a 250ml smoothie counts as two.

So if you're struggling to reach five portions then one of these provides a quick and easy solution. Smoothies and juices are also a great way to broaden the variety of fruit and vegetables you eat, so although you might not enjoy eating beetroot or spinach as part of meal you might like it in a juice or smoothie instead.

Making sure your diet contains a variety of different fruit and vegetables is important because they all contain different nutrients which help to keep you healthy in different ways.

 

Try some spinach in your smoothie to increase your fruit & veg intake

FIBRE

The very same report that fuelled all the headlines on sugar earlier this year also made a recommendation about dietary fibre which was that we need to increase the amount of fibre that we eat to 30g per day. Given that the average intake of fibre in the UK is 15g per day, reaching this target is a tall order.

Smoothies are made with whole crushed fruit as well as juice which means that the fibre remains within the drink. A study carried out at Oxford Brookes University found that puréeing fruit did not damage the fibre in any way.

VITAMIN C

Fruit juices and smoothies are a good source of vitamin C and while it's true that vitamin C deficiency isn't a common problem in the UK, low iron stores are, especially among certain groups such as children and women.

Iron from foods such as breakfast cereals, nuts and eggs is not very well absorbed by the body. In fact studies suggest that only between 5-15 per cent of iron present in these foods is absorbed.

 

But vitamin C can enhance the absorption of iron from these foods, so having a small glass of fruit juice with a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast at breakfast offers a nutritional benefit over and above the vitamin C.

POTASSIUM

Juices and smoothies, particularly those which contain banana, orange, apricots or tomatoes, are a useful source of potassium which the Blood Pressure Association says can help to lower blood pressure by balancing out the negative effects of salt.

Visit blood pressureuk.org/ microsites/salt/Home/ Whypotassiumhelps for more information.

FOLIC ACID

Smoothies and juices can also provide useful amounts of folate, a B vitamin which is valuable for everyone but is particularly important to women who are planning to become pregnant because it helps to reduce the risk of birth defects.

 

Beetroots are packed with nutrients

PHYTOCHEMICALS

As well as vitamins and minerals fruit and vegetables contain phytochemicals, substances which occur naturally in plants.

Some of them, like beta-carotene and lycopene you've probably heard of.

But others such as hesperidin, which is found in citrus fruits, ellagic acid, found in strawberries or chlorogenic acid in apples, may not be so familiar.

There is a growing body of research to suggest they may play an important role in keeping us healthy and reducing the risk of a number of diseases including dementia, heart disease and certain types of cancer.

DID YOU KNOW?

Only one in three adults in the UK reaches the five-a-day target

It is estimated that every extra portion of fruit or vegetables you consume a day reduces your risk of heart disease by up to seven per cent

A 150ml glass of pure orange juice provides around 46 per cent of an adult's daily vitamin C needs