A healthier way to snack?: Smoothie King taste test

From the Get Energy line, I sampled the Acai Adventure which contains antioxidant-rich organic acai fruit, apple juice, blueberries, vanilla protein blend and turbinado sugar. In the past I've had drinks with acai that were quite tart, but this was surprisingly not too tart or too sweet -- just the right amount of both. I could definitely get through a regular-sized (20 oz) cup of this.

Under the Trim Down category, I sampled both the Angel Food and the Muscle Punch blends. The Angel food has strawberries, bananas, soy Protein, non-fat milk, vanilla, turbinado and Honey. It would make a great go-to smoothie for one who isn't a big fan of some of the other exotic fruits in their other smoothies. The Muscle Punch is very much like the Angel Food, save for the addition of wheat germ and nutritional yeast. These additions also make the texture a bit grainier and thicker, but not at all unpalatable.

The Gladiator was the selection from the Build Up category that has a low carb meal replacement (45 grams of protein for a 20 oz serving) and is probably one of the lowest calorie choices in this category. I tried this one two ways (recommendations by the staff): the tropical pineapple-mango and the berry-filled strawberry-raspberry. Both were tasty and filling (to say the least), so much so that I, personally, would not be able to get through a full serving. I'd recommend this as a meal replacement for a very active person.

All in all, no matter where you decide to get your smoothie from -- Smoothie King, Jamba Juice, Keva Juice, etc. -- they all have healthier alternatives to many other fast food chains out there and they're also a great way to get in your daily serving of fruit (and vegetables, where applicable). The key is looking at the nutritional aspects of what you're choosing to drink and what your body needs. You're probably not going to want to get a muscle building smoothie if you never work out, and if you're lactose intolerant, you're obviously going to want to omit any dairy from your chosen blend. (And, no, shakes form Chik-fil-a and McDonald's don't count as "smoothies").

Editor's note: All smoothies tested were courtesy of Smoothie King, but the author was in no other way compensated. All views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.