Low Carb Smoothies for Diabetics
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My important message to all diabetics: Don't suffer through your sweet craving anymore.
You can satiate your sweet tooth without throwing your blood sugar off balance. I know it can be boring to eat just fruits. They are sweet and low in calories, but sometimes our hard-to-please taste buds might want something a bit more fancy. These low-carb smoothies might be the healthy answer for you.
These smoothies are diabetic-friendly due to the following reasons:
- They contain no refined sugar.
- Having fresh or frozen fruits as the main ingredients, they are packed with complex carbs and dietary fiber.
- Some of these smoothie recipes contain green tea powder and ground flaxseed, two diabetes superfoods that can keep a sugar spike at bay.
- Being low-carb and low-calorie, they are great diet smoothies for both diabetics and non-diabetic people to enjoy.
Pina Colada Smoothie
Smoothie Ingredients (for 1 serving)
1 cup light plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups fresh or canned pineapple (cut into small chunks)
1 tsp. non-alcoholic coconut extract or coconut flavor
1 cup crushed ice
To prepare this diet smoothie, put all the ingredients in a blender, then process on high speed until the ice is liquefied and the mixture is smooth. I prefer using fresh pineapple, as it has no preservatives. But if you don't want to be bothered with the slicing and cleaning process, canned pineapple will come in handy.
Drink it the classy way: Garnish your pina colada smoothie with a pineapple slice or cocktail umbrella. To add a tropical air to it, you could serve this scrumptious drink in a hollowed-out pineapple. Enjoy it while sitting by a sparkling pool and leave all your worries behind.
Diabetic-Friendly Strawberry Smoothie
Smoothie Ingredients (for 1 serving)
1 cup fresh or frozen whole strawberries (thaw first if frozen)
1 banana (cut into small chunks)
1 cup light and sugar-free strawberry yogurt
1 cup crushed ice
Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. If you use frozen strawberries, make sure they contain no added sugar. This diet smoothie is just so simple and healthy. Strawberries are a great source of antioxidants and yumminess. I'm planning to make this refreshing drink on the upcoming 100-degree days this summer.
What if strawberries are not your favorite?
That's fine. You may use blueberries or raspberries instead, and the results will still be excellent!
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Low-Carb Green Tea Smoothie
Smoothie Ingredients (for 1 serving)
2 tsps. Matcha green tea powder
3 tbsps. hot water
1 banana (cut into small chunks)
1 pkg. sugar substitute
1 cup skim milk
1 cup crushed ice
1 tsp. mint extract (optional)
Mix green tea powder with hot water and stir until it forms a paste. Add the green tea paste and the other ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. This recipe without the banana is called "green tea frappe," which is very delicious as well. The mint extract is not required, though I like to include it just for the refreshing factor.
Green tea and diabetes: Green tea is believed to help stabilize blood-sugar levels and lower cholesterol. For diabetics, this tea is thus highly beneficial. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, daily supplementation of the diet with green tea might be able to lower the hemoglobin A1c level in people with borderline diabetes.
Diabetes Breakfast Smoothie
Smoothie Ingredients (for 1 serving)
1/2 cup uncooked oats
1 frozen banana (cut into small chunks first)
1 1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
1 pkg. sugar substitute
1 tsp. coffee extract or coffee flavor (optional)
In a food processor, blend oats until they become powder. Add the other ingredients and blend until smooth. This diabetes breakfast smoothie is great for those of you who have too tiny an appetite to eat ham and eggs in the morning. The coffee extract also lends a vigorous aroma to it. I love the smell of coffee, but caffeine usually makes me jump around all over the place. Instead of just drinking decaf coffee, I think giving my healthy smoothie a subtle coffee scent is the way to go.
But is it really filling?
Yes. It won't make you crave early lunch. Like I said, people who opt for a breakfast smoothie instead of real breakfast usually don't have a big appetite in the early hours anyway. Besides, oats and flaxseed are both high in dietary fiber, which will help you feel full longer and allow the body to absorb sugar into the bloodstream at a slower pace.
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Comments
Yep, exactly. You can think of them as low-calorie milkshakes! Glad you stopped by. Thankie thankie :)
The recipes look quite delicious. Will surely try them. Thank you so much for sharing them here!! :)
Yeah, please try them. My favorite is the pina colada smoothie. Sooooo yummy. Thanks for visiting and commenting, calicoaster :)
That diabetic breakfast smoothie sounds great. Now I can eat oats in the summer. I never would have though of doing that with oatmeal but it is a great idea. Also I just thought of great thing to do with bananas that are starting to get too ripe - cut them up and freeze them and save them for smoothies.
Yep, that's a good way to avoid wasting bananas. I like that oatmeal smoothie, too. Very filling. Thanks so much for dropping by, readabook :)
Thanks so much for all of these wonderful smoothies. I never really know what to put in them. I try to watch my sugar so these are terrific. I have bookmarked and can't wait to try.
Many Thanks,
Sage
Yum, these smoothies sound all-around delicious...for anyone! What great suggestions, and the best thing about smoothies is that they're so easy to tailor to your own tastes. Cheers!
@Sage Williams - Thanks a lot for bookmarking this, Sage. Hope you enjoy them all :)
@askjanbrass - Yes, you're right. These smoothie recipes can be easily tweaked to suit everyone's taste. They don't have to be so precise like baking recipes. Thanks so much for dropping by :)
Oh, I'm back to vote for the diabetic breakfast smoothie. I froze the banana last night and am drinking it as we speak. It's fabulous, thanks so much!
Sage
Yay! So glad you like it. Now I'm gonna go make my pina colada smoothie kekeke :D
Thank you for sharing this, my mom is diabetic and this hub will definitely helps a lot, bookmarked!
Gosh, we should try this out at once. :) They look so yummy. mmmmmm....
@Febriedethan - My mom is diabetic, too. And I've been trying to eat low-carb food so that I won't develop type 2 diebetes myself. Thanks so much for visiting :)
@ripplemaker - Michelle, I can see you drooling!!! Just kidding hehehe
I love these ideas, BUT.....is there some possible way to make a smoothie without any dairy? I am Lactose Intolerant and am trying to get off all refined sugars and I have also found that I have an allergy to wheat. Can you find something like this for those of us who can't digest milk products. I love smoothies though.
Hi, Lady Guinevere. You can substitute dairy-free yogurt for normal yogurt, and use soy milk instead of skim milk, which will work just fine for these recipes. Dairy-free yogurt might be a bit hard to find. You should check out your local natural food stores. Thanks so much for dropping by :)
Oh Thank You!!! I will try them all. I love them and I also bookmarked your page!
You're welcome! Hope you enjoy them :)
For diabetics?? These may be tasty but mot of them have a good amount of sugar! And all are high glycemic.
Bananas are high in sugar as is pineapple. Diabetics would have to shoot up insulin to keep blood glucose down. Have you ever seen a blood glucose curve after eating oatmeal? I have. It skyrockets your blood sugar almost the same as a high sugar cereal.
I would not recommend these for diabetics. For perfectly healthy people, though, they sound pretty tasty.
My 2 cents,
John
Thanks for commenting, John. I'd like to confirm that these smoothie recipes are diabetic-friendly. Being diabetic doesn't mean you can't consume any sugar at all. According to American Diabetes Association, diabetics should cut back on high-calorie snacks and refined sugar, but they should eat fruits regularly. Here's the link to the American Diabetes Association article that discusses what diabetics should and shouldn't eat: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what
In addition, according to diabeteslife.com, "Oatmeal has a lower glycemic index, which means that it takes longer to turn into sugar and get absorbed by the blood stream. Thus, it prevents a hike in your sugar levels." And again I'm happy to give you the link to the article: http://www.diabitieslife.com/diabetes/diabetes-die
Diabetes Breakfast Smoothie, makes flax and oats injoyible again as they ever were. All jokes aside great stuff, thanks.
I was just commenting to my daughter yesterday that I could really go for one of those Sonic smoothies. But instead of going to Sonic, I think I'll go to the grocery and pick up some of your smoothie ingredients. These drinks sound wonderful!
Love the idea about freezing bananas before they go bad. I have a tendency to buy too many bananas at once, and how many banana breads do I really want to make? Thumbs up!
My wife and I enjoy a Fruit Smoothie quite often as a lunch substitute! I had not thought of the oats, but I will give it a try. Thanks for a very useful Hub!
Simply splendid! I will have to try some of those as I think trying more diabetic recipes might be a good way to ward off diabetes!
Book marking this. Thanks!
As a relatively new Diabetic, I really like your food hubs. Then O read a few of the others and I am now a follower. KEEP ON FEEDING ME!, good info that is. Hub voted UP and Useful. Thanks for the ideas and info.
Thank you for your kind comment, Don. Hope your diabetes is under control. :)
My fav is the breakfast smoothie, I think, but all sound delicious except your favorite pina colada. Anytime that flavor of anything is offered to me, my girls know THEY get it! I love pineapple and coconut but not together. Forgive me? :-) Coconut flour is also a good thickener to try. Thanks for interesting hub...and enjoyed the comments also.
Thanks for dropping by, frogyfish. Glad you like most of these smoothie recipes. And yeah, you're forgiven. ;)
Really love the smoothie with oatmeal... it's like I can get it all in one. Oats, Fruit and daiary... Thank you.
You're very welcome. Glad you enjoyed the oatmeal breakfast smoothie :)
Very good hub, All are really Good Recipes you mentioned. Thanks
I'm glad you like these low-carb smoothies, sweetguide. And thanks for stopping by.
I am diabetic and find it very hard to find really tasty smoothies...and I get up for work around 6am and I am not a morning eater, so these will be perfect. I think my mornings just got a whole lot better. Thank You so much!!! :)
Eve
You're welcome, Eve. Glad you like these recipes :)
Money Glitch 2 years ago
Hhhmmm, yum yum. I like smoothies, they remind me of milk shakes without all the calories. I usually put bran, or oats in mine and then add protein powder. Especially when I use it as a meal replacement. Great recipes thanks for sharing OM. :)