Green smoothies seem to be the new “It” in nutrition: Celebrities carry them like the new Starbucks. Bookstores are flooded with green juice recipe books. And, after trending for half of a decade, they don’t seem to be going anywhere.
Recently, I teamed up with my local Shadyside Williams-Sonoma to create an awesome tasty green smoothie.
But the question remains: Are green smoothies really good for the skin? As per usual, I consulted research journals, textbooks, and other nutritional guides to get to the answer:
FACT: Green Smoothies May Fight Wrinkles as Well as a Cream or Serum.
In essence, this makes sense: The skin is your largest organ, and organs are supplied valuable vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients by the bloodstream all day long. On the other hand, topical treatments only supply the skin nutrients for a few hours. Even microencapsulated or “slow-release” treatments grant up to 8 hours performance — well short of the 24/7 performance of your circulation!
In warmer months, the warmth of the skin and rate of circulation increase blood supply to the skin, delivering even more valuable nutrition to the skin all day long.
Studies confirm this. In one study, conducted by Mavi Cosmetics in Italy, 40 women were split into four groups:
- The first group was given a supplement called FloraGlo Lutein with antioxidants (10 mg lutein and 0.6 zeaxanthin).
- The second group was given a topical cream with lutein and zeaxanthin.
- The third group was given both the supplement and the topical cream.
- The fourth and final group was given placebo.
After 12 weeks, it was found that either the oral supplement or the cream improved skin elasticity, hydration, and protection against sun damage, with the oral supplement having slightly higher performance. This indicates green smoothies may really be good for the skin, delivering antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin, amongst other beneficial nutrients.
However, it should be kept in mind that the combination of oral and topical formulations (third group) boosted numbers the most, increasing skin hydration by 60 percent and protection against sunburn by 20 percent. So don’t abandon your creams and serums just yet!
MYTH: Green Smoothies Don’t Contain Sugar.
How good green smoothies are for your skin ultimately comes down to how much fruit you put in them. This is due to fruit’s fructose content.
Fructose is the abundant sugar naturally found in fruit. Fructose is a yellowish to white, crystalline, water-soluble sugar. It is characterized as a sugar because it has the basic chemical structure of other carbohydrates — C 6H 12O6 — but technically it is sweeter than regular table sugar (source).
Because it is sweeter than other forms of sugar, fructose has been found to damage collagen by causing (aging) glycation at higher rates than other forms of sugar (Journal of Diabetes Research, 2004)! In fact, as fructose molecules circulate throughout your bloodstream, they have been found to rapidly broken down into sugars that structural proteins within the skin and other organs.
And we all know that glycation is terrible for your skin, responsible for up to 20 percent of the visible signs of aging. In short, it causes wrinkles, sagging skin, age spots, and a lack of elasticity. It accumulates and accelerates with age. You can also read our full article on glycation here.
For this reason, I seldom drink fruit juice without their fibrous skins. If you must use skinless fruit in your green smoothie, make sure that you include a lot of soluble fiber-rich leafy greens like kale and romaine, so the fructose is absorbed into the bloodstream in smaller doses at a time. That way, green smoothies may still be really good for your skin!
FACT: Green Smoothies Give You Valuable Nutrients, Enzymes, and Micronutrients.
Even if you eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, it can be difficult (if not impossible) to regularly get access to many of the nutrients found in fresh juice.
It is true that you can take a multivitamin and get access to the 13 essential vitamins:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- 8 essentialB vitamins(riboflavin, niacin, thiamine, folate, B12, B6, niacin, pantothenic acid and biotin).
Within these 13 essential vitamins, there are two classes:
- Water-soluble (i.e. all of the B vitamins; vitamin C). Water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water and mix easily in your blood. Water-soluble vitamins are eliminated through the urine quicker and small amounts are stored in the body at one time
- Fat-soluble (vitamins A, D, E, and K). Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in oil and fats. They tend to stick around in the body longer.
This also means that it’s hard to get a toxic dose of water-soluble vitamins, which means that drinking fresh green juice once or twice a day is perfectly within healthy limits.
But there are also other nutrients that are hard to get from vitamin supplements. For instance, there are enzymes, antioxidants, macronutrients, and trace minerals in fresh fruits and vegetables that are beneficial for the skin. Enzymes in particular are capable of creating or accelerating chemical reactions that allow them to help cells grow, regenerate, and repair. According to Dr. Edward Howell, “Enzymes may be the key factor in preventing chronic disease and extending the human lifespan.”
While I’m sure more enzymes will be available in pill form in the future, I think getting enzymes from a diverse array of fruits and vegetables in juice is an amazing way to give your skin cells the macronutrients and micronutrients it needs to stay young and healthy!
MYTH: Green Juice or Smoothie Fasts Will Permanently Slow Your Metabolism.
It is my personal opinion that the “slowing your metabolism” has caused many of us to eat when we’re not hungry, fear fasting, and to overeat even when on diets. Think about it: If you read a diet book from the 1990s (when more of us were thin), we’re told to restrict calories and carbohydrates. But if you look at a diet book now, we’re being told to eat every 3-4 hours, even when we’re not hungry. Anything not to slow the metabolism.
In truth, it takes a lot to slow your metabolism. A 2009 study from the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that there was almost no difference between the resting metabolic rates of recovered anorexics, who had eaten 600-800 calories or less per day for years, and women who were never anorexic. Recovered anorexics had a higher rate of fat oxidation (meaning an increased ability to break down big fat molecules and use them for energy), but even then the differences in body composition were basically null. Anorexics two years out of recovery had about the same BMR as those who were never anorexic.
In another study, there is actually a phenomenon called “hypermetabolism” that is identified and discussed amongst anorexics. In this condition, anorexics must eat more calories than a person who never had an eating disorder to gain weight. It is believed that a decent-sized portion of calories are eaten up in thermogenesis (creating heat for the body) while in the early stages of recovery.
While I would never promote anorexia or unhealthy eating habits, I do believe that we are being coached by the mass media to eat far too much and far too often.
MYTH: All Green Smoothies are Low-Calorie.
In essence, no. Nowadays the green smoothies that are served in juice bars tend to be loaded with extras like honey, agave, frozen yogurt, or even ice cream that can add hundreds of calories per scoop. Web MD did an excellent piece on caloric smoothies, and found that The Hulk-Strawberry from Smoothie King has 1035 calories and 121 g of carbs, more than a Whopper and medium fry from Burger King!
Keep your green smoothies lean by focusing on vegetables and fruits that are as close to their natural source as possible. The more leaves, stems, roots, and skins you can include in your green smoothie, the more nutritious and filling it will become.
Bottom Line
Green smoothies are excellent for your skin! Green smoothies are a way to access many nutrients your skin might not get otherwise, like enzymes, antioxidants, and minerals.