# Juices and Smoothies



## Joy H (Jan 17, 2016)

I was diagnosed in December and have been to my first clinic appointment and to see a dietician. Not liking tea or coffee, I drink a lot of fruit juice. I was told that this is 'free sugar' and a carbohydrate that should be avoided or to have a small amount. I am confused because a lot of smoothie recipes appear on the site and in various sources about diabetes. Is this because that making the fruit into a puree still means the nutrients are retained, whereas a juice removes pulp and just leaves the juice? One book I looked at mentioned that juice is okay if it is 100% and is fortified. I am not sure what to do about juice - I am currently diluting 'no sugar' squash.


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## Lynn Davies (Jan 17, 2016)

A medium orange has 15 carbs in it. To make a glass of orange you would probably use 3. What you are left with is just the sugar. The body has nothing to process so the juice is used in its purest sugar form and absorbed very quickly. 

Your body is inherently lazy and will take its energy from the easiest source so fresh juice is rocket fuel to your body and your BG will rocket.

Hope I have explained this clearly.


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## Robin (Jan 17, 2016)

Smoothies can be better for you, or they can be worse, from the point of view of not chucking a load of sugar into your system at once, depending what's in them. If you whizz up a couple of bananas, grapes and some pineapple, it's going to contain loads of sugar which will hit your system as fast as the orange juice. If they contain a lot of green veg, kale, etc, and berries, there will be plenty of fibre in them to slow down the speed at which the sugar gets into the system.. (It's still probably better to eat the fruit and veg in their whole form, though.)


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## Dolphin5star (Jan 18, 2016)

Hi to all,
I have bought a Smoothie Maker thinking it's healthy n now told can't use it by my Diabetes trainer I am not happy when I go to docs I am going to ask him so that means I have wasted 40 pounds.

Dolphin5star.


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## Copepod (Jan 18, 2016)

Not necessarily a waste of money. Berries are generally the fruits lowest in sugar. Adding water or milk or plain yogurt also works. Personally, I use a Kenwood liquidiser that I inherited after my grandma died about 13 years ago. The machine must be at least 25 years old.


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## Lynn Davies (Jan 18, 2016)

Just think of that Saturday morning treat of a strawberry and blueberry smoothie made with almond milk - yummmmm


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## JamesAM (Jan 31, 2016)

Pure fruit smoothies are possibly the worst thing we can all eat (drink?!). Not only does it mean you can physically eat more...imagine eating 2 bananas, a handful of grapes and a handful of blueberries in one sitting in their usual form...I know I would feel very full and probably wouldn't eat for a while. If you drink it though, you could easily eat again in a couple of hours. Time and again, studies have shown that people who drink fruit smoothies on a regular basis eat far more calories in the same day than those who eat the equivalent in whole fruit. 

Even worse, the blender blade also chops up the fruit into such small pieces they can be instantly absorbed by your body, beginning in the mouth itself. There is no difference between a glass of orange juice or full fat coke as far as sugars are concerned. You can quite happily drink a glass of coke right before a meal and polish it all off (with a refill of the coke alongside!). If you ate 3 oranges before a meal, I think you would struggle...to finish the last orange. 

The reason is because the whole fruit contains all of the pith, in-tact cells and potentially the skin, which is packed full of fibre. As others have mentioned above, if you are going to make a smoothie, stick to vegetables or add full-fat yoghurt. The fat will mask the absorption of sugar and the fibre in the vegetables has the same effect. There are loads of recipes online.

Hope this helps!


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## T1Cathy (Feb 7, 2016)

I normally have a smoothie for breakfast but I go for a handful of fresh / frozen berries along with kale, oats and chia - there's not a load of "free sugar" in it, and plenty of fiber to lower the GI, but the taste might take you a bit of getting used to. I definitely wouldn't drink fruit juice unless I was hypo - way too much sugar imo


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