How to make healthy smoothies for prediabetes or your heart
If you want smoothies for prediabetes or a healthy heart, you don’t need a collection of recipes. Use this healthy smoothie guide to enjoy a different smoothie every day!
When the morning rush includes walking a dog, packing lunches, and arguing with a teenager to wear something to school “that doesn’t look like that,” you need an easy breakfast that energizes you until lunchtime. But one that doesn’t spike your blood sugar or load you up with added sugars and the calories of a pint of ice cream.
A smoothie can do that for you.
But only if you choose your ingredients carefully. Otherwise, you might as well slurp up a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.
Yikes! The large Metabolism Boost® Mango Ginger at Smoothie King packs 550 calories! And the Vegan Dark Chocolate Banana has 710 calories. You can get the small one for 350 calories.
What makes a smoothie a healthy choice?
Not words like metabolism booster, immune-enhancing, keto or vegan.
Photo credit: Giorgi Iremadze
To decide if you have a good smoothie for prediabetes, your heart, and your overall health, put your smoothie through this checklist.
- contains a good source of protein
- to support muscle maintenance and growth and help with appetite control
- made with fresh or frozen produce
- because we should eat fruits or vegetables or both at every meal and snack
- has no added sugar (or at least not more than a teaspoon, which is about 4 grams)
- The American Heart Association recommends a tight rein on added sugars
- tastes great
- because all food should be tasty
- keeps you satisfied and energized for a few hours
- so you feel great
- doesn’t load you down with more calories than a meal should have
- and that is all too common, especially among restaurant and fast food smoothies 🙁
A smoothie is probably not a good choice for prediabetes, diabetes, or your heart if it has lots of saturated fat (like coconut oil), packed with more calories than you would have in your breakfast otherwise (caution: some smoothies are well over 600 calories) or is heavy on carbohydrate.
Carbs aren’t bad – in fact, they’re good – but too many carbs will spike your blood sugar if you have prediabetes or diabetes. That’s why I prefer a lower-carb base for your smoothie.
The base of healthy smoothies for prediabetes & more
My favorites for taste, texture, and nutrition are nonfat plain Greek yogurt and lowfat cottage cheese. Both pump up the protein, control the carbs, and nourish your body with an excess of calories or unhealthy fats.
This Very Berry Smoothie is my favorite smoothie for prediabetes!
A couple tablespoons of fruit juice are okay to add flavor but don’t use it as your base. A cup of juice has as much as 45 grams of carbohydrates. Save the carbs for your fruit. Get protein with your base.
Try any of these:
- plain Greek yogurt or other strained yogurt
- cottage cheese
- silken tofu
- milk
- soymilk
- whey or soy protein mixed with water, iced coffee, or tea
Make it nutritious and DELICIOUS
Add about a cup of fresh or frozen fruit to your protein base. If you use frozen fruit, you won’t need to add ice to your blender. If you want veggies, toss in a half-cup or more. And then try some of these flavor enhancers:
- 1 tablespoon peanut or almond butter
- chia seeds
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons fruit juice
- instant coffee powder
- ginger
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- vanilla extract
- fresh herbs like mint or basil
- sweetener like stevia or Swerve
Why do I insist on fruits or vegetables or both?
This is very simple. We do not eat enough produce. Yet diets with more fruits are vegetables are linked to less diabetes, prediabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. Each fruit and vegetable has a unique array of nutrients and phytonutrients that are good for your heart, blood pressure, blood sugar, and more.
Perfect smoothie flavor combinations
- Greek yogurt, peanut butter, banana, spinach, and sweetener
- Silken tofu, mango, carrot, ginger, cardamom, and sweetener
- Greek yogurt, carrot, orange, frozen pineapple, and vanilla
- Greek yogurt, frozen mixed berries, and sweetener (here’s the recipe)
- Milk and Greek yogurt, strawberries, banana, almond butter, and sweetener
- Milk and Greek yogurt, orange, pineapple, vanilla, mint, and sweetener
Cheers to getting a few minutes in your crazy busy morning to love the heck out of your healthy breakfast smoothie.
By the way, if you make more than you need, don’t toss it. And certainly don’t drink it just because it’s there. Instead, turn your leftover healthy smoothie into ice pops.
Strawberry ice pops made with fresh strawberries and plain Greek yogurt
Filed Under: Breakfast Smoothies, Heart Health, Prediabetes, Recipe
Tagged: beverages, blood sugar, carbohydrate, diabetes, fruit, prediabetes, yogurt
Jill Weisenberger
I'm Jill, and I believe simple changes in your mindset and health habits can bring life-changing rewards. And I don't believe in willpower. It's waaaay overrated. As a food-loving registered dietitian nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist and certified health and wellness coach, I've helped thousands of people solve their food and nutrition problems. If you're looking for a better way to master this whole healthy eating/healthy living thing or if you're trying to prevent or manage diabetes or heart problems, you'll find plenty of resources right here.
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Welcome to my Blog
Hi there! I'm Jill, a nutrition & diabetes expert and the author of 4 books.
I believe simple changes in health habits can bring you life-changing rewards.
And I believe willpower is way overrated.
Right here is where you can discover the mindset and habits to stick with healthy lifestyle choices most of the time - and drop the guilt when you don't.
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My favorite go-to smoothie recipe uses unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 c. frozen blueberries, 3 frozen strawberries, heaping TBSP of unsweetened almond butter, and 2 tsp of ground flax seed. delicious and healthy!
Ooh, I bet that’s delicious. I may play around with those ingredients. I like a smoothie that’s fairly high in protein, so I might experiment with some Greek yogurt too or possibly regular milk. Definitely sounds awesome!
What about organic plain green valley keifer (1/2 cup and 1/2 cup organic flax/oat mylk, 1/4 banana, 1 cup blueberries and strawberries, tblsp of pumpkin seeds, tblsp hemp seeds, organic pea protein.
Those flavors sound nice! I’d probably stick to dairy instead of plant-based milk or pea protein for a bit more nutrition. Plus, I haven’t tasted a pea protein that I actually like. What do you use?
The brand NOT MILK is really good, actually tastes like regular milk but its made of pea protein.
Awesome! I’ll check it out. Thanks for letting me know.
Hello I was diagnosed with type2 diabetes and lost a lot weight that I didn’t want to lose. Can you give me some ideas on what to eat and drink to gain weight back. Thank you. I will definitely try the smoothie
Hi Yvonne, lots of people have had success with adding more healthy fats to each meal and snack. Things like olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado – that type of thing. I suggest asking your provider for a referral to a registered dietitian nutritionist. Most insurance policies cover it with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, especially with the consequence of unwanted weight loss.
I was diagnosed yesterday with type 2diabetes I’m so afraid to eat anything I mean I like your comment I became obesity Im not eating anymore everything looks scary can you please give me some ideas on how you were able to eat with out gaining the weight and control the diabetic.
My green smoothie has 1cucumber, 2 sticks of celery, 1 piece of ginger, 1 lime peel, 1 kiwi & 8-10 ounces of water, or if you prefer unsweetened almond milk & ice. Also instead of kiwi you can substitute with pineapple & it is super delicious.
I love the sweet-tart characteristic of kiwi!
Great tips on making healthy smoothies! It’s important to be mindful of ingredients that can spike blood sugar levels and to focus on adding protein and lower-carb bases.
I like all of the ingredients except the dairy ones.
If you had to cut out milk and wanted to avoid filler like soy or tofu, what protein would you add to make smoothies healthy, high in protein and low in saturated fats?
I’d use soy milk because it’s nutritionally the closest to cow’s milk.
You don’t mention protein powders in smoothies, how do you feel about them?
You can certainly use them to boost the protein in your smoothies. I prefer whey or soy without a bunch of added ingredients. I rarely use protein powders because I prefer yogurt, tofu, milk, and cottage cheese, but they are a suitable source of protein.
Thank you for sharing How to Make Healthy Smoothies for Prediabetes or Your Heart—this is such a valuable and thoughtful resource. I appreciate the focus on smart ingredient choices that support balanced blood sugar and heart health without sacrificing flavor. It’s empowering to know that delicious smoothies can also be a step toward better well-being!