Smoothies can be an extremely useful food item. Smoothies allow you to get in a wide variety and large portion of both fruits and vegetables, and can also contain ingredients such as spirulina and turmeric to improve health and decrease inflammation. Are smoothies as healthy and powerful a diet staple as so many seem to claim? For diabetics, they may not be the best.

Blended VS Whole Food

Many smoothie proponents cite the blended nature of a smoothie as one of its perks. If you are sensitive to the textures or flavors of certain foods, you can easily toss those foods into a smoothie with more powerful flavors and get your health kick in without sacrificing your taste buds.

That being said, though, consuming blended food can be problematic. Often, it is far easier to down large quantities of liquid than solid matter. This means that a snack might consist of a handful of blueberries and 4-5 strawberries, but a smoothie can easily pack in a banana, a handful of strawberries, a handful of blueberries, several ice cubes, powdered supplements, a few handfuls of spinach and kale, all without exceeding a 16-20 ounce cup.

The serving sizes in smoothies are extremely difficult to nail down, which means you can easily overshoot your calorie and sugar goals for a single meal. Liquefied meals also tend not to keep you full as long, which may lead to overeating later.

Smoothies and Diabetes

Smoothies can be wonderful sources of nutrients. This is particularly true for people who struggle to eat all of the fruit and vegetable servings suggested each day. That being said, most smoothies—even green smoothies packed with veggies—are extremely high in sugar, and can cause your body to experience a drastic hike in blood glucose.

Smoothies are particularly problematic when they are not made at home, as many places post ingredients and calorie counts, but fail to identify the exact amounts of foods in each smoothie, or fail to identify all of the sugar in the drink. If you cannot get by without a daily smoothie, or the convenience offered by a meal replacement is too much to give up, try to always make your own smoothie.

As much as possible, balance the fruits and vegetables in your concoction to keep sugar content low and fiber and nutrients high. Higher-sugar fruits should be used sparingly, while lower-sugar fruits can make up the bulk of the fruit content. This way, you get the sweet bite of a smoothie without the potential risks.