A 12 fl oz serving
Smoothies are a great substitute for junk food desserts. My wife has been experimenting with them. Most Americans should probably eat more fruit; smoothies are one way to do that. Here’s one she made up. Note the trendy chia seeds and kale (or is that fad over?).
Since I provide the nutritional analysis below, you can easily incorporate this smoothie into a diabetic diet. Total digestible carb grams are 32; if that’s too much, cut the portion in half.
We’re using a Vitamix mixer. Other devices may be able to get the job done. The mixing speeds our device range from one to 10. (Tip for a competitor: make one that goes to 11.) We love our Vitamix and have no regrets about the purchase. It is hard to hear anything else when it’s running at top speed.
One potential advantage of blending these fruits is that one fruit may provide nutrients that the others lack
Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) grapes, green seedless
1 mandarin orange, peeled, halved
1 banana (7 inches or 18 cm), peeled, cut into 3–4 pieces
1 pear, medium-size, cored, quartered (ok to leave peel on)
1/2 tbsp (7 g) chia seeds
1 cup (50 g) raw kale
Instructions
First put the water in the Vitamix, then grapes, pear, orange, banana, chia seeds, kale, and finally ice. Ice is always last. Then blend on variable speed 1 and gradually go up to high level (10). Total spin time is about 45 seconds.
Full speed ahead!
Number of Servings: 2.5 consisting of 12 fl oz (350 ml) each.
Nutritional Analysis per Serving:
7% fat
88% carbohydrate
5% protein
160 calories
38 g carbohydrate
6 g fiber
32 g digestible carbohydrate
15 mg sodium
520 mg potassium
Prominent features: Good source of vitamin C, fair amount of fiber, miniscule sodium.
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 
Dr. Parker, I’m confused. My blood sugars would exceed 200 mg/dL if I drank a quarter of this smoothie. Why would you encourage anyone, particularly diabetics to consume a cup of grapes, a mandarin orange, a banana, and a pear at one time? Particularly with such a low amount of fat and protein?
A good day for me as a type 2 diabetic is being able to have a few grapes mixed in with my chicken salad. 38 g carbs is too much for many type 2 diabetics.
Hey, Lisa. I agree with you that many folks with diabetes, probably a majority, can’t handle that many carbs. Depends on their degree of insulin resistance, diabetes meds, how long having diabetes, etc.
Dr. Parker, your smoothie contains 53 grams of sugar. To help your readers put this into perspective, 53 grams of sugar is the equivalent of 13.25 teaspoons of sugar.
This information was not included in your nutritional analysis.
For further comparison, a 6 oz glass of freshly squeezed orange juice contains 15.6 g sugar (or 3.9 teaspoons of sugar), a large orange contains 17 g sugar (or 4.25 teaspoons of sugar), and a 12 oz bottle of Boylan Bottling Black Cherry Soda, made with cane sugar not HFCS, contains 41 g sugar (10.25 teaspoons of sugar).
I guess I just don’t understand this whole juicing thing, especially for someone who has diabetes. It seems very high carb (88%!) and it converts complex carbs into simple carbs. And the focus on fruit? There are so many claims of important nutrients in fruit, but besides vitamin C I just don’t see it. How exactly are fruits a potent source of other nutrients? Green veggies seem much better. Am I missing something? Maybe a smoothie based on a good greek yogurt would be better?
Which one is better in terms of effectiveness and safety: albiglutide (Tanzeum), dulaglutide (Trulicity).
Overweight by 25 lbs. Aic 6.8.
Also taking metformin 2000mg per day
Thx
Hi, John. To my knowledge, those two drugs have never been compared side-by-side for effectiveness. Nor do we know how they compare in terms of long-term safety.