What's the healthiest smoothie to order at a chain?

The one with protein on the label and no juice, sherbet or added sugar, in the smallest size. A protein add-in turns a fruit smoothie into something closer to a meal, though it can’t take the sugar out. Where the menu prints added sugar, keep it to 10 g or less, the US guidelines’ line for a whole meal.

The smoothie counter is the healthy choice in every food court, and the menus lean into it with names that sound light. Then the label turns up 70 or 90 g of sugar in a medium. On both menus we checked, the best meal in a cup is a protein drink, and the plain fruit smoothies come last.

Ordering a smoothie is like a salad bar. The fruit is never the problem, and the extras decide what you end up drinking.

How do the chain smoothies compare?

Eight drinks from the two chains whose numbers we could open, with each chain’s month, graded as a meal on the six meters for a 165 lb adult by our builder. Neither chain prints its recipe by weight or its vitamins, so every drink gets half marks on Processing and Nutrients, and Jamba doesn’t publish added sugar, so its drinks get half marks on Glucose too. A half mark counts as a miss, so no chain cup can be an A on its label.

The two with real protein come out on top. Jamba’s peanut butter banana with whey has 44 g of protein and 7 g of fiber, but its ingredients include honey, so some of its 45 g of sugar was added, and Jamba doesn’t say how much. The Gladiator has the protein and almost no sugar, but with 1 g of fiber and 220 calories it misses Energy and Hunger, so it’s a protein drink more than a meal. The fruit smoothies at the bottom miss Muscle by a mile, and the ones with turbinado or juice miss Glucose too.

Does the small size help?

A lot. Jamba’s small Strawberry Whirl is 215 calories and 38 g of sugar, against 315 and 56 g for the medium, and a small Mango-A-Go-Go is 295 calories and 66 g against 415 and 93 g. At Smoothie King the 20 oz is the smallest, and the 44 oz Caribbean Way has 167 g of sugar. Ordering small is the easiest change at any counter.

What should I look for on the label?

• Protein: 20 g or more, or your meal line, 30 g at 165 lb. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
• Added sugar: 10 g or less, the guidelines’ line for a meal. Where only total sugar is printed, look at the ingredients.
• Ingredients: no juice, juice blend or juice concentrate, no sherbet or ice cream, no turbinado, honey or syrup. The US guidelines count “fruit juice concentrate,” “honey” and “turbinado sugar” as added sugars.
• Size: the smallest one.

A scoop of whey adds about 25 g of protein, so a protein add-in, where the chain offers one, is the single best upgrade to a fruit smoothie. It still leaves the sugar where it was.

Is it cheaper to make it at home?

By a lot. Our strawberry banana yogurt glass, the home twin of most fruit smoothies, costs about $2.73 at US average prices and has 30 g of protein and no added sugar. Is it cheaper to make smoothies at home? runs the year, and how much sugar is in a Smoothie King smoothie? has every size.