Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Do smoothie "boosts" really work?

mariahlullaby

mariahlullaby

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 19, 2005
852
3
NYC
I'm addicted to Jamba Juice, but I always decline on their "free boost" offer. Yesterday, I decided to try their "energy boost." I'm just curious, are the boosts really just a few extra vitamins? I'm curious if things like the "immunity boost" (for when you're sick) or the "energy boost" are all that different from each other.

Your thoughts?

On a side note, I would like to point out that you haven't lived a full life until you've had a Jamba Juice Tahiti Green Tea.
 
"Energy" in a food product is an advertising code word for sugar - sucrose, glucose or fructose, corn syrup, 'dehydrated cane juice', grape or apple or pear juice, whatever you want to call it - it just means extra cheap calories.

If there is one thing that 99.9% of NAmericans DON'T need in our diet it is extra simple carbs (sugars and refined starches) - especially because that smoothie/drink probably is made with lots of fructose and other sugars in the first place.

There is a ton of information in insulin resistance and metabolic disorder on the net.

Sometimes "energy boost" is used also for caffeine and caffeine like substances (kola, guarana) that cause a metabolic reaction. There are some arguments that this would be beneficial to take before exercising, however YMMV - approach with caution.

I would not put a lot of credence in 'immune boosting' additives to drinks. You have no idea of what you are getting, and what the dosage is. Certainly, it is in the sellers best interest to put as little as possible active ingredients in that $2 extra shot.
 
I'm sure they all contain slightly different blends of viatamins, but it's probably doubtful that their effects are noticeable. also, IMHO those additives make the smoothies taste horrible.
 
CanadaRAM said:
Sometimes "energy boost" is used also for caffeine and caffeine like substances (kola, guarana) that cause a metabolic reaction.
Click to expand...
http://www.jambajuice.com/menuguide/energy.html

As suspected has Taurine as a stimulant, but otherwise contains a Vitamnin B complex.

EDIT: It would appear that Taurine isn't directly a stimulant, but is a major ingredient of Red Bull and other similar "Energy Drinks"

B
 
whenever i get jamba juice (used to be terribly addicted but haven't had one in a year) i get it with a fiber boost. you can never have too much fiber, but it does change the taste of the drink. not sure about the other boosts, though. personally, i wouldn't buy into the energy boost or the immunity boost.
 
siurpeeman said:
whenever i get jamba juice (used to be terribly addicted but haven't had one in a year) i get it with a fiber boost. you can never have too much fiber, but it does change the taste of the drink. not sure about the other boosts, though. personally, i wouldn't buy into the energy boost or the immunity boost.
Click to expand...

The immunity one seems ok. It's mostly Vitamin C and Zinc.
 
I don't know what they put in it, but the energy shots work pretty well. At least as of 1998 they did.

At the end of my freshman year, I was cramming to try and recover from a poor first semester. I was exhausted after my last final and ended up getting 7 shots of the energy booster. It turned my drink green enough that they ended up adding more strawberries. Anyway I was pretty wired for the next day or so. Oh, and since they were on campus and accepted my dining plan and I had "dining bucks" leftover, I figured it wasn't like it was costing me anything.

Edit: on a related note, I see that Berry Lime Sublime has been retired. I guess that's no more Jamba Juice for me.
 
Whilst not exactly a smoothie, I've been having them Firefly "Wake Up" drinks. they contain caffeine but other stuff like green tea and vitamins designed to wake you up. It feels like a much smoother 'uptake' (that the word?) compared to regular sugar/caffeine based drinks like Red Bull. Where Red Bull would pick you up, throw you around then slam you back down, more natural drinks tend to bring you up and down in a much smoother experience.

YMMV?
 
Here is my theory on this. If you are not sure what is in something then you shouldn't put it in your mouth. The fact is the boosts (I've had them) are free and we want them to work but unless they are all natural boosts then they're not worth putting in your body.

When I drank those I would often get the immune or fiber boost. However, I came to find out that the drinks contained a lot of sugar and I was never using them as a meal replacement. I'd usually wash down a burger or something with them. That's not recommended btw.

Now, I attempt as much as I can do use only natural boosts such as b-12. I certainly do not stick to it, but I find myself free from crashing at about 2-3 p.m. in the afternoon. I still have my coffee in the morning, but I move to tea after the first cup. Tea also has great benefits if you know again how it was processed.
 
maybe mix sugar and water together and just swash in your mouth and spit every 15-20 minutes. more effective than sugar, as your body thinks it's going to have a sugar rush, and you don't have to have sugar. win win.
 
furcalchick said:
maybe mix sugar and water together and just swash in your mouth and spit every 15-20 minutes. more effective than sugar, as your body thinks it's going to have a sugar rush, and you don't have to have sugar. win win.
Click to expand...

Cassie said:


It basically tricks your body into thinking it has energy, so you feel like you've had sugar, but there's no "crash" at the end because you never really consumed it.
Click to expand...

So are you guys saying that the sugar water in my mouth would stimulate my taste buds and oral nervous system to get my stomach ready to accept a sugar energy source which would give me a sugar high?

The quick energy from sugar comes from glucose which is part of sucrose (table sugar) being very quickly absorbed directly into the blood stream and reaching your internal organs.

This sounds more like a placebo effect and one that leads to high levels of tooth decay. It also sounds like an abbreviated form of bulemia.
 
furcalchick said:
maybe mix sugar and water together and just swash in your mouth and spit every 15-20 minutes. more effective than sugar, as your body thinks it's going to have a sugar rush, and you don't have to have sugar. win win.
Click to expand...

I am totally going to request THAT a Jamba Juice next time I go. Then I will fit in with the freaks who think it's OK to drink wheatgrass in front of me. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back