I've mentioned before how smoothies, although healthy, can be packed with tons of added sugar - ESPECIALLY store bought smoothies or smoothie bowls. Not only do many of these contain large amounts of fructose from fruit, but many contain added sugars that will give you a short burst of energy yet leave you to face a horrid sugar crash later in the day.
Before starting my low carb lifestyle, I was a TOTAL smoothie bowl addicted vegan. For a long time I didn't realize no sugar didn't have to mean no more sweet smoothie bowls. YES, Smoothie bowls CAN be low carb and even keto, as long as you make these simple switches when blending and add a tablespoon of fat (preferably coconut oil or MTC)!
Base for thickness / creaminess:
Swap a frozen banana for frozen avocado
Swap frozen fruits for frozen veggies (I like spinach)
Swap regular ice cubes for nut milk ice cubes
Add a bit of Unsweetened Kite Hill Almond Milk yogurt for extra creaminess and added protein
Liquid:
Swap milk (yes even regular nut milk) for unsweetened nut milk, coffee, or tea
Keto Approved:
Unsweetened Nut Milks: Macadamia, Almond, Coconut, Cashew, or Flax
Unsweetened Creamers: Heavy cream, coconut creamer, almond creamer, macadamia creamer
Unsweetened tea
Unsweetened coffee
My Favorite Liquid Bases:
Unsweetened Milkademia Milk or creamer
Another liquid I've been loving are Reserveage Beauty Shots for an extra boost of collagen! The watermelon mint flavor blends perfectly with matcha, coconut, or an unsweetened vanilla nut milk!
Sweetness:
Replace sweetness from high carb fruits with:
Cacao (powder, nibs, or bar)
Monk Fruit
Stevia
Erythritol
Extracts: I LOVE using pumpkin pie spice extract and vanilla extract
Spices: Cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg
Any protein powder sweetened with monk fruit, stevia, or erythritol
Flavored exogenous ketones
My favorite ways to add sweetness:
Sweatleaf Stevia flavored drops - THE CHOCOLATE IS AMAZING
Perfect Keto flavored protein powder or exogenous ketones (if keto)
Nut Butter
MANY of us love a hunk of nut butter inside or atop our smoothies. Although any (unsweetened) nut butter can technically fit into a low carb diet, not all are equally as keto friendly. That's why, instead of almond or peanut butter I try to stick to:
Coconut Butter
Macadamia Nut Butter
Pecan Butter
Hazelnut butter
Pumpkin seed butter
Sunflower seed butter
These are not too easy to find, so here's links to my personal favorite brands!
FBomb Nut Butters: I like the blend of macadamia and pecan the best!
Blue Mountain Organics Nut Butters: My favs are pecan, macadamia, and hazelnut
Perfect Keto Nut Butter: This is the perfect blend of fats and proteins for keto
Topwil Coconut Butter: I found this Australian brand in TJMax and was blown away. The macros are PERFECT for keto and coconut butter adds an amazing, naturally sweet taste.
Toppings
Any of the nut butters above
Low carb berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)
Nuts (macademia, pecan, hazelnut, and pine are lowest in carbs)
Seeds (chia, hemp, flax, sunflower, pumpkin)
Cacao nibs
Shredded coconut
My favorite toppings:
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