Does Blending Destroy Nutritions?

[dave_]

I drink smoothies everyday and loving them.But recently i heard that blending destroys as much as %90 of nutritions in vegetables.Although there seems to be no scientific studies to back this up it made sense to me because blender sucks the oxygen and in the process mixes the o2 and vegetable juice together.That may cause lots of oxidation.

I am giving some links:

Below is Dr. Brian Clement's videos who is behind the calims that blending destroys nutritions

Below two are pro-blending websites' articles that criticize Dr. Brian Clement


http://greenreset.com/blending/

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/...ding-green-smoothies-destroy-90-of-nutrients/

 

[Ouroboros]

I think there's some truth to this, perhaps not 90%, but a portion of the vitamins will oxidize and/or react with other vitamins/compounds. In chemistry or labs they have these things where they spin or stir mixes of things, and they do it for a reason, to make the chemical reactions occur, and in the end, vitamins and such are essentially chemicals. But, 90%... that sounds way too high.

 

[dust1n]

MMmm, never heard of it and can't find anything immediately.

I know that cooking vegetables different ways lead to different rates of nutrient degradation.

Generally, Steaming retains the most, followed by microwaving, stir frying, stir frying/boiling, while boiling causes the greatest lost of consumable nutrients, at least in broccoli. Raw vegetables honestly lose nothing, but in general, the body has a lot more difficult of a time digesting this than cooked foods. No reason to keep that much content if you can't actually ingest it all.

 

[Penumbra]

That particular claim is not evidenced, and it sounds highly exaggerated. Not even boiling vegetables does that much nutrient damage per minute. If blending is literally an order of magnitude more destructive to nutrients than boiling, that sounds like something that would be evidenced. When I make smoothies I only blend for about 15 seconds anyway.

Recommendations for optimization of vegetable nutrients are all over the place. Cooking can destroy nutrients, so it's supposedly best to eat raw veggies. But cooking can also unlock nutrients and reduce some harmful things, so we're supposed to eat cooked veggies. Blending can destroy nutrients. Too many oxalates in excessive amounts of leafy greens may cause health issues.

I think the answer is to eat a diverse amount of vegetables, prepared in diverse ways. I don't understand people that eat like three blended veggie smoothies everyday. People tend to screw things up when they do almost anything to excess. Eating some things raw, eating some things lightly cooked, and eating a variety of fruits and vegetables across the color spectrum (because nutrients are often correlated to the pigments), reduces risks of eating too much of something harmful, or missing out on something useful. I have a veggie/fruit smoothie some mornings, and then all the later veggie servings in the day are just whole raw, or whole steamed/stir-fried lightly.

 

[Penumbra]

Cool experiment: regular blender (lots of oxidation) vs immersion stick blender (little oxidation):

It's exaggerated because the bananas were blended unnecessarily long in the regular blender. But it shows that if you're hardcore into blending, it's worth considering getting an immersion stick blender and/or blending with a regular blender for just short amounts of time, because you'll keep oxidation to a minimum.

 

[Ouroboros]

Another issue with blending is that it breaks down the fibers and makes the sugars more accessible, which can cause spikes in blood sugar levels. On the other hand (if I understand it right) blended fruits and vegetables are easier to digest and less constipation.