Artificial nutrition supplements are an easy way to get quick nutrition. But just because they are full of vitamins and minerals doesn't mean they are the healthy choice. These nutrition shakes are full of preservatives and fake ingredients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a term for this - GRAS or generally recognized as safe. But what it really means is that the agency has not gotten around to regulating them properly.
What you eat matters
While these drinks do provide plenty of nutrients in a small container, it is still not the best choice for a balanced diet. These nutrition shakes are full of ingredients that are unnecessary to eat with a proper diet and lifestyle. Many of the ingredients added to these shakes are either synthetic or from questionable sources.
Lecithin is a good example of an artificial ingredient in these drinks. Lecithin is derived from soybeans, but not necessarily the healthiest choice when considering complete nutrition and healthy eating. Even if lecithin is derived from soybean oil, it is not necessarily healthy as it has been linked to nausea and diarrhea.
A look into your diet
Here a look into some more of the ingredients you can find in some of these artificial health drinks.
Acesulfame potassium is a calorie-free sweetener that has been around since 1967. What's the catch? Well, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, they ""do not know"" if drinking artificially sweetened beverages might be linked with cancer.
Carrageenan is a substance extracted from Red Seaweed like Hizikia Fusiforme. It's found in many foods and products and it's used to thicken and stabilize food, as well as emulsify ingredients. It has many properties that help thicken liquids and make them look more appealing.
It also helps improve the texture of the product that it's added to by making it spreadable or creamy. These qualities are why carrageenan is found in many of today's artificial health drinks.
Cellulose Gum is a thickening agent made from the cell wall of plants. Cellulose Gum is used to create texture and is often found in nutrition shakes.
So why?
Why do these companies go through all of this? It is just to make these drinks look more appealing and taste better. There's no need to deal with all of these artificial ingredients and added sugars when there are better alternatives, like the nutrient-rich, organic ingredients in every SmoothieBox flavor.