Customer Reviews

Low-Carb Smoothies: More Than 135 Recipes to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth Without Guilt

5 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book hoping for quick and easy smoothie recipes with fewer carbs. Unfortunately, this book relies VERY heavily on specialty ingredients - AdvantEdge shakes, Zone Perfect protein powder, Amplify dietary supplement, KETO instant pudding mix, Carb Countdown, Old Orchard low carb juice mix - none of which can I get in my local stores. As far as I can tell from searching on the internet, the KETO and Old Orchard products have been discontinued.

While the recipes sound tasty, there is not one recipe that doesn't call for at least one of these products and some recipes call for up to 4! I don't mind when a book occasionally relies on a specialty product, but not every single recipe. It also relies heavily on sugar-free syrups (such as Torani or Da Vinci) and Crystal Light drink mix in flavors I have never seen in the stores around here. All things considered, I doubt I'll make even one recipe out of this book. If I've got to buy 3 or 4 expensive and hard-to-find ingredients just to make one smoothie, forget it.

If you are looking for low carb smoothies, Dana Carpender's book is much better and calls for very few specialty items.

This book might get three stars for its clever use of buzz words: "low carb" and "sweet tooth" and "without guilt" are no doubt a marketer's dream combination. However, its content sorely disappoints.

The book was probably developed during the height of the low-carb craze, to tempt people with the idea that they can have "fruit" and "sweet things" as part of a real low-carb eating plan. But the premise is dubious. As a result the smoothie recipes in this book do not look appetizing to someone wanting to eat good whole foods.

Who wouldn't want to "satisfy your sweeth tooth without guilt," as the subtitle says? However, I'm less concerned with "guilt" than with the overwhelming use of artificial sweeteners and processed foods in this book's recipes.

The problem is that fruits aren't very low-carb foods. (Many people who did the Atkins diet will remember longing to eat a piece of fruit along with all the green veggies and meat.) Therefore, to create sweet and fruity tasting recipes the author consistently uses artificial sweeteners - along with processed food products full of artificial sweeteners and heaven knows what else.

Although there is a short chapter with some useful information on selecting, storing, freezing and using fruits, the author does not comment on any fruit's carb or glycemic properties, except to note that bananas have a high number on the glycemic index.

I am trying to consume fewer artificial sweeteners and highly processed foods, not more. In this book, more recipes than I can count include diet Jell-O, diet soda, diet drink powders, aspartame, and the like.

I'll look elsewhere for ideas for healthy shakes and smoothies. I will use glycemic index information from such sources as The New Sugar Busters! (see pages 93 - 100) to select smoothie ingredients.