Smoothies have become extremely popular because they are a convenient quick meal-on-the-go, and can hold your daily fruit and veg requirement in one or two servings. In your five portions, which is the recommended daily intake for the average person at 80g per portion, you’ll get a good mix of nutrients. Throw your fave mix of them into a blender, and that five-a-day is quick and easy to achieve.
You might be tempted to make a couple of smoothies in one go, prepping your healthy meal replacements for the week, ahead of schedule. But while this may save you time, you won’t actually be getting all that goodness that you think you are, despite creating a seemingly nutrient-dense smoothie. And with research showing that only 10% of Americans eat their recommended daily five-a-day, you want as much goodness in those smoothies as possible.
The reason is because nutrients start to break down when they are exposed to air, and the longer your smoothie waits to be enjoyed, the fewer vitamins and minerals it will actually have in it. This process, called oxidation, is triggered as the enzymes in the fruit and veg react to the oxygen in the air. The nutrients, especially vitamin C, then start to break down, which naturally means that their nutritional value decreases. Then you’ll just be sipping on a tasty drink that is possibly quite high in sugar — because many fruits tend to have a very high sugar content, especially bananas, apples, mangoes, grapes, oranges, and watermelon — but low in overall nutrients.
Save your nutrients through correct handling
Your smoothie can also lose nutrients through light and heat. Heat activates enzymes that break down vitamins and minerals, so keeping your smoothie in a bottle in your bag until lunchtime means it’s likely to be losing nutrients as you’re typing away at your computer. Lower temperatures help slow down the degrading process, so it’s best to keep your smoothie in the fridge if you’re having it for lunch. And different types of light can affect your nutrient hold or breakdown. Too much UV light can cause your nutrients to degrade, particularly our vitamin C once again, so keep your drink out of the sunshine, too.
Air, heat, and light can also affect the color, taste, and texture of your smoothie contents, never mind the nutritional content. The interaction of the enzymes with these three elements can cause browning in some fresh ingredients, so while you started out with a fresh bright-green smoothie, by lunchtime you may well be slugging down a dull green-and-brown mix that may smell and taste funny.
So what it all boils down to is that to enjoy the perfect smoothie that looks and tastes wonderful, while holding all the important and promised nutrients that your body needs, you need to drink it as soon as possible after making it. That’s where on-the-go mobile blenders like this one from Amazon become so useful, because you can bring your whole fruit and veg to the office, and in your lunch hour quickly chop it up and blend it right there in the built-in cup.
