
Even though the whole food we pop into the blender may have the same nutrients as the liquid smoothie, how those nutrients are absorbed can be affected by their form and structure. - Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS
Bill W. asks, “Is drinking many of our fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds in a smoothie as healthy and nutritious as eating them?” Surprisingly, even though the whole food we pop into the blender may have the same nutrients as the liquid smoothie, how those nutrients are absorbed can be affected by their form and structure. A 2019 paper published in the journal Food & Function describes how researchers tested the digestibility of three different forms of foods (solid, semisolid and liquid) that were identical in nutrient content. Then they measured how the varied forms of food affected appetit...