DIET | DETECTIVE^®

My husband has always loved smoothies.  Big, giant, fruity ones from chains like GNC, Jamba Juice, or Smoothie King.  The look on his face when he comes home with one of these frozen creations is priceless...it's the look of a man who knows he made a good choice.  A healthy choice.  A choice that will surely pass muster with his nutritionally obsessed wife.  And they always did.  Until I looked up the nutritional content on Jamba Juice's website...

I had always heard that these seemingly "healthy" beverages were  high in calories, but nothing prepared me for how high...not to mention the amount of sugar they contained.  In fact, a "Jamba Classic" in their 30oz "Power" size weighs in at over 600 calories, with over 125 grams of sugar!  I mean, that's quintuple the sugar in a Snickers bar!  And you can just forget about the "Creamy Indulgences" on thier menu, like the "Peanut Butter Moo'd" (a fave of my husband's), which tips the scales at 1170 calories, 30 grams of fat, and 169 grams of sugar.  Somebody please tell me...how on earth is that any different than drinking a milkshake? 

In all fairness, these chains do not promote their product as being low calorie, and do offer a little more in the way of fiber content or healthy "booster" supplements to bolster their product's nutritional value over that of a traditional milkshake.  Jamba Juice does offer their "Jamba Light" choices, but even the lowest calorie item, the "Berry Fulfilling" tops out at 330 calories and 53 grams of sugar for a large, and lists items as "low calorie dairy base", and Splenda in its ingredients.  Ummm...can anyone tell me why this is healthy?

Oh, and one more question....why do you need artificial sweetner to sweeten fruit??

Bookmark:

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (5)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by Kitty Jay, October 18, 2007

Shelly, That sounds great...pretty similar to my recipe, though I sometimes add some vanilla extract, and I always use yogurt (one of the healthiest foods my husband will actually eat!)

...
written by Shelly, October 16, 2007

I make my own, too. I notice you didn't include a recipe...maybe because it's kind of basic. But here's how I do my own, personal smoothie bar...

First of all, as I have great fruit, I freeze it. Bananas going bad? Peel 'em and freeze for a better time. Strawberries on sale? Stem, wash and freeze. I have a whole drawer of everything from blueberries to pitted cherries, peaches, etc. Then when I'm in a pinch for a healthy snack, a breakfast to take on the road or even a decent dessert, I can whip this up on the spot, even if the fridge is practically empty:

I toss into the blender about 2 cups of frozen fruit--or a little more or less, depending on the number of drinkers. I love to throw in at least a whole frozen banana as about half the fruit, b/c when it is blended, it makes the smoothie creamy. The rest of the fruit I shoot for berries, usually. Then I add some juice or water or milk, depending on what I have on hand. If I've got a little yogurt, I put that in too. My secret is to not add too much liquid. I err on the side of too little liquid at first. Then once I get the blender going, I can see how much is really needed just to make the mixture run freely in the caraffe. (I usually pour in the final liquid through the hole in the top of the blender while it's whirring...) I like them really thick and smooth, so once I have the liquid quantity just right, I let the blender run for about a minute to make sure there are no chunks.

That's it!! There's plenty of room for personalization, and if it comes out a little different every time, it's fun!!

...
written by On My Own, October 16, 2007

This is THE reason I make my own at home using frozen fruit, real yogurt...not frozen...and fruit juice that has no sugar. And they taste delicious!!!!!

...
written by Veggie Lover, October 15, 2007

I have never thought to check the sugar content on my health shakes. This is a real eye-opener!

...
written by Mr Big, October 15, 2007

I really like this!