By Jessica Tanaka
Students who rely on Jamba Juice smoothies as a healthy snack may be surprised to find these popular smoothies are high in calories and low in nutrients.
The average Jamba Juice smoothie contains 450 calories, which is almost the equivalent of a meal based on the standard 2,000-calorie diet.
'That''s more than some people have in a meal if it''s nearing 500 calories,' said Sharon Gardner, a weight loss consultant at Jenny Craig in Provo and a BYU graduate in wellness and fitness management.
In order to maintain weight, the majority of people need 1,700 to 2,300 calories a day, depending on size, age and physical activity, Gardner said. People trying to lose weight need 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day, and a Jamba Juice smoothie would contain a large portion of those calories for someone trying to drop pounds.
'The smoothies might be fine for a meal replacement, but it''s a lot of calories for just a snack or drink,' Gardner said.
The smoothies are promoted as a 'great meal replacement,' according to the Jamba Juice nutrition guide. However, many students drink Jamba Juice smoothies with meals or as snacks instead of as meal replacements.
Of 67 BYU students surveyed in a non-scientific study at Jamba Juice in the Wilkinson Student Center, 64 percent said they bought the smoothies as a snack between meals and 46 percent bought them as a meal replacement.
Forty-five percent of the students questioned said they bought the smoothies because they thought they were healthy, while 42 percent bought them because they taste good and 13 percent bought them for convenience.
Diana Harter, 19, an open major from Temecula, Calif., said she buys Jamba Juice smoothies as a breakfast replacement about once a week.
'It''s convenient, and it''s healthy. If I need a quick breakfast, it''s just right there,' Harter said.
After analyzing the nutrition facts for a variety of Jamba Juice smoothies, Dr. Lora Beth Brown, associate professor for BYU''s Food Science and Nutrition Department, said the smoothies were not impressive as far as nutrition content.
'They''re not very nutrient-dense,' she said.
Nutrient density compares the percent of calories of an item to the percent of a nutrient in the item, Brown said. For example, the popular Jamba Juice smoothie Caribbean Passion contains 440 calories and provides 22.5 percent of a person''s daily caloric intake, while providing only 10 percent of the recommended calcium intake.
Caribbean Passion and various other smoothies are only nutrient dense for Vitamin C, a nutrient that is most likely not deficient in most student''s diets, Brown said.
'Vitamin C is unlikely to be a problem for many college students, because many foods are fortified with this vitamin,' Brown said.
Jamba Juice advertises that the drinks are a 'good source of vitamins,' but Brown says the definition of a 'good source' can be misleading.
'The technical definition of a good source of a vitamin is one that contains only 10 percent to 19 percent of the daily recommended value for that vitamin.' Brown said.
Likewise, a food with a high source of a vitamin means the food only contains 20 percent of the daily recommended value, Brown said.
Students drinking these smoothies must realize that even though they are eating something with a good source of vitamins, it is still nowhere near the daily recommended amount, Brown said.
Gardner said although nutrient supplements can make Jamba Juice smoothies healthier, these boosters do not do as much good as many people think they do.
'The concern with booster supplements is that you''re probably not getting enough in that one time to make much of a difference,' Gardner said.
Brown said the smoothies are also high in calories, which can be a problem for some students. The Jamba Juice smoothies could be as much as 31.2 percent of a small woman''s caloric intake.
If students drink these smoothies, they have fewer calories to spend on foods that are nutrient-dense, Brown said. When students use these smoothies to fill such a large portion of their daily calories, their other meals must be well rounded in order to get enough nutrients throughout the day.
For more Jamba Juice nutrition facts, visit www.jambajuice.com.