Smoothie nutrition, answered

A smoothie is not one food — six real blends run from water-and-berries to a full oats-and-nut-butter meal.

Six all-fruit blends, and why the liquid you pour in matters as much as the fruit.

Same two fruits every time. The liquid, the base and the sweetener decide everything else.

The banana portion swings the total more than any fruit swap — the nut butter and the milk do the rest.

Six mango blends, from a coconut water cooler to a full breakfast in a glass.

Six worked blends, from berries-and-milk to a berry breakfast that replaces a meal.

The spinach is not the problem — the fruit you added to make it drinkable is.

The base of a bowl is lighter than the same smoothie in a glass. Then the toppings go on.

Six blends you would actually make at home, including the same recipe measured and then poured by eye.

The whole macro line for six real smoothies — not just the calories.

Six worked blends, the carb count for each, and the swaps that actually move it.

Fruit contributes almost none of it — what you add on purpose decides the number.

The fruit is real. So is the sherbet, and so is the apple-strawberry juice that half the menu is built on. The published panel is where those three facts stop competing.

The cafe publishes full nutrition for every drink, and the answer is sitting in the sugar column rather than the calorie one. Read that column and the menu splits neatly in two.

More than the other two chains, this one genuinely depends on what you order — the spread between the best and worst drink on their own menu is wider than the gap between chains.

Smoothie King's own figures for its best-known smoothies, and the same drinks rebuilt in your own blender.

The Gladiator is the protein smoothie on the board: their protein blend and fruit, with nothing added to sweeten it. Here is what that adds up to, and how to rebuild it at home.

Pick a smoothie, see Jamba's own figures for it, then see where the same drink lands made at home.

What the cafe publishes for its best-known smoothies, and the same flavors rebuilt in your own blender.

What the chain publishes for its own menu, and the same drinks rebuilt in your own blender.

The food court cup and the freezer aisle packs are two different drinks. Here is what goes into each, and how to rebuild either one at home.

Costco publishes nothing for it. Here is what the drink is actually made of, and how to rebuild it at home.

Costco states nothing for the food court cup. Here is what the drink is made of, and how to rebuild it yourself.

Erewhon prints the ingredients but not the nutrition. Here is what those ingredients add up to in a 20 oz cup.

The Erewhon Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, added up from its published ingredients — and the at-home version that gets you the same drink.

Almond milk, spinach, berries, almond butter, chia, flaxseed and a scoop of protein powder. Here is what that adds up to, and what moves it.

The base is fruit puree. The granola, the nut butter and the drizzle are where the number comes from.

Playa Bowls is known for the acai bowls, but the smoothies are their own drink — a juice base, blended fruit, and on some of them a scoop of peanut butter or granola. Here is what that comes to.

A convenience-store smoothie is built for speed, not for a nutrition panel. Here is what that means for the cup, and how to rebuild the same flavors at home.