I love a good smoothie. And provided they are loaded with good-for-you ingredients, they are the perfect way to start your day. Today I’m sharing one of my favorites, the Cherry Berry Smoothie.
As you know, I follow Kelly Leveque’s Fab4 smoothie recipe when building a smoothie. Kelly is a nutritionist and her smoothie formula is perfect in that it helps to balance your blood sugar with protein, fat, and fiber to keep you full.
I’ve been wearing a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to measure how my body metabolizes food, exercise, sleep, and stress (more on this later), and it’s been eye-opening to see how my body reacts to smoothies. At one time, I thought all smoothies were created equal but have found that’s not true. Use the wrong ingredients and your blood sugar will soar.
The formula for a Fab4 smoothie is the same - one serving of protein, one serving of fiber, unlimited greens, 2 tablespoons of fat, liquid, and superfoods. You can add 1/4 cup of fructose (fruit) and today’s recipe includes this.
Protein: I use vegetarian protein, lately in chocolate but for this recipe I use vanilla.
Fiber: You can use fiber powder, chia seeds, flax seeds, or avocado. Adding avocado will also increase your healthy fats and makes this smoothie creamier. Buy the frozen ones at Costco and you won’t need to add ice to your smoothie (it doesn’t add any flavor).
Greens: I’m allergic to lettuce so I add either kale or spinach. You could also use cucumber, fennel, parsley, basil, or even cilantro. Anything green. I worried the first time I used kale and thought it would be grainy but, like spinach, it didn’t add any flavor and didn’t change the texture at all. I use whatever is in the refrigerator and needs to be used.
Fat: I use either avocado or nut butter but you could also use coconut oil, MCT oil, walnuts, or ghee at room temperature.
Liquid: I use either almond or unsweetened coconut milk. You could also use water, coconut water. cashew milk, hemp milk, or cold pressed green juice. I avoid oat milk as I do notice that my blood sugar does increase a bit when I use it. If you are using story bought milks, make sure you read the label and watch for added fructose. Generally, the fewer the ingredients the better.
Super Foods: So many options! I use chia seeds or hemp hearts but you could also use greens powder, collagen, tumeric, cocoa nibs, ginger, or coconut flakes. Some of these may cause glucose spikes (cocoa nibs and coconut) so I tend to stick with chia seeds. If you use chia seeds, remember that a little goes a long way.
Cherry Berry Smoothie
Cherry Berry Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 serving vanilla protein powder
- 1 Tablespoon nut butter (I use PB2)
- 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
- Lots of spinach
- 1/4 Cup frozen raspberries and cherries (1/4 cup total, not each)
- 1 1/2 Cups Almond Milk
Instructions
- Add almond milk, protein powder, chia seeds, and nut butter to your blender. Mix well.
- Add your greens. Mix well (the more you add, the greener your smoothie will become).
- Add your cherry/raspberry mix. Because these are frozen, they will thicken your smoothie.
- If you want a thicker smoothie, you may add ice to the blender and blend to your desired consistency. Remember though, the chia seeds will thicken the consistency a bit as they sit.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
176.54Fat
9.59 gSat. Fat
0.94 gCarbs
11.17 gFiber
4.13 gNet carbs
7.02 gSugar
3.59 gProtein
13.84 gSodium
295.58 mgCholesterol
30.77 mg