Smoothie Bowls: what are you really eating?

I’m a sucker for a good looking smoothie bowl.

They’re instagrammable, refreshing, fill you up, and most importantly– they’re tasty!

As smoothie bowls (especially açai) are considered “miracles” and full of “super-fruit power,” they have become a popular health food trend. As more companies hop on this bandwagon, they’re making money off of our believed to be healthy choices, and cutting corners to make a quick buck.

So how can we enjoy these masterpieces without eating 1000 calories and enough added sugar to put ice cream to shame? Stay tuned as I point out the goods and the bads of [my instagram worthy] smoothie bowls I’ve collected.

The good: small and sweet

Smoothie bowls, and smoothies in general from big brands like Jamba Juice, Smoothie King, and Tropical smoothie are notorious for being big. Back when I lived in Alabama, my teammates and I would always stop by Smoothie King for their five dollar smoothie days, and those suckers would be the size of a XXXL soda, and had just as much sugar!

When ordering a bowl, pay attention to the sizes and the portions of smoothie and toppings. A bigger bowl may seem like a better deal, but really isn’t worth the pressure of getting that much smoothie in your body. According to the US Government Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, most people are recommended to have three servings of fruit daily. Thats roughly 1.5-2.5 cups daily, smaller than most smoothie bowls out on the market! For more info on the US intake guidelines, check out the manual here.

The bad: hidden sugar

We love sugar. By now, you’ve probably heard the stats that sugar is x amounts more addictive as cocaine, crazy right? Natural sugar is great, energizing, and great if you stick to whats already in your food. But, once cane sugar/high fructose corn syrup is in the mix, things get messy.

So where’s that extra sugar in your smoothie bowl? Unless there’s powdered sugar on top of the bowl, it can be a little tricky to find out. In the smoothie portion of the bowl, there is fruit and a base, which commonly include: frozen yogurt, juice, nut butter– all of which can easily hide sugar. Next we get to the toppings. After working at a bakery, I’ve seen first hand how much sugar goes into granola, which is on almost every smoothie bowl. Look for honey based granola when making your own bowls, or opt for whole nuts and oats to put in them. When getting other toppings such as coconut, dried fruit, or additional nut butters on your bowl, be sure to ask if they’re sweetened!

The good: unique

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If you buy a bowl from a smoothie shop, corner cafe or (in my case) on the side of the cliff, you will get a different experience. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is try their local smoothie bowls. Everywhere you go uses a different base, toppings and has a unique trait that makes their bowl special. Some places you get lucky with fresh tropical fruit, or maybe they use an exclusive local honey, the world is your oyster!

When hunting down a good smoothie bowl, be weary of where you’re buying from. For example, large national companies such as Costco and McDonalds may not have the freshest fruit options and their ingredients may contain more preservatives. I was so excited when Costco first started selling açai bowls, because Costco can do no wrong, right? Their açai tasted more like flavored soft serve ice cream than anything, and for the price of only a couple of bucks it was too good to be true.

The bad: tricking health

After a long run, an açai bowl sounds like heaven on earth! However, due to excessive portion size and hidden ingredients, heaven might be a little farther than it looks. After eating healthy, we commonly are proud of ourselves and may treat ourselves for the next meal. Eating a seemingly healthy smoothie bowl is the treat! If you have added sugar in your bowl, treating yourself to ice cream later may not be the best option. Because these bowls will generally have an entire day’s worth of fruit encompassed, focus on vegetables, proteins, and grains for the rest of the day’s nutrition.

The good: customizable

Acai bowls are all the rage right now, but theres a whole world of fruits that work great in smoothie bowls! Just because strawberries aren’t “superfruits” doesn’t mean they aren’t an amazing and tasty source of energy! The bowl pictured above is based off the classic strawberry banana smoothie which is a less sharp flavor than the açai.

The bowl pictured above is actually a blueberry, banana, and mango bowl I believe. I actually put it together at my school’s dining hall while hitting up the smoothie bar, fruit station, and sandwich station. I love having the smoothies made right in front of me so I can always see exactly whats being put into it (even though they always put in excessive milk). This smoothie was made from blueberry, banana, mango, almond milk, and greek yogurt. I then added in some peanut butter and topped it off with more banana, blueberry, honey based granola, and mixed nuts.

The good: DIY

Every smoothie bowl is different and every person has different preferences for theirs.

The easy solution? DIY!

Making smoothie bowls is easy, way cheaper than going out, and lets you know exactly what you got in your bowl. The picture above is a simple açai, strawberry, banana bowl with apple juice added to my frozen açai packets. I made this for a relaxed breakfast on my porch and is the perfect portion size to put in my oversized mug!

Some recommended bases I have for your homemade açai bowls include Samabazon’s unsweetened super fruit packs and Trader Joe’s unsweetened açai purée packets, here’s a recipe from the Trader Joe’s website. I generally like to add a half frozen banana and almond milk to these bases, and occasionally add some greek yogurt for thickness.

From here on, the sky is the limit! Don’t be afraid to experiment with new toppings or mixers for your bowl. Try adding some spinach or kale for hidden veggies. If you want a heftier bowl, consider adding almond/peanut butter. Try new fruits! Mangos, papaya, raspberries, blueberries, I’ve even added raw squash to my bowls!

Smoothie bowls have been a great new way to make breakfast fun, afternoons refreshing, and keep your instagram feed looking good. Feel free to comment, share your recipes, and get yourself a smoothie bowl!