5 LOW SUGAR SMOOTHIES healthy smoothies to power your day

Now that we're in the thick of summer, I've been receiving a lot of requests for smoothie recipes, but particularly for low sugar smoothies. As you might imagine, many smoothies are loaded with natural sugars from the fruits contained in the smoothie. Now, to be clear, I am not against natural sugars from fruits, but when it comes to smoothies, it's just really easy to overindulge. I love a sweet mango smoothie like anyone else, and I even have a recipe for one on my website, but that recipe clocks in at more than 50 grams of sugar per serving. So it should definitely be viewed more as a treat rather than a smoothie on regular rotation. So today I wanted to share five easy low sugar smoothie recipes that have less than 15 grams of sugar per serving. They're still fruity, but not overly so. And I'll be honest, it may take your palate a little bit of time to adjust to the fact that there's less sugar. You can always add a half an apple or a half a banana to help bridge the gap as you dial down the sugar quantity. I'll also share a few ways that you can sneak extra veggies into your smoothie for a nutrient boost. And of course, this is totally optional, but it's fun to experiment with. And most of the time, these extra veggies are pretty undetectable. I'm happy to partner with Vitamix on today's video, and I'll share a fun giveaway that we're doing for my birthday at the end of the video. But for now, let's dive into these smoothies. I'm sneaking a few veggies into my smoothies today, which I'll walk you through in a second. But zucchini, cucumber, cauliflower, beets, butternut squash, leafy greens, and carrots are always great options. Bananas are frequently added to smoothies because not only are they sweet, they add creaminess and a little heft. And when they're frozen, they also keep our smoothies nice and cold. But bananas are high in sugar, so I have a couple of alternatives for you. And the first one is frozen zucchini. So let me show you how to prepare it. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. And while you're waiting for your water to boil, slice the zucchini into quarter-inch thick slices. If you have an abundance of zucchini from your garden, freezing is a great way to save it for months and use it in future smoothies. Add the zucchini to the boiling water and blanch it for just a minute or so. Blanching is key because it deactivates the enzymes, which would otherwise cause the zucchini to become discolored and mushy. After a minute, use a skimmer or slotted spoon to remove the zucchini to an ice water bath, which stops the cooking process, and then let it cool for about two minutes. Drain the zucchini over a colander and then pat it dry with some paper towels just to remove any extra moisture. Lay the zucchini on a baking sheet, and what we're gonna do is pre-freeze it all in a single layer. If we just tossed all of this zucchini into a storage bag and froze it, we'd end up with one very large clump of zucchini, and that wouldn't be very helpful. After one to two hours, your zucchini should be frozen, and you can now place it into storage bags like my favorite silicone stasher bags. The zucchini will keep for several months in the freezer, and now it's easy to toss as much as you'd like into any of your smoothies. The other sneaky vegetable I often add to smoothies is cauliflower, and let's be honest, is there anything that cauliflower can't do? It's a favorite veggie in the low-carb, low-sugar world as it's incredibly versatile, and I'll prepare it the same way I just did with the zucchini. After I've sliced it into quarters, I'll remove the florets and then use a knife to cut them down into bite-sized pieces. Then I'll add them to a pot of boiling water and try not to let one sneaky piece get away and blanch them for one to two minutes. In addition to killing any lurking bacteria, blanching helps to preserve the quality and flavor of cauliflower, which is important if you plan to freeze it longer than a month or two. Transfer the cauliflower to an ice water bath, let it cool for two minutes, and then drain it. Pat it dry with some paper towels and lay it flat in a single layer on a baking sheet. You'll freeze the cauliflower for one to two hours, and once the florets are nice and frozen, transfer them to a storage container. Because cauliflower is a little bigger and takes up more space, I'm using the stand-up stasher bag as I can fit more inside. And now that we've got our frozen veggies, let's get to making some smoothies. The first is a pineapple coconut smoothie, and we'll start with a half a cup of water and a half a cup of coconut milk. Now, if you'd like to give your smoothie a protein boost, there are many options, and I'm using a whey protein powder for this smoothie that has a delicious vanilla coconut flavor. But some other options for protein include a vegan protein powder, collagen powder, yogurt, cashew butter or almond butter, a handful of spinach, and nuts and seeds. And I'll use a variety of these options in my smoothies today. Next, I'll add a tablespoon of chia seeds and a small piece of ginger, which I'll peel using the back of a spoon. My Vitamix blender pulverizes a whole piece of ginger with no problems, but if your blender isn't as powerful, you can finely dice or mince the ginger as well. The sweetness in this smoothie comes from pineapple, and I'll use one cup of frozen pineapple chunks, then blend it up. The combination of creamy coconut milk, pineapple, and a hint of ginger give this smoothie a delicious tropical vibe, and I love those flecks of vanilla from the protein powder. For our next smoothie, we'll start with one cup of almond milk, and I'm using my homemade almond milk. Then I'll add a half a cup of Greek yogurt, and you could use a dairy-free yogurt as well. Just make sure that there's no added sugar. To that, add one tablespoon of hemp seeds and one cup of frozen blackberries, though you could easily use strawberries or blueberries in this recipe as well. Now, we'll sneak in some frozen cauliflower, and I usually add about a half a cup per serving, which is just a couple of florets, and then blend that up. This is a luscious smoothie, and while it's not as sweet as it might look, it's loaded with nutrients to help power your day. For our next smoothie, we'll start with one and a half cups of almond milk, and I should specify that if you buy almond milk, make sure that it's unsweetened. Then we'll add one tablespoon of flax seeds and a half a teaspoon of ground vanilla bean. If you don't have ground vanilla bean, you could use fresh vanilla or a splash of vanilla extract as well. To that, I'll add one scoop of collagen peptides, which I've written about previously on my website, and I'll grate about one third cup of carrots. To sweeten this smoothie, I'll add one orange, and I've already peeled and frozen my orange to keep my smoothie nice and cold after blending. So I'll add that to the blender along with a half a cup of frozen cauliflower. This smoothie is my spin on an orange creamsicle in a glass, albeit a little less sweet and a whole lot healthier. All right, we're going all in on greens for this next smoothie. Start with one cup of water and add a large handful of spinach and one cup of cucumber slices, which is about a half of a medium cucumber. To add sweetness along with a good dose of vitamin C, we'll add one kiwi fruit, and to get the fruit out easily, just slice it in half and use a spoon to scoop it out. For some healthy fats and to help keep you full, add a quarter of an avocado, and for protein, add one tablespoon of nut butter. You could add almond butter or cashew butter, though I'm going with cashew butter today. And to keep this drink nice and cold, add a half a cup of frozen zucchini. This is a thick smoothie thanks to the avocado, but it's still light and refreshing thanks to the kiwi and cucumber. Lastly, we're finishing off with a classic downshiftology smoothie, which you might know from my Instagram. We'll start with one cup of water and add one tablespoon of chia seeds along with a handful of spinach and a quarter of an avocado. To this, we'll add one cup of mixed berries and a half a cup of frozen zucchini. Now, on Instagram, I normally add a banana, but to keep the sugar low, we're swapping that banana for zucchini today. When you blend it up, the combination of red and green makes my classic reddish-brown smoothie, but don't let the color fool you because this may be the sweetest-tasting smoothie of the bunch. All right, let's chat about this giveaway. For several years running now, I have had the joy and pleasure of being able to give away a Vitamix blender on my birthday, which is August 31st. I get another year older, and one of you in the community walks away with a shiny new blender. The details for the giveaway are listed in the description box below, and whether you win or lose, I hope today's video inspired you with some new healthy smoothie options. If you have additional tips or ways that you make a healthy smoothie at home that I didn't mention, please do share them with the community in the comments. And if you'd like to see more Vitamix videos in the future, make sure to give this video a thumbs up so that I know that you enjoyed it. All right, that's it for me this week. I will see you guys again in the next video.