It’s January, people! Which means….
Fat pants – you’re on the bench. Skinny jeans – suit up. ? ? ?
Had a little too much high carb fun the last few weeks?
Panicking now because bathing suit season is only 4 months away? ? ? ?
I feel your pain! (Like REALLY, I do.) ? ? ?
If you’re like me and have been eating carbs like it was your job lately, then you’re probably feeling pretty lousy right now. Bad news is, it gets worse before it gets better. I’m on day 3 of the 3 Day Keto Kickstart Plan and I have no energy and a headache from detoxing all the carbs and gluten I’ve been eating for the past few weeks.
I’ve lost four pounds already though so there’s that at least! AND I know that the detox phase only lasts a couple of days, so I’m ready to gut it out and get back to work! ? ? ?
This low carb green smoothie isn’t on any of my existing Keto Weekly Menu Plans (yet) because I’ve only just FINALLY come up with a healthy green smoothie that isn’t loaded with carb heavy fruits to make it palatable!
Seriously, I’ve been trying to accomplish this for quite awhile with a variety of healthy greens, veggies, and a minimum amount of fruits. I’ve had some major fails – at least in the flavor department, but I’ve soldiered on.
I’m excited to say that this low carb green smoothie that I’m sharing today is everything you’d want a green smoothie to be! It’s creamy, refreshing, and has just enough sweetness to make it perfectly balanced.
So why should you even care? Should you be drinking green smoothies on a low carb diet?
Absolutely YES! ?
One of the downfalls of a low carb diet if you aren’t careful is a lack of Vitamin C and other important nutrients that you get from veggies and the occasional fruit.
You can supplement some things in pill form, but the best way to get vitamins and antioxidants is directly from a food source – and preferably raw. There are many enzymes in raw foods that help your body perform necessary functions – also the fiber is essential to keeping your micro biome of healthy bacteria alive and thriving.
I personally believe that low carb stopped working as well for me a couple of years ago because I wasn’t paying attention and ensuring that I was getting plenty of fiber and vitamins from raw veggies. I think my good gut bacteria died off and I ended up with leaky gut and adult onset food allergies as a result.
Since then, I’ve been focusing on rebuilding my micro biome with lots of healthy fermented foods, and ensuring that the little beasties have plenty to eat in the form of fibrous veggies and leafy greens.
I’m not a huge salad person, so in the past while eating low carb I would tend to eat most of my veggies cooked, and rarely ate leafy greens. A smoothie like this one is perfect for those of us who don’t enjoy a big bowl of salad every day – you get lots of micronutrients and antioxidants, in a tasty format that is easy to slug down with breakfast (or anytime.)
Another benefit of going the smoothie route rather than simply eating the same ingredients in salad form, is that blending them breaks down the cell walls better than chewing them ever could, releasing all of those nutrients into an easy to digest format.
I bought a Vitamix blender years ago and love it for all the many tasks it can perform with ease, but for this particular smoothie it’s not necessary. Any blender or even a magic bullet will be able to make this smoothie, because the romaine and other ingredients break down pretty easily – as opposed to kale which needs the more powerful blender to truly break down.
If you’re using a lower powered blender just be sure to mince your ginger well and cut your pineapple into smaller chunks so that it breaks down nicely and doesn’t leave you with stringy pieces in your smoothie.
If you’ve got family members (especially kids) who aren’t big on vegetables, a smoothie like this one is a great way to get some healthy greens and hydrating fruits and veggies into them without a big fight. Hungry Jr. has been drinking green smoothies since he was a toddler and he loves them!
For your non-low carb family members, feel free to add a little extra fruit to make it even sweeter – whatever it takes to get them to drink it!
I boosted the sweetness slightly in this version with some erythritol but you may not need to. It really depends on how sweet your batch of fruits and veggies is and it varies widely depending the season and the ripeness of what you’re using.
As you get used to drinking green smoothies, I also find that your tolerance for the green flavor will grow, and the need for sweetness to offset it will lessen. But to get you started, feel free to sweeten it with a low carb sweetener to taste!
This low carb green smoothie recipe is also dairy free – it gets healthy fats and a creamy, rich texture from the avocado, which also tones down the greens flavor that some people find hard to get used to.
This healthy and refreshing green smoothie will be a staple for me moving forward, and at only 3g net carbs per cup, I can easily fit it into my carb budget every day! And so can you!
Notes: This recipe makes six 1 cup servings, but you can drink 2 cups per day if you make room in your carb budget, giving you three days worth for one person. If you only want to drink 1 cup per day and don’t have anyone to share it with, I recommend making it in smaller batches as the flavor and health benefits deteriorate the longer you keep it in the fridge.
IBIH Low Carb Green Smoothie – Dairy Free
- Yield: 6 one cup servings 1x
Description
This low carb green smoothie is healthy and refreshing, without all of the sugar and carbs of a traditional green smoothie! Keto and Paleo friendly!
Ingredients
- 4 cups filtered water
- 1 cup romaine lettuce
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh pineapple
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup raw cucumber, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 Hass avocado (remove pit and scoop flesh out of shell)
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar substitute (I used Swerve)
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve cold. Leftovers will keep several days in the fridge, shake well before serving.
Notes
Approx nutrition info per one cup serving: 37 calories, 2g fat, 3g net carbs, 1g protein
- Category: Low Carb Smoothie Recipes
- Cuisine: American
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Sue says
I just made this smoothie, and just a word of caution – the 4 cups of water may be a bit much. It seemed watery to me, and overflowed my average-size smoothie blender once the other ingredients were added and I started blending it. (It’s a Hamilton Beach, and is the size of a regular blender, not a small bullet blender or anything like that). I think I’ll adjust the water down a bit next time…after I clean up the mess.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Good point Sue, thanks – my vitamix has a 64oz capacity and I never considered that a regular sized blender might be less. I would caution that if you reduce the water you also reduce some of the fruits because you’ll be concentrating those carbs into a smaller amount of liquid increasing the overall carb count per cup – only a concern if you are on keto.
Tere says
Just made this and it… is… YUM!! I absolutely love the kick that the ginger gives it. Makes me think Japanese.
Adam says
Hi Melissa. Was really attracted to some of the smoothies above but am puzzled by banana, pineapple and kiwi. As a newbie, I thought that these were off limits to Keto people? Could you quickly explain? Thanks a lot.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Hi Adam – there is no banana in my smoothie recipe so not sure what other smoothies you mean, but as far as keto is concerned nothing is technically off limits. Whatever you can fit into your 20g net carb budget per day is fine – it’s the amount of carbs that matters for staying in ketosis, not the source of them. Hope that helps!
Cheynah says
This looks really yummy!! Hubby bought me a smoothie blender for Christmas and I have been on the lookout for a smoothie that actually looks tasty! Must try! Thanks!
helene says
replace some water with coconut milk to add some mellowing flavor, esp if you dont like avocado in it.
a pinch of salt mellows the green taste too. and lowcarbers need extra salt, yup!
Tessa B. says
Thanks so much for this comment. I don’t really like the green, grassy flavor, but I wanted to give this recipe a go anyway. That pinch of salt suggestion took this from “I’m only drinking this because I paid money for it.” to “This is acceptable.” Thank you again!
helene says
grate the ginger with a microplaner. freese little mounds to have ready to go. add some eggs to have protein with ur breakfast. i use stevia glycerite, few drops is all thats needed, but u can add some erythritol too for flavor balance. i use no fruit and use higher carb greens, just blend 3 min in the water before adding rest.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Great ideas Helene, thanks!
Linda says
Hi Melissa,
I enjoy your recipes but find your understanding of nutrition to be out-dated. You must take the time to up-date your knowledge, including, for example that you can get all the vitamins and minerals that you need from eating red meat. Really. We have absolutely no biological need for carbohydrates as our body can manufacture the small amount of glucose that might be needed for some functions. Excellent starting point is Death by Food Pyramid written by Denise Minger and the Ketogenic information published by Maria Emmerich.
Keep up the good work!
Linda
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thank you Linda. I’m well aware of the body’s ability to provide glucose to the bloodstream for energy from protein – and that a ketogenic diet with 20g or less carbs per day is optimal for many, including myself when it comes to weight loss. There are other factors at play though, and many recent studies have shown that the micro biome in our guts that is the foundation of our immune system and a major factor in hormone production is key to overall health. Resistant starches, probiotics, and high fiber veggies should make up the majority of our 20g of carbs, and if we can consume some of them raw, even better. As far as your statement that we can get everything our bodies need from red meat, that is not strictly true. Vitamin C is found in limited amounts in red meat but mostly in the liver which a lot of people don’t eat. Strict human carnivores have to eat it raw or lightly cooked to get enough to prevent scurvy (not to mention whatever other issues come from being deficient) – and even then many of them have had to admit defeat and start supplementing with Vitamin C because their teeth are loosening, amid other scurvy symptoms. So the bottom line is, if you’re eating your beef raw, and it’s mostly liver and other organs, as well as grass fed to ensure the animal itself is getting enough nutrients first, you MIGHT be getting enough vitamin C just to avoid scurvy. Since most of us on a Ketogenic diet aren’t eating raw, grass fed, beef liver on a daily basis – I’m certainly not – I prefer to get my vitamin C and fiber from veggies and leafy greens. This smoothie lets me do that in a delicious and healthy way for 3g net carbs per cup – allowing me to stay in Ketosis and nourish my gut at the same time.
kelly mac says
well stated!!!
cyb says
perfect response.
Kim says
This looks tasty and I can’t wait to make it! I love your site so much. Mainly because, you fall off the wagon & get back on. A lot of the low carb sites I follow are written by people who are so far from ever falling off the wagon that it’s hard to relate to them. I know some are diabetics (and truly can’t afford to fall off the wagon) & the others are so well adapted to this lifestyle change that they would never go “carb crazy”. So, I find you so relatable- thank you for sharing your “cheats”. Every single recipe of yours that I have tried has been so tasty. It’s rare – trust me. Thank you! Thank you!
BTW – you have a small typo regarding kickstarting your weightloss for “2015” . (Mentioned after the recipe) I’m still in last year’s mode, as well. I thought you might like to know.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Kim, I appreciate the feedback and I’m so glad you’re loving the recipes! Also thanks for the head’s up on the typo – all fixed now! :)
Mika says
I just love this blog!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Mika! ?
Tracey says
Looks delicious! I consider pineapple such a decadent treat, so it sounds exciting to be able to have a little along with all these other healthy ingredients and still have it be low in carbs. Using fresh ginger will be new to me, but I’m sure it’s worth it, and I can’t wait to try it!
Mellissa Sevigny says
The fresh ginger is anti-inflammatory and adds a really great punch of flavor to brighten up the smoothie Tracey – hope you like it!!