Does blending (Vitamix, Blendtec) fruits and vegetables cause any nutrient loss?

[veritas]

Green smoothies are all the rage nowadays. 

 

 

Yet, I was wondering if I'm getting the same benefits from drinking smoothies as I would had I consumed them whole?

In other words, are green smoothies as healthy? And do vegetables/fruits lose any nutrients when blended into a drink?

 

 

Btw, green smoothies are not the same as juices. Juices involve removing the pulp/fibrous parts; smoothies retain the fiber.

 

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I don't think there is a scientific answer to this question, but the following problems have been mentioned before:

 

- Finely blending the fibers may cause fiber to either lose it's benefit, or even be harmful, poking into the intestinal wall.

- Part of our body's ability to recognize "fullness" is related to the effort of chewing.  You can consume a lot more blendered calories if you are  not careful.

- Some concern that high powered blenders actually rip open the ingredients at a cellular level, and therefore many vitamins may become oxidized if not consumed immediately. 

 

My conclusion after reading the various pros and cons of green smoothies is that...  they are healthy.  It's a big glass of salad and fruit!  But as in all things, moderation may be key. 

[history_junkie]

I don't think there is a scientific answer to this question, but the following problems have been mentioned before:

 

- Finely blending the fibers may cause fiber to either lose it's benefit, or even be harmful, poking into the intestinal wall.

- Part of our body's ability to recognize "fullness" is related to the effort of chewing.  You can consume a lot more blendered calories if you are  not careful.

- Some concern that high powered blenders actually rip open the ingredients at a cellular level, and therefore many vitamins may become oxidized if not consumed immediately. 

 

My conclusion after reading the various pros and cons of green smoothies is that...  they are healthy.  It's a big glass of salad and fruit!  But as in all things, moderation may be key. 

 

What about blending baby food? What if the fruit and veggies are lightly cooked? Now I'm concerned!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

What about blending baby food? What if the fruit and veggies are lightly cooked? Now I'm concerned!

 

Again, I am no expert, but I went through a green smoothie "phase" for a while, and so read a LOT on them, including some negative opinions that I summarized above.  A couple things:

 

The blenders mentioned by the OP are EXTREMELY high powered industrial blenders.  I believe Jamba Juice uses the vitamix, so you know those things have got to stand up to some wear and tear and are incredibly powerful.  A standard home blender or food processor does not have the same kind of rpms as a vitamix does, so there is less concern that foods can actually become "overblended" and start to tear up at the cellular or molecular level. 

 

I would not be overly concerned about baby food.  :-)  My personal feeling on baby food is that pureed baby food should be a brief phase on your way to fork mashed and finger food baby food, but that's just my opinion.  :-)  If you make your own homemade baby food in a standard blender, I'm sure you've noticed it's not nearly as smooth and uniform as the store-bought stuff.  Good!  That stuff from the store sort of freaks me out.  :-)   Also, two of my kids went straight to fork mashed and finger foods... you don't HAVE to do purees! 

[Slache]

I would think that beginning the process of breaking them down would mean that digesting them was easier and therefore you would absorb more of the nutrition. We were told to soak our almonds for that reason.

[history_junkie]

Again, I am no expert, but I went through a green smoothie "phase" for a while, and so read a LOT on them, including some negative opinions that I summarized above.  A couple things:

 

The blenders mentioned by the OP are EXTREMELY high powered industrial blenders.  I believe Jamba Juice uses the vitamix, so you know those things have got to stand up to some wear and tear and are incredibly powerful.  A standard home blender or food processor does not have the same kind of rpms as a vitamix does, so there is less concern that foods can actually become "overblended" and start to tear up at the cellular or molecular level. 

 

I would not be overly concerned about baby food.  :-)  My personal feeling on baby food is that pureed baby food should be a brief phase on your way to fork mashed and finger food baby food, but that's just my opinion.  :-)  If you make your own homemade baby food in a standard blender, I'm sure you've noticed it's not nearly as smooth and uniform as the store-bought stuff.  Good!  That stuff from the store sort of freaks me out.  :-)   Also, two of my kids went straight to fork mashed and finger foods... you don't HAVE to do purees! 

 

I just have a Ninja, so it's definitely not pulp :-)

[DianeW88]

I have a Vitamix.  You can blend the ingredients as little or as much as you want, so you control the mushiness factor.  If you put in vegetables and liquid and blend it enough, you actually get heated soup.  Yep.  You don't have to cook it, the blender heats it for you.  It's fabulous!

[veritas]

I have a Vitamix.  You can blend the ingredients as little or as much as you want, so you control the mushiness factor.  If you put in vegetables and liquid and blend it enough, you actually get heated soup.  Yep.  You don't have to cook it, the blender heats it for you.  It's fabulous!

 

 

 

Would such heat not destroy some of the nutrients?

[dirty ethel rackham]

Would such heat not destroy some of the nutrients?

 

I don't think any more than cooking them would.  We are talking soup here and most people eat that hot :p .

 

[DianeW88]

Would such heat not destroy some of the nutrients?

 

 

I don't think any more than cooking them would.  We are talking soup here and most people eat that hot :p .

 

 

Yep...I want my soup hot. :D

[redsquirrel]

my guess is that store bought babyfood is def heated to boiling etc as part of the canning process. The jars are then prob heat processed as well. But my babes never ate enough of that to count as a nutritional supplement. It was more like 'practice eating'. They got the majority of their nutrition from breastmilk. They gradually transitioned over to solid food on their own schedule. My second kid might not have ever had traditional babyfood.

 

I own a vitamix and we love green smoothies. Might it destroy some nutrients? Sure, it might. So does cutting vegetables or washing them or freezing them or eating them, lol. But are they devoid of nutrients? No. I eat veggies at almost every meal and have a green smoothie every day in addition to the vegetables I eat in whole form. Some of my veggies are raw and some are cooked. I doubt what I am eating is devoid of nutrients or nutritionally worthless.

 

When I make a green smoothies I add in ice and some frozen spinach to prevent it from heating up in the blender. I like my smoothies really smooth so I blend them very well.