Product Review: Smoothie King AND What exactly is Turbinado??

Happy Wednesday friends! Tonight's post is inspired by something I did today: Went through the drive-thru of Smoothie King.

Smoothie King is one of those places that I consider "Healthy" but still don't want to consume in high volume. And you definitely want to watch what you order there. The three/four times I have ever gone have always been the same - Lemon Strawberry Twist. It's basically strawberry lemonade.

Ingredient wise, it's pretty simple: Strawberries, Lemon Juice Blend, Papaya Juice Blend, Turbinado, Soy Protein. 

This is such with most of their smoothies - plain and simple ingredients with some protein and turbinado added.  You can also add extras - more protein, suppliments - for a full balanced meal.

So the question at hand is: What is Turbinado and is it really better then if they just added white sugar?

(C) Food.com

While good in a smoothie, further reading shows that you shouldn't replace table sugar with turbinado in baking - it adds extra moisture. Popular uses? Pie crusts, cinnamon cookies, and caramel cream. 

Also, it has nutrients! Wow, that was a surprise. Turns out that since it is minimally processed it is able to retain calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium. 

The above facts are from Wisegeek.com

Back to Smoothie King. Further poking around their website shows that you can actually "make it skinny" which means to not have the sugar. Turns out I could have saved 100 calories on my lemon/berry smoothie by doing this. If only I had known. 

My final review? I will probably return, but it's going to be on a seldom basis. Because sugar is sugar, refined or not.

Also, check out this review from a couple years back. Wondering if they still do these things? 

~Lisa 

Product Review: bai5 drinks

So I guess this 30 day challenge isn't really a cleanse as more of an exploration of change. Changing from artificial sugars in excessive amounts to natural sugars in small amounts. If it were a full on cleanse, I would have broken the rules by now.

Today I went to my favorite coffee shop, where they use as many natural and local ingredients as possible. I knew going in I wouldn't be able to get my usual cookie and mocha, and instead was going to get Ice Tea. I discovered this in their cooler instead and decided to give it a try.

bai5 Antioxidant Infusions. Flavored water with only natural ingredients and about 15 calories per bottle. I went for the Sumatran Dragonfruit and was not too disappointed. I did discover after a little while that it did make my stomach feel the way it does when I have other sugary things (including the mocha). So I will likely stay away from this product in the future. 

I still wanted to do a bit more research though, and through their website I found out the following.

Their main source of antioxidants actually comes from the Coffeefruit, the fruit that surrounds the coffee bean. Between that and the white tea extract, each bottle delivers a nice bit of caffeine (about that of a glass of green tea). 

Also the only "Sugar" in this product is Organic Steevia and erythritol. I know a bit about organic steevia (and I approve...so far) but want to do more research on erythiritol (also known as sugar alcohol). Both have low glycimic points, thus they do not raise your blood pressure as other sugars do. But I am still a bit on the fence about it after the stomach ache.. For now I will probably stay away from this ingredient.

I would also like to note that there is very little fruit juice in this product, as with many flavored waters. I knew this going and and was ok with it, but as stated before, will probably not go for it again.  It's not that I didn't enjoy it, it's just not for me.

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Update:

Today, besides the water, I had honey at breakfast and made some homemade strawberry soft serve after dinner. I also had a glass of wine. I had a scone at the coffeeshop, but it was Cilantro/cheese so I'm hoping the sugar level was low.  Tomorrow is a new day and we will see what happens then.

~Lisa