Smoothies have a funny reputation. Some people assume that all smoothies are healthy, while others are wary of smoothies due to this unrealistic reputation.
I was recently asked if it would be a healthy choice to consume salads in smoothie form. This person told me she ate a salad every day for lunch and was wondering whether it would be okay to blend those salad ingredients up into a smoothie instead.
Smoothie Benefits
It’s a perfectly fine choice to consume salad ingredients as a smoothie. Smoothies make a convenient meal that you can easily eat on
the go. It’s also a great way to eat some healthy foods that you might not normally eat, such as spinach.
Smoothie Hazards
It is important, however, to be aware of the potential downsides of going with a smoothie on a regular basis. Smoothies are:
- generally sweeter than salads. Watch out that you’re not sweetening it to match your smoothie preferences.
- faster to consume than salads. This can lead to overconsumption, as your stomach takes some time to let you know that you are full
- often a source of calcium. This may sound like a good thing, but if milk or a milk alternative is used, the calcium can lower the amount of iron your body absorbs from the ‘green’ ingredients
- low in fat. Again, this may seem like a good thing if you’re used to thinking of fat as a bad thing, but fat is actually needed to absorb the vitamins a and k found in spinach. The dressing in salad provides this fat, and is one significant benefit of consuming your greens as a salad.
Considering the pros and cons, perhaps it’s best to take a varied approach, eating a salad some days and a smoothie on others. Variety
is usually a safe bet when it comes to nutrition, as it’s the key to a well-balanced diet!
Here are some ways to add more protein to your smoothies.
And 7 ways to get MORE out of your smoothies!
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I’ve been systematically reading your posts, and this came at just the right time! I’ve been on this smoothie kick but wasn’t sure if it was a better idea to actually chew the food or not (if that makes sense). The conclusion I came to was if I varied it and did both I couldn’t go wrong.
Yes, and I think it’s important to be aware of how easy it is to slurp down more food when it’s in liquid form. Take your time sipping your smoothie and check in with your body to see when it’s full 🙂
So yogurt in smoothies with spinach is a good idea to absorb the vitamins in spinach I’m assuming. I didn’t know that about the diary and iron though.
Yes, as long as the yogurt has some fat in it then it will help your body to absorb the vitamin A and vitamin K in the spinach!
Some good points…a thought, though: I think the terms “salad” and “smoothie” could be clarified a bit. I’m assuming by “salad” you don’t mean a pile of lettuce smothered in mayonnaise topped with crumbles of fried chicken breast (if this is your choice of salad chances are any green smoothie would be a better choice of health food). I think you’re being a bit harder on smoothies than on salads…even a ‘good’ salad with cheese and a dairy based dressing would be just as likely to block iron absorption as a smoothie with a bit of milk in it, depending on the ratios of ingredients, right? Especially if you load on the dressing. Throw in some candied almonds and dried cranberries and chances are you’ve got just as much, if not more, sugar, fat, and dairy than in the smoothie you describe. Either of these options could be nutritious or not, packed with some vitamins but not others, etc, depending on what you put in them.
I wholeheartedly agree! A salad (or a smoothie) is only as good as the ingredients you put in it. Slathering lettuce with caesar dressing and topping with croutons and fried chicken would be a far cry from a healthful choice. Think back about 10-15 years. Back then if you asked someone whether a burger or a caesar salad was healthier, you’d probably get a near 100% in favour of the caesar salad. People have been calling out the inherent healthfulness of a salad and now if you repeated it you’d probably get more mixed results! I think today that’s the story with smoothies. People tend to think they are inherently healthy. With this article I wanted to draw attention to some aspects of a smoothie to consider when consuming one. The main one (for me) is that when food is consumed through a straw a lot of people will over consume! Thanks for weighing in!
Bummer about the dairy/spinach thing! Can you at least tell me all the good stuff is partially getting absorbed? Funny, I had a smoothie with spinach, yogurt, strawberries and banana for lunch today and I stayed full for hours. 🙂
Iron will be partially absorbed… but honestly, dairy drastically reduces absorption! However, if someone’s iron status is fine, I wouldn’t worry about it. If not, I would say this person should see me for a counselling session on how to boost one’s iron status through food 🙂
As for the fullness factor, I’ve started to write a post about how foods in liquid form, such as soups and smoothies, can keep you fuller for longer!