Smoothies – are they as healthy as they seem?

Grabbing some bits and pieces in a branch of M&S the other day, I noticed an eye catching display of bottled smoothies. They looked colourful and so healthy. But are they really?

Picking up one bottle, a delightful flavour combination of Mango, Avocado, Pear & Matcha, I scanned the nutrition label just to check. 

This particular smoothie (M&S Heart Smoothie) is called a 'super smoothie' with the word 'HEART' prominently displayed on the front of the label. Underneath is the declaration 'high in potassium'. This will be its heart credentials, as potassium, together with sodium, is vital for healthy heart function. But does this mean it's a healthy drink? 

Next I checked the calories per 100ml. This flavour has 78 calories per 100ml with a sugar level in the medium range at 13.1g per 100ml or 3 teaspoons. 

This may be okay if only drinking 100ml. But when pouring it from the bottle into a glass, we're likely to decant way more than this, probably twice or even three times this much. A 200ml glass would then provide 156 calories and 6 teaspoons of sugar. With the government recommending we eat no more than 7 teaspoons of free sugars per day, you can see how easy it is to consume too much sugar. 

For anyone watching their weight, this is bad news (unless you're actively exercising before or after). The free sugars in this type of drink are readily absorbed and if not utilised through exercise, will convert to fat. As the fibre content in this drink is low at 0.5g per 100ml, there's nothing to slow down the blood sugar spike that a sugar hit like this will provide.

Oh, here's another thing. The name of this smoothie is somewhat misleading. It's called a Mango, Avocado, Pear & Matcha smoothie, but the main ingredient is banana, a high sugar fruit. The second is apple, also high in sugar and not mentioned in the name. It isn't until we get to the third ingredient that mango is mentioned – and this is another high sugar fruit.  Really it should be called banana, apple and mango! 

Below are the ingredients and nutrition breakdown for this smoothie. Below that is a table with 39 different smoothies I found in various supermarkets. The table shows the number of teaspoons of sugar and calories per 750ml bottle.

Ingredients: (M&S Heart Smoothie with Mango, Avocado, Pear & Matcha)

Banana Purée (26%), Pear Juice (22%), Apple Juice (17%), Apple Purée (13%), Alphonso Mango Purée (10%), Avocado Purée (5%), Cucumber Purée (2%), Potassium Lactate, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Matcha Green Tea Powder, Spirulina Extract, Safflower Extract 

Nutrition per 100ml: 

Calories: 78 Fat: 1.6g, Sat fat: 0.4g, Carbohydrate: 15.0g, Sugars: 13.1g, Protein: 0.7g, Fibre: 0.5g, Salt: 0.03g

Popular Smoothies - 750ml bottles

Brand	Name	Calories per bottle	Tsp sugar per bottle
Naked smoothie	Lean: Watermelon & Raspberry	203	9
Savse Smoothie	Super Green	293	13
Naked smoothie	Green Machine: Apple, kiwi, pineapple, spirulina smoothie	300	15
Naked smoothie	Mango Machine: Fruit Juices and Purees with Apple Water, Turmeric	300	15
Naked smoothie	Strawberry ZING: strawberry, banana & lime smoothie	308	15
Savse Smoothie	Super Blue: Blueberry, blackcurrant, beetroot, strawberry, kale, spinach, orange and apple	323	16
Sainsbury's Smoothie	Cucumber, Kiwi & Lime	338	17
Innocent Super Smoothie	RECHARGE: Mandarin, carrot, apple, ginger & flax seeds with vitamin	338	18
Sainsbury's Smoothie	Berry	353	19
Naked smoothie	Mango ZING: mango, carrot and lime	353	15
Naked smoothie	Red machine:  apple, raspberry and strawberry with sour cherry and blood orange	360	18
Naked smoothie	Tropical ZING: Pineapple, Passion Fruit Kiwi & Lime smoothie	368	18
Naked	Blue Machine: Apple, blueberry, goji berry	368	18
Innocent smoothie	Gorgeous greens: apples, pears & kale	368	18
Sainsbury's Smoothie	Strawberry & Banana	368	18
Innocent Super Smoothie	ENERGISE: strawberry, cherry, apple, guarana & flax seeds with vitamins	390	18
Innocent smoothie	Seriously strawberry: Strawberries & bananas	398	18
Tesco smoothie	Strawberry sensation	398	18
Innocent Super Smoothie	INVIGORATE: kiwi, cucumber, apple. matcha & flax seeds with vitamins	405	20
Innocent smoothie	Magnificent mango: mangoes & passion fruits	405	20
Innocent Super Smoothie	Blue Spark: guava, pineapple, apple & blueberry spirulina with vitamins	405	18
M&S smoothie	Strawberry & Banana	420	19
M&S Super Smoothie	'DEFENSE': with vitamins B6 & B12. Apple, kiwi, spinach & lime with moringa.	420	16
Innocent Super Smoothie	CULTURE CRUSH: mango, coconut milk, apple, ginger & cultures with vitamins	428	18
Innocent smoothie	Culture crush: Mango, coconut milk, apple, ginger & cultures with vitamins	428	18
Sainsbury's Smoothie	Pineapple, Banana & Coconut	443	21
Innocent Super Smoothie	Berry protein strawberry, raspberry, apple & coconut milk with soya protein	443	17
Innocent Super Smoothie	UP & OAT: oat, apple banana & cinnamon with vitamins	443	17
Sainsbury's Smoothie	Mango & Passionfruit	450	23
Tesco smoothie	Green escape: apple, banana, white grape, mango, kiwi, cucumber and lime	450	18
Innocent smoothie	Pomegranate magic: pomegranates, blueberries & acai	458	23
Tesco smoothie	Mango & passion fruit	465	20
M&S smoothie	Super Berry	473	21
M&S Plant Kitchen smoothie	Carrot, mango & turmeric	495	19
Innocent smoothie	Totally tropical: pineapples, bananas & coconuts	495	21
Tesco smoothie	Pomegranate Crush: apple, white grape, pomegranate, blueberry, acai and lemon	495	26
M&S Juice Drink	Alcohol Free Pina Colada	548	28
M&S Super Smoothie	'PROTECT': with vitamins C & E. Orange, lemon, ginger with linseed	570	13
M&S Super Smoothie	'HEART': Mango, Avocado, Pear & Matcha	585	23

Naked Tropical Zing

Naked Strawberry Zing

Naked Green Machine smoothie

Naked Blue Machine smoothie

M&S Super Berry smoothie

M&S Strawberry & Banana smoothie

M&S Super Smoothie Protect

M&S Alcohol Free Pina Colada

M&S Super Smoothie Heart

M&S Super Smoothie Digestive

M&S Super smoothie Defence

Innocent Berry Protein Smoothie

Innocent Smoothies: Invigorate; Blue Spark; Energise

Naked Lean Smoothie

Naked Mango Zing

Make your own healthy smoothies at home

Making your own healthy smoothies at home with fresh ingredients is always a better choice and you can use lower sugar fruit and add in more vegetables. 

For inspiration here is a fantastic smoothie recipe book and two of the most popular (for a reason) NutriBullet blenders. 

NUTRiBULLET 600 Series - Nutrient Extractor High Speed Blender

 

The Best Smoothies for Weight Loss Book: 

60 Healthy Drinks Smoothies Recipes for Weight Loss Diets

NutriBullet 900W Blender Champagne Multi-Function 

Cold Beverage Smoothie Maker 

© Diets and Calories 2021