The Ideal: Whole Foods
Whole foods are foods in their whole, or less-processed, forms. Examples include whole or cut fresh fruit rather than canned or dried, whole grains rather than refined, fresh chicken or turkey instead of processed meat, and peanuts rather than peanut butter with sugar and hydrogenated oils.
You may have heard that whole foods are healthiest. That is usually true, but not always. There are times when blending whole foods into a smoothie makes health sense.
Best Protein Shakes And Smoothies For Diabetics
Many people with diabetes are often told that smoothies and protein shakes are off-limits due to their carb content. However, when trying to maintain a low-carb diet, some people will turn their nose up at the idea of drinking a protein shake.
The number of people diagnosed with diabetes has increased significantly over the past few decades. According to the American Diabetes Association, 30.3 million people in America are living with diabetes.
There are many approaches to weight loss. The most effective method is a lifestyle change that can improve your health and well-being for the long term. You can achieve weight loss through healthy eating, exercise, and other behaviors that boost your energy and help you manage your weight.
Why Smoothies Can Make A Great Snack Or Breakfast For People With Diabetes
Not only can you pack them with delicious, diabetes-friendly fruit but, when prepared tactfully and enjoyed in moderation, smoothies can also help you drop excess weight. Maintaining a healthy waistline is critical for people with diabetes because too much body weight is linked with insulin resistance. Thats why losing even just a few pounds counts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that dropping a mere 5 to 7 percent of your body weight can help prevent prediabetes from progressing to full-blown type 2 diabetes.
But it is important to note that not all smoothies are healthy. Some may be processed with added sugar, meaning they may have the opposite desired effect on your weight and blood sugar. The best way to take control of what goes into your drink is by measuring out portions at home to help keep calorie and carbohydrate counts down.
If youre a newbie to making smoothies, here are a couple of tips:
- Add about 1 cup liquid as a base.
- When adding nonstarchy vegetables, such as spinach and kale, be generous with portions .
- Fruit should be portioned to about a single serving, such as 1 cup frozen berries or half of a banana.
- Additional ingredients, such as avocados, seeds, and nut butters, should be measured to about a serving, too. For example, use a quarter of an avocado, 2 to 3 tablespoons ground seeds, or 1 to 2 tbsp almond butter.
1. Avocados
Stocksy
Pro tip: Avocados are super tasty in green smoothies, and they go great with dark cacao, too!
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Peanut Butter Banana Shake
½ cup low fat cottage cheese, one tablespoon peanut butter, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, two tablespoons raisins , three ice cubes, and four ounces skim milk or water.
This diabetic smoothie recipe is great for people who are looking to add more protein to their diet. The cottage cheese helps give this shake a creamy texture while the peanut butter provides an excellent source of healthy fats that your body needs. These are along with other essential nutrients like niacin and Vitamin E. Not to mention that cinnamon can help lower blood sugar levels. This is due to its high fiber content which also makes it great at helping you feel fuller longer.
/ 8 Apple Spinach Smoothie
Combine all except ice cubes in a blender puree. Add ice cubes puree. Serves 2.
- 1 small apple, cored and chopped
- 2 packed cups baby spinach
- 1/2 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup unsweetened apple juice or orange juice
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 cup ice cubes
Nutrition: Calories: 138 Fat: 2.4g Protein: 7.4g Carb: 24g Fiber: 5.2g Chol: 0mg Sodium: 69mg Calcium: 78mg
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Variations For This Recipe
There are a few different ways you can make this smoothie based on your tastes and preferences. Feel free to customize it to you!
Dont have any spinach on hand? Substitute with another leafy green! Kale, chard, or even beet greens would all be delicious in this recipe.
Looking for a vegan-friendly option? Use a vegan brand of Greek yogurt and your favorite kind of nut milk!
Want to add a little tartness? Some lemon juice would give your smoothie a vibrant, bold flavor that would be wonderful on a hot summers day.
Have some fun and find the recipe thats perfect for you!
Skip The Smoothie Shop
You are looking for trouble when you step into a smoothie shop or order a smoothie at a restaurant. A basic smoothie with no additions can easily have 200 to 400 or more calories in a small order. That is a reasonable amount for a large snack or a meal, but keep your guard up. A larger sized smoothie can have over 1,000 calories.
The sugar content is scarier than the calorie content. Each smoothie tends to have at least 30 to 50 grams of sugar, with larger smoothies having 100 or even 200 grams. Not all that sugar is necessarily added sugar. It may be natural, such as from fruit and yogurt. Still, it contributes to higher blood sugar levels, and that is not what you want on your diabetes diet!
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Are Smoothies High In Sugar
A smoothie may sound like an ideal healthy snack, but it might be hiding more sugar than you think . Toss in some juice, maybe a drizzle of honey, banana slices, and before you know it, youve consumed 50+ grams of sugar!
But, this doesnt mean you cant create smoothies that will satisfy your sweet tooth while having lots of nutrients, protein, and fiber. With the right combination of specific fruits and vegetables, you can enjoy your smoothie without having to worry about your sugar intake.
Pineapple Kale Smoothie As A Post
The perfect time for me to enjoy a fruit smoothie is right after a workout. This is the time where I can use the fruit sugar to fill up my energy reserves and the protein from the Greek yogurt to help my muscles recover and grow.
Because the smoothie only takes a few minutes to make, I can be enjoying it in the sun less than 5 minutes after coming home from a workout. Knowing that a delicious pineapple kale smoothie is waiting for me at the end of my workout is all the motivation I need!
You dont blend ice into this smoothie , so make sure that all the ingredients are cold when you start blending. You can also drop a few ice cubes into the smoothie just before drinking it or serve the smoothie glasses in an ice bucket. Just make sure that you serve it COLD!
Speaking of cold, have you tried the Sugar-Free Strawberry Lemonade Popsicle recipe I posted last week? We have been eating a lot of those lately to keep the heat at bay and they are delicious!
I am thinking of inviting friends over to hang out by the pool soon just so I can impress them with my cool smoothies and snacks
The only ingredient we havent talked about yet is the hemp seeds. I love that they add both texture and a bit of healthy fat to the smoothie, but you can leave them out if you want to. They arent necessary for the smoothie to taste great.
Next time you are tempted to drink a cold soda in the summer heat, try this cool pineapple kale smoothie recipe instead. I promise that it will hit the spot!
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How Smoothies Can Be Good For Diabetes
You may have thought that smoothies are laden with sugar. Its true for many store-bought options, but at home youre in perfect control. This is what prompted me to look up recipes to make low sugar, diabetic friendly smoothies.The best part?These are more than delicious treats. They are low calorie recipes for healthy smoothies to help you lose weight.Youll appreciate how quick they are to make, especially on those days youre too busy to cook or too lazy. Other days, you just need a cold refreshing drink.
Nutrients found in the fruits and vegetables go a long way in balancing your glucose levels and help you control your weight at the same time.You are advised to make whole fruit and vegetable smoothies, not juices, since your body needs a high fiber content that is not present in juices.
/ 8 Nutty Blackberry Smoothie
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Puree until smooth. Serves 2.
- 1 container fresh blackberries
- 1/2 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 cup ice cubes
Nutrition: Calories: 175 Fat: 9.3g Protein: 9.6g Carb: 16g Fiber: 6 g Chol: 0mg Sodium: 57mg Calcium: 118mg
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Super Green Smoothie For Weight Loss
This vegetable green smoothie that is loaded with superfoods such as Kale, spinach and cilantro is great to drink for lunch or dinner. It is always best to keep the ingredients raw and organic for this power packed nutritionally dense smoothie.
Ingredients:
1 cup Kale, Spinach or both
1 cup Cilantro
Avocado Cherry And Almond Milk Smoothie:
This recipe has cherries, one of my favorite seasonal fruits. Cherries are good for you, and provide a wide variety of dietary benefits, including adding fiber to your diet, and 16% of daily Vitamin C. There is no fat, and no salt in cherries. They provide just 90 calories and 22 grams of carbohydrates per cup. A half cup serving is usually an ample amount when added with the other ingredients in this smoothie. Avocado may seem to be an unlikely pairing with cherries, but you will be pleasantly surprised at the taste. Avocados are good for you, but they are very high in fat content. Therefore, portion size with avocado is important.
They provide some fiber, vitamin K, folate, and pantothenic acid. There are 21 grams of fat, with only 15% in the saturated fat category, so avocados are mostly made up of good fats. There are 12 grams of carbohydrates, and a high potassium level, though avocados are low in salt. Added in small amounts to the diet, avocados are a source of good fats to increase HDL, or good cholesterol. You will also add a half a cup of fresh blueberries, and a half cup of almond milk to this smoothie. Yum!It is recipe # 5 here:
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Make Your Own: The Basic Formula
When you make your own smoothies, you can control what goes into them and how big they are. Here is how to build a healthy smoothie for diabetes. You can vary the suggested quantities as long as you keep the sugar and calories low.
Are you ready to try your hand at making healthy smoothies for diabetes? Follow the guidelines above, or get started with one of the recipes below.
Consuming Sugar In Moderation
I think were all aware that excessive sugar isnt the best for your body, but as long as you consume it in moderation, youll be just fine. Ill admit, I love fruit and include quite a bit of it into my weekly meals, but the key is understanding which fruits have higher or lower sugar content. Here is a quick breakdown:
Which Fruits Have High Sugar?
- Banana
- Avocado
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Low Carb Diabetic Breakfast Smoothie
I was over having a conversation the other day and it came to my attention that many people struggle with eating breakfast.
If you have diabetes its not ideal to skip breakfast because even if you dont eat blood sugar will rise. So the very act of eating breakfast can actually help regulate blood sugar.
So the perfect alternative to actually eating something is to whip up a low carb diabetic breakfast smoothie.
A balanced smoothie with protein, healthy fats, and a little carbs from mixed berries, will keep you full, regulate your blood sugar, and help you get through the morning.
So here is a simple breakfast smoothie recipe, with a few alternatives and options to try, so you can give it a different twist every time you have it.
How Smoothies Can Make Diabetes Management More Difficult
On the other hand, smoothies can work against you and make it harder to manage your diabetes. Heres why:
Carbohydrate
Carbs arent bad, but too much doesnt do your blood sugars any favors. Depending on the type and amount of smoothie that youre drinking, you can easily exceed your carb goals , especially if your portion is large. Thats because smoothies may contain a lot of added sugar, particularly if youre buying one at the grocery store or at a shop.
Calories
As you happily throw ingredients into your blender for a healthy treat, dont lose sight of the calories. Fruit, whole milk or whole-milk yogurt, nuts and nut butters, and even protein powders can pack a calorie wallop, making it a challenge if youre trying to shed a few or a lot of pounds.
Heres an example of how the carbs and added sugars can run amuck if you purchase a 20-ounce Peanut Power Plus Strawberry smoothie at Smoothie King . Note that this contains bananas, strawberries, peanut butter, dates, nonfat milk, turbinado , and protein blend.
Smoothie King: Peanut Power Plus Strawberry
- Calories: 680
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Lowers Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease
Phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables, reduce inflammation leading to blood vessels relaxation. Flavonoids also reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. When inflammation has reduced the risk of clotting in blood vessels reduces. Smoothies inhibit platelet accumulation that reduces the risk of a heart attack.
Two Cautions For Diabetics
1. If you order a strawberry flavored smoothie, for your safety, ask the preparer to be sure to use the unsweetened strawberries. The reason for this is that sometimes when one ingredient is out, the preparer will assume that its okay to use a like ingredient, but they dont know you cant handle the added sugar. Im not suggesting that this happens at Smoothie King, but it does happen in the food service industry.
2. Beware of the Original High Protein smoothies. They have a ton of carbs, and the amount of protein they have is the same as the smoothies on this list. So be sure to stick to the smoothies in this guide.
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Green Smoothie Recipes For Type 2 Diabetes
One of THE biggest questions I get is about whether or not diabetics should consume green smoothies. I will attempt to answer this question in this post.
First, you should know that I am not a doctor, and that absolutely nothing in this post should be taken as medical advice. Always work with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes when you have a medical condition, such as diabetes. Keep in mind that your results may vary from somebody elses.
Okay, now with that out of the way
The biggest concern that diabetics have about green smoothies is their sugar content. It is true that fruit contains glucose . People with metabolic disorders such as diabetes should strictly monitor their carbohydrate intake including the amount of sugar that they get from each meal. But this doesnt mean that you cant have any fruit, or that green smoothies are not for you.
Fresh, whole fruits, as well as blended green smoothies not only provide a healthy way for diabetics to get more fruits and vegetables in their diet, green smoothies also may help reverse some of the diet and lifestyle problems that exacerbate diabetes, or contributes to its progression.
Recommended Smoothies For Diabetics
In this section, we will share a few smoothie recipes you can add to your daily diet. Before we do, we should warn that you have a specific nutrient requirement per day. Ensure that you should create balance so that you dont take more than is necessary.
With that out of the way, here are some great smoothie recipes for diabetics.
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Scrumptious Smoothies For People With Diabetes
Smoothies often get a bad rap for being high in sugar and for their blood sugar spiking abilities. But, if made correctly, smoothies can be a quick meal or snack that provides nourishing nutrients to our bodies! They are also just darn delicious and the PERFECT thing to help cool you down during a hot day.
So, bust out that blender because I have gathered 10 amazingly delicious smoothie recipes that wont alarm your glucose monitor. Oh and all of the recipes were created by dietitians -)
You will also find some tips for making your own blender creation!
*Affiliate link disclaimer: This article contain affiliate links. If you click one of these link and make a purchase, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!!
Relationship Between Diabetes And High Blood Pressure
It is still not known why there is a connection between the two diseases. However, it is widely assumed that obesity, inactivity, and high-fat and high-sodium diet lead to both conditions.
Around 25 percent of people with type 1 diabetes have high blood pressure. On the other hand, 80 percent of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes have high blood pressure. Having said that, people with diabetes should constantly monitor their blood pressure.
Now, even if youve suffered from these two conditions, it doesn’t mean you have to miss out all the yummy treats that youre supposed to enjoy just like smoothies. That said, here are the smoothies for diabetes and high blood pressure that you can try for yourselves.
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