Drinking one green smoothie a day is one of the simplest ways to maintain a healthy diet.
There’s just something about drinking 16 ounces of pure leafy green and fruit goodness that makes the skin glow. That is why we started creating recipes for green smoothies and sharing them with all of our friends— we want to help others start a healthy lifestyle too!
When we make these recipes we usually follow the 60/40 rule: 3 cups fruit and 2 cups leafy greens. Following this rule gives us adequate amounts of leafy greens, while still capturing the rawesome flavors of all the fruits we add! Sometimes, though, we like to give power to the leafy greens by flipping that rule. By doing this, you get all the fiber and essential vitamins without the high sugar content (which can affect people in different ways).
Power to the leafy greens and low sugar fruits!
Some days are a little tougher than others when it comes to eating healthy. On these days, one of our favorite things to do is flip the 60/40 rule by using 3 cups of leafy greens and 2 cups of low sugar fruit. Adding more leafy greens gives our bodies access to more of their tasty nutrients (phytonutrients, protein, vitamins, antioxidants, and more), and using low sugar fruits keeps our green smoothies lean and mean!
We don’t recommend starting your green smoothie journey with the flipped green smoothie ratio— the high amount of fiber may bother your digestive system and the taste might be “too green” to enjoy. Yet for those who have been drinking green smoothies for a few weeks— this is a challenge worth going for.
What are some of our favorite low sugar fruits, you ask? Well, here ya go:
Tip: Use protein and healthy fats in green smoothies if you are monitoring your blood sugar levels. These help to slow the release of sugar during digestion. Coconut oil, almonds, and avocados are great for protein and healthy fats.
Join the conversation!
Do you use more or less fruits in your green smoothie? Share your favorite green smoothie recipe in the comments below.
98 comments
Thank you so much for adding this to your site. I’ve been drinking smoothies for a while, but want to reduce the sugar. You make this a very simple process. I love the comments too. Lemon and lime – never would have thought of that on my one!
I have gall bladder issues, plus I’m a blood A type, so i haven’t been using Banana, orange and Mango. Like today i used 2 cups lake, 1 cup strawberries, 1 red apple 1Tbsp chia seed, soaked overnight in 2 glasses of water. How’s this?
Hi Tandy,
Thanks for reaching out. Unfortunately when faced with health concerns everyone’s body and diagnosis is so different. For that reason, I always such you reach out to your personal physician or nutritionist to determine if our smoothies are the right choice for you + your body.
Interested I suffer from GERD and I think this would be good for me
Hi Laura,
KALE YEAH!! Love that these smoothies are exactly what you need. And yes, our goal here is to make health + wellness simple – so happy it works for you!
Here’s just a little info to consider. Whole milk yogurt may contain more sugar than whole milk kefir. Bananas and cranberries might have more sugar that you want to consume at this time. Have you tried stevia or stevia extract? Some even come in berry flavors! Can you tolerate unsweetened cocoa or cocao? I might slowly add a bit more greens every few days, giving my body time to get better at digesting the veggies. I’d also be sure to get lemon or lime juice in there, to prevent the chance of kidney stones.Hope this helps
Hello. I am prediabetic and would like to prevent becoming diabetic. I’ve been drinking green smoothies almost daily for a year now, but I tend to use bananas as my fruit. My smoothie is pretty basic: 1 small-med banana, mixed greens or spinach, 1-2 tbs cranberry juice (from whole cranberries, not from concentrate), 2 tsp chia seeds, 1-2 tbs unsweetened peanut butter, 2 tbs whole milk kefir or whole milk yogurt, water. I wonder if the natural sugars from the banana, the cranberry juice and the kefir/yoghurt is too much for me? I don’t use large amounts, as you can see. Any suggestions for low sugar (but tasty) alternatives? Thank you.
Hi AT,
Looking for more low-sugar recipes? Take a peek at our pinterest board. We’ll be updating it with more and more low-sugar recipes!
https://www.pinterest.com/simplesmoothies/low-sugar-green-smoothies/