As I mentioned in my fruit dehydrating article, I have a slightly unhealthy addiction to kitchen gadgets. This makes me slightly susceptible to late night infomercials. Such was the case a couple of months ago, when I saw an infomercial for NutriBullet. The infomercial was over the top with its health claims, even blurring the lines (no I won’t link to the video) of what I consider legal. In short, they were pitching making the fruit shakes with their blender as a way to unlock the nutrients that will prevent diseases… at least that’s how I interpreted it.

I decided that it might be worth writing an article about this marketing that I considered deceptive. However, the infomercial was hypnotizing. Since my weakness for infomercials only extends to products that are very highly rated on Amazon, I went there to check out the reviews. That’s where I found that consumers really liked the product – there were 1,000 reviews with an average of a 4 rating. This wasn’t like MonaVie distributors saying that they like the product, these people weren’t getting paid to leave a good review.

After review after review mentioned that people lost 15 pounds after getting the NutriBullet, I figured I was going to give it a shot. The NutriBullet might claim to have a special blade that unlocks nutrients, but I think that’s just marketing-speak. It’s a blender, with high-powered motor. I don’t know how it compares to VitaMix or BlendTec, but having seen those blenders at around $400, the $100 price is closer to my blender budget. One of the keys for me (and my wife) was that it was easy to clean. The reviews were spot on in this point, the NutriBullet is easy to clean.

At the end of the day, the NutriBullet can be used for many things, but it really does one thing well… shakes/smoothies. I picked up a bag of frozen fruit from the local BJ’s (a New England regional warehouse like Costco) and typically have two fruit smoothies a day. I mix it up with some fresh bananas and some frozen berries (kick up the antioxidants!). I also add either Fage or Chobani Greek Yogurt (high protein, low carbs, no fat) or whey protein to make it a heartier snack. I tried adding kale and spinach when I first got it, but I added too much and didn’t like the result. I need to get back to that. I also experimented very briefly with adding ground flax-seed for omega 3’s and even some almonds. I think I need to blend more for them to really reach “smoothie” consistency, if they ever do. I expect it to be a little gritty. Overall, it’s a much cheaper and easier alternative to buying really expensive ViSalus shakes.

It’s been a couple of weeks and I’m down about 5 pounds. Like anything else, the trick is to consistently use it. In the heat waves that we had a couple of weeks ago it was a lifesaver. Even my wife, who is skeptical about any new kitchen gadget, has taken to it. So far, it’s like the Sodastream, a great product that worked its way into our lives and helped us be a little healthier than we would otherwise.

If you are looking for Nutribullet recipes, I recommend this website for further details on that.