These days you can buy smoothies nearly anywhere, it all started with smoothie bars but now you can find smoothies in just about every location, even supermarkets sell pre-made smoothies.
But, are store-bought smoothies any better than homemade smoothies? Are they equal? Or is there a clear winner?
If we are honest we all know the answer, real smoothies are always going to be the best, but let’s break it down for you.
Which Is Better? – Homemade Smoothies vs Store Bought:
Smoothies off supermarket shelves are not real, genuine smoothies.
They are pretty far apart from a smoothie that has been freshly prepared smoothies that have no added sugars or preservatives.
Using fresh ingredients to make your smoothies ensures you have control over what you will ingest, but store-bought smoothies do not come with this luxury and are usually full of bad additives.
Store-Bought
Store-bought smoothies are usually heated and have fewer fresh ingredients, they also contain preservatives.
Shelves of pre-made smoothies also tend to contain a lot of processed ingredients, not made from whole fruits, which also means that they will be lacking important nutrients.
Weirdly they are also quite expensive as well, nor are they fresh, so it is worthwhile considering what you are paying for.
Furthermore, shop-bought smoothies contain a lot of sugar.
Homemade
Homemade smoothies do not contain, or even have any need to contain any preservatives or additional sugars, they are 100% natural, and you can customize them to work for the nutritional and mineral requirements you have, personally.
You can lose any worry about any processed ingredients and guarantee freshness.
Important Factors To Consider
If you are stuck trying to decide if you should start making smoothies every day at home, or if, perhaps, store-bought smoothies may be easier. Let’s consider a few things.
Store Bought Smoothies Have Been Sitting On The Shelves For a While
Remember that while the smoothies you can buy in a superstore can be tasty, they are often in plastic bottles that have been sitting there for weeks or even months.
Plastic bottles are also not exactly safe, they’re bad for the environment, and some believe they can transfer harmful substances from the plastic into the smoothie.
Homemade Smoothies Are Quality Controlled, Store-Bought Ones Are Not
If you make a smoothie yourself, then you can use fresh ingredients, ensuring you enjoy a high-quality beverage.
But, a store-bought smoothie will often be more pulp or juice than it is natural ingredients.
Also, you cannot control the freshness or ripeness of the ingredients in your smoothies if a smoothie is pre-made and bottled by someone else.
Is It Cheaper To Make Or Buy Smoothies?
There is no guarantee you can save money by making a smoothie yourself, or by buying a ready-made one.
Most basic smoothies will contain a milk base, berries, and some protein powder (the most common shelf-bought ones).
These will often be $4.99 if you bought one at a smoothie store. However, if you bought the ingredients yourself, it would cost around the same price.
But, with the amount of ingredients you buy, you might be able to make more smoothies out of them, which will work out much cheaper.
However, generally, it costs about the same to make a smoothie at home if you use premium ingredients as it does for a store-bought smoothie.
The main difference is quality. A pre-made smoothie will always have less quality than a fresh one, but they cost around the same.
So, if you are fixed on ensuring you get your money’s worth, a fresh homemade smoothie is better value for money.
Are Homemade Smoothies Healthy?
Smoothies made at home are healthier than store-bought ones, but we cannot say they are all healthy, as it truly depends on what you put in them.
If you put a lot of high-sugar fruits as well as fruit juice into a smoothie then it is healthy, to a point, but also high in sugar.
A green smoothie made at home, fresh, is the healthiest smoothie of all, while many green smoothies at smoothie stores and on shop shelves are usually not very healthy, they often contain juice, so even though they have all the goodness of a green smoothie, the fruit juices usually ruin it.
Fresh homemade smoothies also often contain tonnes of fiber and are often rich in vitamins due to their freshness as well.
Are Store Bought Smoothies Healthy?
The simple answer is no. However, there are some exceptions.
Most store-bought smoothies are made from cheaper, processed ingredients, remember, even though you can buy the ingredients for a similar price, the manufacturer and seller need to make a profit, so they are rarely made from genuine ingredients.
They are often made from fruit juices and purees, which concentrate sugars, but remove a lot of the nutritional benefit of a whole fruit being added.
Meaning that store-bought smoothies tend to be lower in minerals, fiber, vitamins, and phytonutrients.
One way to ensure you are buying a healthier store-bought smoothie, especially from a smoothie bar, is by customizing it yourself.
Pick the best freshest ingredients, and avoid adding fruit juices, and processed ingredients.
Overall
Smoothies you have prepared yourself at home, green smoothies especially will have a very high concentration of nutrients, vitamins, enzymes, fibers, and antioxidants, which makes our diets more complete and healthy.
When we enjoy homemade smoothies we increase our daily intake of raw foods, also gaining a better acid and base balance in our bodies, as many homemade smoothies are very high in alkaline components.
Smoothies you buy off of the shelf will lack a lot of vital substances due to the process of individual production and often lose nutrition while increasing the sugars.
In our opinion, natural, fresh, homemade smoothies will never be beaten in quality. No store-bought smoothie will ever be able to compare.
Additionally, she spent a few years working for Smoothie King, where she gained extensive knowledge about making smoothies.
- 11 Best Smoothie Bowl Toppings [With Recipe] - May 29, 2023
- Dates Smoothie For Weight Loss - May 29, 2023
- Is Premier Protein Good For You: Answered - May 28, 2023
No Comments