Protein Power Smoothies 75 High Protein, Low Carb

Smoothies That Ditch the Sugar, Support Muscle Building,

and Optimize Your Metabolism

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PROTEIN
POWER
SMOOTHIES

75
High-Protein, Low-Carb Smoothies That
Ditch the Sugar, Support Muscle-Building,
and Optimize Your Metabolism

Heather DiBiasi, MS, RDN

CONTENTS
Introduction

Part 1: All About Smoothies

Smoothie Science

My Low-Carb Smoothie Formula

Part 2: Low-Carb, High-Protein Smoothie Recipes

The Classics
Spring Smoothies
Summer Smoothies

Fall Smoothies
Winter Smoothies

Dessert Flavors

Smoothie Bowls and Parfaits

Smoothie Snacks

Blended Mocktail Flavors

References
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index
INTRODUCTION
AFTER YOU DRINK A SMOOTHIE, do you count down the minutes until lunch or
sneak frequent peeks into the pantry? If so, then you’ve probably had what I
like to call a sugar bomb!
Most smoothies you see online or in local smoothie shops start with a
banana here, add in a few dates there, and blend it up with the latest
“health” trend such as oat milk (aka more carbs and some inflammatory
oils). From a macronutrient perspective, they might as well be serving you
an ice cream sundae. In reality, ice cream might even contain more protein
than most of your typical smoothies! Feeling intense food cravings just one
hour after drinking a smoothie is a signal that your smoothie was not made
correctly for you. Even though you had the best intentions for doing
something good for your body, combining a bunch of otherwise healthy
ingredients like pineapple, mango, and a banana and pulsing them up with
fruit juice actually negatively impacts both your metabolic health and
weight loss.
These high-carb, low-protein smoothies are digested rapidly in our body
and spike our blood sugar. And what goes up must come down, right?
Typically, this spike is followed by a crash. We feel tired, we’re irritable,
and we’re on a ravenous search for more sugar to pick us back up. Cue
thoughts of “Omigosh, it’s only 11 a.m.? Why am I already so hungry?
What’s for lunch?” and “Damn, why did Sally have to bring those
doughnuts to the office? I cannot stop thinking about them. Maybe I should
just grab one!” We find our mind starting to drift as we think about our next
meal or snack every few minutes instead of focusing on the work we’re
trying to get done or the conversations we are trying to have. We become
hormonally hungry, which makes it feel almost impossible to say “no, thank
you” to those more indulgent or carbohydrate-heavy foods, foods we don’t
really want to eat but now all of a sudden we can’t stop thinking about. But
I’m here to tell you that it’s not you; it’s your blood sugar talking.
Blood sugar spikes in response to a high-carb, low-protein meal can also
trigger inflammation and shift the body into storage mode, turning off our
ability to burn fat for a period of time. Just because these foods are healthy
doesn’t mean it’s healthy to heap them together in a pile and blend them up.
Have you ever heard that too much of a good thing isn’t always so good?
This is a perfect example of that.
However, this unhealthy cycle can be changed. Smoothies can be your
secret weapon for staying full so you are not counting down the minutes
until lunch, a snack, or dinner. Properly constructed smoothies help you
take control of your health and optimize your metabolism even while you
shed pounds, if you want to.
My low-carb, high-protein smoothie formula fuels the body so it can
function at its best while keeping you full and efficiently burning fat. These
smoothies have not only assisted me with my own weight-loss journey, but
they have helped hundreds of my clients lose weight and improve their lab
values while staying full and energized throughout the day. When you set
the tone for the day with a high-protein, low-carbohydrate smoothie, it can
help to regulate your hunger, making you feel like you are in control of your
body and food choices instead of feeling like your body is bossing you
around. Your body is the vehicle of your life, but you’re in the driver’s seat.
You are in charge here. Once you learn the proper proportions, my formula
allows flexibility so you can design a smoothie with your own twist of
flavor. For smoothie options, I will provide 75 of my original recipes, which
eliminate boredom and satisfy cravings. They are perfect for different
seasons, holidays, and taste buds. They work well alone, or they can be
shared with family and friends!

How to Use This Smoothie Book

This book can be the starting point to your new healthy lifestyle or a nice
upgrade to the healthy lifestyle you may currently have. If you really want
to get the most out of this book, I highly suggest implementing some of the
recipes for breakfast each day as soon as possible, starting with flavors that
truly speak to your taste buds.
As you begin to implement these recipes and feel the amazing benefits,
read all the chapters. I repeat, do not skip any chapters! I promise you, there
is a method in my madness. I know it can be tempting to skip the reading all
together and get straight to the recipes, but the chapters are truly where the
magic lies. And if you don’t believe in magic, then you’ll at least appreciate
the science.
Although the smoothie recipes in this book are designed to flip that
physiological and behavioral switch to your meal choices and habits, the
reading portion is designed to flip the psychological switch, which is how
long-term change actually occurs. Just drinking the smoothies is great, but
understanding why you are drinking them is what gives you the power to
control your health. When you understand the science behind your high-
protein, low-carbohydrate smoothies and you know how to use the formula
to make unlimited options, I am confident that you will feel empowered to
continue drinking these smoothies. And the truth is, these smoothies are just
the start. As you start to really appreciate first-hand that you are doing
something good for your health and feeling amazing along the way, it will
help facilitate other healthy behaviors to follow. This is truly not your
ordinary smoothie book. So, grab your blender, put your reading glasses on,
and get ready to have your mind and taste buds blown!
 Part 1
All About Smoothies
 1
SMOOTHIE SCIENCE
Blood Sugar Balance
The Three Musketeers: Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates
The Problem with High-Carbohydrate, Low-Protein Smoothies
High Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Smoothies
Blood Sugar and Weight
Carbohydrate Tolerance
Fructose Metabolism
The Power of Protein
Counting Carbs Over Calories
Composition Matters!
When Should You Drink Your Smoothie?
YOU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING by now why your smoothies should be high
protein and low carb. Maybe you’ve heard some information (true or not)
about high-protein and low-carb lifestyles and also about how smoothies
are a healthy option for a meal or snack. Yet most smoothies at cafés or
online are sugar bombs that barely have any protein. They are just setting
the stage for failure.
I want to help you understand not only how to make a balanced smoothie
(which we will definitely be covering more in depth in the next chapter) but
also why it is important that your smoothie is balanced. If there is one thing
I’ve learned from working with hundreds of clients—as well as my own
personal and professional experience—knowing the why behind our
choices helps motivate us to make the changes we want. It’s much more
effective than just doing what someone says because they said so. In this
chapter, we are going to break down the science behind your food choices
so you feel motivated from the inside out to make these changes in your
life!

Blood Sugar Balance

You need to understand blood sugar balance to understand how to build a
healthy, high-protein, low-carb smoothie. When our smoothies are in
balance, our blood sugar is in balance, and so our body is in balance.
Our bodies are actually always working hard to stay in equilibrium. One
of their top priorities is keeping our blood sugar within a normal range. This
is not only true for people with diabetes; this is true for every single living,
breathing person. Basically, if you have a pulse, this should matter to you.
To survive, our body needs to regulate our blood sugar. And what we eat (or
drink) on a daily basis can either help to support this balance or force our
body to work hard to regulate it. To optimize our health, it’s important to eat
in a way that supports our metabolic processes, including blood sugar
regulation. And who wouldn’t want to support our own body? After all, it is
our home.
The Three Musketeers: Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates
We get our energy from three macronutrients: protein, fat, and
carbohydrates. To optimize our blood sugar, we have to understand how
these energy sources metabolize in the body and how they affect our blood
sugar.

What About Fiber?

Fiber is the nondigestible part of a carbohydrate that for the most part does not
break down to blood sugar. I’ll go into this more soon, but choosing higher-fiber
sources of carbohydrates will help mediate carbs’ effect on blood sugar. Because
vegetables are mainly composed of fiber, they have little to no impact on blood
sugar. However, starches or fruits have significantly less fiber compared with the
total number of carbs, so they will raise blood sugar despite their fiber content.
Although there is no need to completely eliminate these foods from your diet—and
I don’t recommend that—it is important to understand that starch and fruit still raise
blood sugar and should be portioned for blood sugar balance.

Once we consume food, it is digested and broken down into smaller

particles:
Proteins break down into amino acids.
Fats break down into fatty acids.
And carbohydrates break down into glucose (aka blood sugar).

Because carbohydrates break down to blood sugar, they are the macro-
nutrient that most impacts our blood sugar response. Protein, fat, and fiber
do not directly break down to blood sugar, so they have little to no effect on
our blood sugar.
Do you remember the show The Magic School Bus, where the students
go on bus rides to learn about different science topics? Let’s take our own
trip on that magic school bus and visualize what happens in the body when
we drink smoothies that are low in protein and high in carbohydrate versus
smoothies that are high in protein and low in carbohydrate.
The Problem with High-Carbohydrate, Low-Protein
Smoothies
Think about a smoothie that is mainly made up of fruit juice and fruits such
as banana, berries, dates, and pineapple. Although it might be tasty, this
smoothie is primarily carbohydrates with little to no protein or fat. This is a
typical smoothie you might see in a café, and it could contain anywhere
from 50 to a whopping 100 grams (or sometimes more) of sugar! There will
be some fiber in this smoothie, but not enough to counteract the high
amounts of carbohydrates that go along with it. A high-carb, low-protein
smoothie like this will digest rapidly in our body, breaking down to mainly
blood sugar because it is mostly carbohydrates. This leads to a swift and
hefty spike in our blood sugar, and because smoothies are liquid and
predigested, they have an even steeper impact on our blood sugar response
than if we had eaten the fruits whole and had to break them down ourselves.
When our blood sugar spikes, our body gets a little dramatic. Sirens go
off, telling our body to lower its blood sugar. This signal triggers the
pancreas to overproduce a hormone called insulin, which helps pick up the
blood sugar from our bloodstream and place it into our cells. You can think
of insulin like the mail carrier trying to help deliver packages to your door
or, in this case, sugar to our cells.
This spike is followed by a crash about 90 minutes later, once our body
has used or stored the blood sugar, leaving us feeling tired, irritable, and on
a ravenous search for more carbs to pick our blood sugar back up. That
process is referred to as reactive hypoglycemia. Reactive hypoglycemia is
why, not long after a high-carb smoothie or meal, you might feel extremely
hungry or you might get intense cravings for more sugar or carbs while
simultaneously wanting to take a nap. It’s actually very similar to a
hangover—the party was fun at the time, yet you’re reaching for that
mimosa the next day at brunch to make you feel good again in the midst of
your headache and nausea. However, instead of looking for another drink to
kill the hangover, you’re looking for more carbs. This all happens within a
span of just a few hours. What a buzzkill, huh?
Reactive hypoglycemia also makes it easy to feel out of control with
your next food choice. You are probably never going to have a craving for
grilled chicken or a salad when your blood sugar is low; your body is
smarter than that. Instead, pretzels, pizza, cookies, chips, fries, a granola
bar, fruit, or rice will be calling your name. That’s right, all the carbs you
know and love! And it doesn’t matter whether you’re craving salty carbs
such as potato chips or something sugary such as a doughnut; all carbs
break down to sugar in the body.
So it’s no mistake that you find yourself diving face-first into a bag of
popcorn, chocolates, or crackers by noon, all the while thinking, “Why can
I not stop eating these?” Our body craves these foods because it knows they
will help pick our blood sugar back up quickly! It can almost feel like you
have a little devil on one shoulder screaming for carbs, a lot louder than the
angel on your other shoulder, who helps you think more rationally. But this
isn’t a little devil on your shoulder or even the real you talking; it’s simply
your blood sugar.

HIGH-CARB SMOOTHIE
Blood sugar spike
Tired, irritable, hungry, cravings
 LOW-CARB, HIGH-PROTEIN SMOOTHIE
Balanced blood sugar
Steady energy, full, no cravings

High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Smoothies

If we make a smoothie by prioritizing ingredients that don’t break down to
blood sugar, such as protein, fat, and fiber, instead of that high-sugar
smoothie, our body responds differently. Let’s say we choose one
carbohydrate, such as half of a banana or even berries for a higher-fiber,
lower-sugar option, to keep in the smoothie. We then switch the liquid to
unsweetened nut milk and add a scoop of protein powder, some veggies,
and 1 tablespoon (16 g) of peanut butter.
We have now created a balance of macronutrients that will help support
our blood sugar. The protein from the protein powder, fat from the peanut
butter, and fiber from the veggies will help to buffer the spike in blood
sugar from the fruit, keeping everything nice and steady. So instead of
feeling hangry soon after finishing your smoothie, you will feel chill,
satiated, and energized. Not having those peaks and valleys in blood sugar
can help keep you full for hours and in control at your next eating
opportunity.

Blood Sugar and Weight

Blood sugar roller coasters can affect our weight in more ways than driving
us to eat more food.
Hormones are our body’s chemical messengers; they trigger different
processes to occur in our body. Insulin, the hormone that rises after we eat,
is responsible for telling the body what to do with the energy we just
consumed. What you need to know is that our body is always shifting
between being in a storage mode and being in a breakdown state, but it is
always in predominantly one mode at a time. And these processes are
dictated by, as you know, hormones!
It’s kind of like the game tug-of-war—imagine that there are two sides
fighting for control of your metabolic pathways. The captains of the two
sides are our hormones: glucagon, the captain of the catabolic process, and
insulin, the captain of the anabolic process.
On one side, the anabolic processes are in control, and your body is
focused on storing things such as muscle mass and fat mass. And on the
other side, the catabolic processes are in control, and your body prioritizes
breaking the muscle and fat masses down. Because insulin is the captain of
the anabolic processes, when it is elevated (or “winning”), it pushes our
body into storage mode and prevents our body from burning fat. And guess
what dictates these hormones? Our food! When we overproduce the
hormone insulin after a high-carb, unbalanced meal, we are shifting our
body out of fat-burning mode for a longer time, which is not ideal for
weight loss.
Over time, a constant elevation in insulin can lead to insulin resistance.
When someone has insulin resistance, it also means insulin is chronically
elevated, which can make their ability to burn fat especially difficult. When
we work with our hormones instead of against them, we can optimize our
metabolism, which in this case can help us be more efficient at burning fat.
Keeping blood sugar balanced can decrease the output of insulin, which can
help to control cravings, prevent chronic illnesses, and manage weight.
When our blood sugar is outside of the normal range, it can affect how
we metabolize our food, manage our cravings and hunger, and promote
inflammatory responses, just to name a few reactions. In the short term,
blood sugar dysregulation can make it hard for us to feel our best and to feel
in control around food. In the long term, it can lead to chronic disease and
weight gain. However, this unhealthy cycle can be changed, starting with
portioning and balancing our carbohydrates with protein, fat, and fiber.
When our blood sugar is in control, we feel in control! The mental and
emotional drama around our food choices starts to vanish. We feel a sense
of calm, satiety, and food freedom. And when we see the store-bought
cookies someone brought to work on a random Tuesday, they won’t tempt
us nearly as much as they used to.

Carbohydrate Tolerance
Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy, meaning that when they
are present, our body will always use them as its first fuel source. After
carbohydrates have entered our bloodstream, we utilize the energy we need
and the rest gets stored in our body. Most of the leftover carbohydrates get
stored in our muscles as glycogen, which are basically strings of connected
sugar molecules, and a smaller amount gets stored in our liver. Once those
storage cabinets are filled up, any excess will be stored as fat because there
is nowhere else for it to go. This is why the more active we are and the
more muscle we have, the more carbohydrates we can tolerate. However, if
we sit at a desk all day for work and on our bum all night watching TV, then
our needs aren’t as high as your favorite football player’s might be.

Fructose Metabolism
We metabolize fructose, also known as fruit sugar, a little differently from
how we metabolize glucose. All carbohydrates are composed of a mixture
of simple sugars such as fructose, galactose, and/or glucose, but fructose is
one of the types of sugar found naturally in fruit. You might have heard the
name fructose in ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup, which is a
sweetener made from cornstarch that has a high concentration of fructose.
First and foremost, I want to make it super clear that fruit is highly
nutritious for us and has many amazing benefits to our health. I would argue
that many people should be replacing a lot of the refined carbohydrates they
are consuming with high-fiber, whole foods–based carbohydrates such as
fruit. However, despite what some nutrition programs may say, it doesn’t
make sense for fruit to be “unlimited” or “free.” Fruit still breaks down to
sugar, even if it is from a natural source. Because we are talking about
smoothies—which make it so easy to blend many servings of fruit into one
drink and consume it within minutes—I think this is especially worth
chatting about.
 Although the glucose from fruit will increase blood sugar, the fructose in
fruit will metabolize a little differently. Fructose does not get absorbed into
the bloodstream like glucose does. Instead, about 70 percent of the fructose
we consume goes through our lymphatic system, which brings it straight to
the liver. We can only metabolize and store so much fructose in the liver
before our body starts to store it as fat.
Again, this isn’t a concern when you’re having a piece of fruit with your
eggs for breakfast or a serving of berries in your protein smoothie.
However, some smoothies have an excessive amount of fruit, fruit juices,
and even natural sugars such as agave, and they have a much higher
concentration of fructose. “Natural” sweeteners such as agave—which is
about 80 percent fructose, by the way—have come out with health claims
stating they are lower on the glycemic index. The glycemic index is a rating
system that takes into account how rapidly a food can increase your blood
sugar when you eat that food by itself. It has some merit, but don’t be
fooled by health trends such as agave, because its high-fructose content
comes with its own host of problems.
Although fructose does not directly impact blood sugar, it can indirectly
have an impact on the regulation of blood sugar. Excess fructose can lead to
insulin resistance, and over time, insulin resistance impacts our ability to
metabolize carbohydrates. High amounts of fructose in the diet can
negatively impact cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, insulin
resistance, fatty liver disease, and weight over the long term.
A lot of my clients already intend to eat a pretty healthy diet but struggle
with blood sugar control, cravings, insulin resistance, abnormal cholesterol
levels, and weight loss. They eat a lot of nutritious foods such as fruits, but
not in portions that work for their body. When we adjust their carbohydrate
intake to their carbohydrate tolerance and adjust portions of foods such as
fruit, they start to see improvements in their cholesterol levels, blood sugar,
and insulin levels, and they finally start seeing the number on their scale
drop. All this is to say, adding a portion of fruit to your smoothies is great
for you! But, keep in mind that just because something is good for you
doesn’t mean you can’t overdo it.