Not just a health kick: time to re-evaluate the role of smoothies in glycaemic response and healthy eating
ORCID
- Kathy M. Redfern: 0000-0003-4885-493X
- Gail A. Rees: 0000-0003-3775-8803
- Nathaniel J. Clark: 0000-0002-0968-503X
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a rise in popularity and subsequent consumption of both commercial and home-prepared smoothies due to the perceived health benefits of increasing fruit and vegetable intake in this way [1]. Under current public health guidance in the UK and Europe, smoothies are considered as fruit juices and should be limited to <150 ml/day and can only count towards one portion of fruit and vegetables. The current advice is largely based on the perceived ability of juiced fruits to increase the bioaccessibility of free sugars in the gut, resulting in faster uptake into the blood compared to whole foods and causing an elevated post prandial glycaemic response. However, there is a key difference between juiced fruits, such as orange juice, where the pulp of the fruit is removed, and smoothies, where the whole fruit is blended and consumed. The logic here is that by ingesting whole fruit, the digestive processes to break this down and release the equivalent free sugars is slower and results in a smaller glycaemic response. The issue is that recurrent elevated glycaemic response is a key risk factor for declining metabolic health, leading to conditions such as type 2 diabetes [2]. However, recent studies have suggested that consuming fruits in their blended form, such as smoothies, may not be detrimental for glycaemic control, and in some cases, may improve it by up to 57% [3, 4]. As adults in the UK do not currently eat enough fruit and vegetables, with only 33% of adults meeting the 5 a day recommendation [5], the potential for smoothies to increase fruit consumption whilst not adversely affecting metabolic health will require a change in public health advice.
Publication Date
2025-04-02
Publication Title
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
ISSN
0954-3007
Embargo Period
2025-10-02
Keywords
Fruit and Vegetable Juices, Fruit, glycaemic index, glycemic control, obesity
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Redfern, K., Walter, T., Rees, G., & Clark, N. (2025) 'Not just a health kick: time to re-evaluate the role of smoothies in glycaemic response and healthy eating', European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, . Available at: 10.1038/s41430-025-01599-w
This item is under embargo until 02 October 2025
