Smoothies, juicing and greens powders

There are two machines on New Zealand benches that both turn fruit into something you drink, and they do very different things. A blender chops the whole fruit, skin, pulp and all, into a thick drink. A juicer presses or spins the liquid out and throws most of the pulp into a separate bin. That one difference explains most of what is worth knowing about smoothies and juice.

What juicing costs you

Look in the pulp bin of a juicer after a few apples and carrots and you are looking at much of the fibre those foods contained. The glass holds the water, the natural sugars and the flavour. That is why a glass of juice tastes so sweet and goes down so quickly, and why it takes several pieces of fruit to make one glass.

The World Health Organization draws a clear line here. Its 2015 sugars guideline recommends that adults and children keep free sugars below 10 percent of their total energy intake, with a further reduction below 5 percent described as a conditional recommendation. It defines free sugars as sugars added to food and drink, plus the sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. It specifically does not include the sugars in fresh whole fruit and vegetables. You can read the definition in the WHO’s announcement of the guideline.

So by that definition, an orange is fruit and a glass of orange juice is a source of free sugar. Same tree, different glass.

Why a smoothie is different, up to a point

A blended smoothie keeps the fibre, because nothing is thrown away. That makes it more filling than juice and closer to eating the fruit. But a smoothie is still easy to overdo. It is quick to drink two bananas, a cup of mango, a handful of dates and a big glass of juice blended together, which is a lot of fruit sugar in one sitting and probably more fruit than you would sit down and eat.

Some habits keep a smoothie sensible:

• Use water, milk or plain yoghurt as the liquid, not juice.
• Put a vegetable in. A handful of baby spinach disappears behind berries. Frozen cauliflower makes a smoothie thick and cold without much taste.
• Count the fruit. One or two handfuls is plenty for one glass.
• Think of it as food. A smoothie with milk, yoghurt and oats is breakfast. A smoothie with a meal is a big meal.

What a realistic glass looks like

Health New Zealand’s guidance is to have at least seven servings of vegetables and fruit every day, where a serving is about a handful, with a mix of colours and vegetables or fruit at every meal. That guidance is on the Health New Zealand eating well page, which also says water is the best drink.

A 250 ml glass of smoothie made with a handful of fruit and a handful of vegetables is a fair way to get two of those servings. A pint-sized café smoothie made mostly of fruit and juice is a sweet treat. Both have their place. It helps to know which one you are holding.

The charity 5+ A Day has plenty of ideas for getting more fruit and vegetables into ordinary meals, which in the end matters more than the machine you use.

Greens powders, as food not medicine

Greens powders are dried and ground leaves and grasses, often wheatgrass, barley grass, spinach, kale, spirulina or chlorella, sometimes blended with fruit powders, sweeteners and flavourings. A scoop is stirred into water or a smoothie.

Seen plainly, they are a dried vegetable product, a bit like dried herbs in a larger dose. Some are sold as ordinary foods. Others are sold as dietary supplements, which in New Zealand can be sold under the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 rather than the general food standards. Either way, a powder is not medicine, and what it can say on the tub is limited.

What they are good for: a quick way to add a little green colour and an earthy, grassy flavour to a drink, if you like that taste. Some people find it a useful habit.

What they are not: a replacement for vegetables on the plate. A scoop weighs a few grams. A handful of fresh spinach weighs about 30 g, and a serve of cooked broccoli much more. Drying concentrates some things and loses others, and you lose the crunch, the fibre bulk and the meal around it.

Cost per serve

Greens powders are among the most expensive things in the pantry per serve. Do the sum before you buy. If a 300 g tub costs $60 and a scoop is 10 g, that is 30 scoops at $2 each. A 1 kg bag of frozen spinach at $5 gives about 33 serves of 30 g at 15 cents each, or more if you use less.

Frozen spinach, peas, mixed vegetables and berries are the cheapest and easiest smoothie boosters in a New Zealand supermarket. They are picked and frozen quickly, keep for months, and go straight into the blender.

The short version

Blend rather than juice if you want a drink that is closer to the fruit. Keep the glass modest, put a vegetable in it, and use water or milk instead of juice. Treat greens powders as an optional, expensive dried vegetable, not a fix for anything. And keep eating the vegetables.

General information only — not medical or dietary advice. For advice about your own diet, see your GP or a NZ-registered dietitian.