Coffee V’s Smoothie

So which is healthier for you,  coffee of smoothie?

You would think it would be obvious but here are some extraneous bits and pieces of information to consider it’s not as clear cut as fruit v’s caffeine.

There are a million and five studies out there that will prove coffee causes cancer, heart attacks, pregnant women to miscarry…these methods mainly compare one group of people that drink coffee – to a group that don’t.

The problem with this approach is that coffee drinkers are more likely than non-coffee drinkers to have other “bad” habits, like drinking alcohol or smoking, so it is hard to determine which factors are doing harm.

Scientists collected data of 130,000 men and women and then followed them for over 20 years they found that coffee is rather a good thing (The Relationship of coffee Consumption and Mortality) Annals of Internal Medicine, June 2008.

They concluded basically that “regular coffee consumption was not associated with an increased mortality rate in either men or women”.

Now let’s take a look at the average fruit smoothie.

We all know that eating fresh fruits and vegetables are part of a healthy lifestyle.

But who ever said that mashing it into oblivion and gulping it down was a good idea?

In a study published in August 2013 in the British Medical Journal (Fruit Consumption and the Risk of Type 2 Diasbetes) the results showed clearly that eating fruit cuts the risk of developing diabetes however drinking it appears to do just the opposite.

The problem comes with the amount of sugar produced by most fruits.

Whilst blueberries are packed with antioxidants and are attributed to several health benefits, apples grapes and strawberries are high in sugar and acidity and not so laden with anti oxidants.

Sugary drinks raise levels of insulin and persistently high levels of insulin are associated with increased risk of some cancers.

The researchers point out that many things that protect against bowel cancer, such as antioxidants and fibre, are lost or diminished during the process of ‘juicing.’

Possibly try a vegetable smoothie, carrot and tomato are just as healthy and not so laden with sugar so won’t rot your teeth or give you an 11am ‘sugar crash.’

Of course- commercial shop bought drinks are going not going to be as healthy as beverages prepared at home.

Likewise, coffee prepared in your kitchen, with your milk is not going to be laden with saturated fat and sugar…well unless you spoon it in yourself.

The age old adage ‘everything in moderation’ seems to be the best bet…and remember that drinking copious amounts of either coffee or juice should not substitute a healthy breakfast.