Warning: sweet liquids (even "all natural fruit juice") make you fat

[drscott]

This article discusses those sweet, caffeinated smoothies Starbucks sells, and their desire to sell them to kids without appearing to market to children directly. They are introducing Frappucino™ juice blends; I don't see nutritional info on the new drinks on their web site, but they are probably even worse than the existing Frappucinos, which typically have more than 400 calories of (mostly) sugar (80 g carbs) for a 16-oz serving. This is a sugar bomb -- drinking one of these will spike your blood sugar, leading to more fat deposition followed by a carb-craving coma.

Note that Jamba Juice-ish smoothies are almost as bad, usually having 200+ calories of sugar in the same 16 oz. format. But juicing fruit lets the liquid sugars enter your bloodstream quickly, whereas fruit itself slowly releases its nutritional value as the cell walls break down in your digestive system, which is much better.

I'm not suggesting (as surely some will) that some government should step in to protect children (or anyone else) from unhealthy processed foods. But the constant advertising of fruit juice as something healthy misleads people into thinking they are choosing wisely when they pick up one of these.

It's not unusual for people to have several of these concoctions a week. Then they wonder why they can't stop gaining weight....

Comments

[furfairy.livejournal.com]

There goes my alcohol and crack hobby/diet idea! Damn! It really is true what you say about fat. I think nonfat artificially sweetened yogurt is evil. It's packaged fainting goop. The natural sugar that is in it isn't inhibited by fat. Yet the body reacts to the artificial sugar with an insulin attack way out of proportion to the actual sugar it can effect in the yogurt. The stuff, sold at the greek deli across from my office, makes me catatonic.

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

I've always felt that artificial sweetners did more damage than good. It makes the body think there is something sweet when there isn't anything.

BTW, heard your parents haven't been too well of late. I hope they are doing better and give them my regards.