The best healthy pina colada smoothie you’ll ever make.
Do you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain? Then you’re going to love this pina colada protein smoothie. This low-calorie, nutrient-dense protein smoothie is packed with vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes and protein. With a creamy soft-serve ice cream texture and fabulous tropical flavor, every sip will make you feel like you’re on private island getaway.
Jump ahead to:
What Makes this Pina Colada Smoothie Healthy
Why eating enough vitamin C matters
This pina colada smoothie is practically overflowing with vitamin C and contains over 131% of your daily needs. That matters because being low or deficient in vitamin C is actually a pretty big deal.
You might associate vitamin C as something you take more of during cold and flu season to help give your immune system a boost. But vitamin C actually plays a far bigger role than just keeping away the sniffles.
It’s an essential vitamin that plays a significant role in many bodily functions like:
- Absorbing iron
- Healing wounds
- Growing and repairing bodily tissues (including muscle)
- Synthesizing and creating collagen (a pivotal protein in the human body)
Vitamin C is a water-soluble (it dissolves in water) vitamin that your body can’t produce vitamin C it on its own. Our bodies also doesn’t store it well, meaning you need to consume it daily to replenish your body’s vitamin C supply.
If you have the chance to consume your daily dose of vitamin C through whole foods or supplements, go with a whole food source (like this pina colada protein smoothie).
You can’t overdose on vitamin C. Whatever your body doesn’t need will be “flushed” from your system. This is also why megadosing, like popping a ton of vitamin C supplements, isn’t particularly helpful (and will ultimately just give you an expensive trip to the toilet).
Consuming a whole food source of vitamin C cheaper and will provide more natural nutrients (vs synthetic) and valuable fiber. This pina colada smoothie (which contains more natural vitamin C than an orange) will help you crush your daily dose of vitamin C way better than any pill or vitamin.
Why foods with digestive enzymes matter
Pineapples are also a fruit know for their natural digestive enzymes. Consuming foods rich in digestive enzymes can help positively and naturally boost your stomach acidity levels. And that’s actually a GREAT thing.
Believe it or not, many people unknowingly suffer from LOW stomach acidity. When that happens, your body struggles to break down the food you consume, which can leave you experiencing digestive distress (gas, bloating, digestive discomfort and more).
If your body isn’t breaking down foods properly for digestion, that also means your body will struggle to fully absorb nutrients from
Consuming foods (like pineapple) with natural digestive enzymes can help naturally boost stomach acidity to help your digestive system better breakdown and digest food.
Why You Should be Adding Protein in Your Smoothies
Not all smoothies are made equally. In fact, a lot of smoothie recipes out there are promoted like an adequate meal replacement shake, but lack a balanced range of macronutrients and will likely leave you feeling hungry again a short while later.
Like all of my protein smoothie recipes, this healthy pina colada smoothie aims to serve as a more significant meal source with a balanced macronutrient range of healthy fats, carbohydrates and protein than other smoothies (see full macros listed further in the post).
If you want to maximize your smoothie potential, you need to make sure you’re incorporating a significant source of protein.
There are three big weight loss and appetite management perks protein smoothies hold over regular smoothies.
As a personal trainer, any smoothie I’m making is going to be a protein smoothie. There are three big nutritional reasons why I’m a firm believer you should be adding protein into your smoothies:
1. During digestion, your body actually expends more energy (aka burns more calories) while breaking down protein. This increased caloric expenditure is fabulous for supporting weight loss and metabolism health. Who wouldn’t want to burn some extra calories without even having to break a sweat, right?
2. Protein also helps support muscle growth and recovery. And if some of your health goals include weight or fat loss, you want to increase overall muscle mass in your body. Muscle mass is more calorically efficient than fat, meaning the more muscle mass an individual has, the more calories their metabolism will burn at rest throughout the day.
3. Protein helps keep you full longer. This can help you stay satisfied longer and banish those pesky cravings between meals
What Kind of Protein Powder Should I Use in Smoothies?
A quality protein powder can make or break the difference in this pina colada protein smoothie. I try to aim for a low-carb, high-protein powder that’s easy on the taste buds and the digestive system. Here are a few protein powder brands (two dairy and two non-dairy based) that I’ve tried and would recommend for smoothie recipes.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products I have tried or genuinely believe would be beneficial. Utilizing affiliate links is one of the ways I support my blog to be able to keep delivering you guys great content.
High-Quality Whey Protein
Gluten-free and soy-free, SFH Pure Whey Protein Powder is made of grass-fed whey that is that is 100% GMO and artificial ingredient-free. As someone who is dairy-sensitive, I’ve tried and enjoyed a variety of flavors of this whey protein powder without any issues and give it a solid thumbs up. Whey protein also tends to deliver a greater concentration of protein per serving.
High-Quality Vegan Protein
SFH also produced a line of high-quality plant-based protein powder. This protein is powdered by pea protein, mushrooms, fiber, healthy fats, and MCTs. It’s gluten-free, soy-free and also carries no added sugars or artificial flavors.
Most vegan protein powders carry a less concentrated dose of protein per serving (20 grams of protein vs 31 in their pure whey powder), but I find it’s easy to balance this by using a scoop and a half of vegan protein to achieve a higher dose of protein per serving.
Tasty and Budget-Friendly Whey
Quest Nutrition Protein Powder
Quest Protein powders are gluten-free, soy-free, high-protein and low-carb. Their protein is smooth, delicious and won’t break the bank.
Tasty and Budget-friendly Vegan
New Vega Protein & Greens 
Click here to buy on Amazon
It can be challenging to find a vegan protein powder that’s low-carb, high-protein and doesn’t taste like cardboard. I tested quite a few of them during my vegan dieting experiment and Vega was actually my favorite. It’s completely dairy, soy and GMO-free and easy on the taste buds.
How to Get Soft Serve Smoothie Consistency
The key to a great smoothie consistency is using a frozen element. If you want that creamy, craveable, soft serve ice cream kind of texture, it has to be made with frozen fruit or a frozen element. This pina colada protein smoothie uses frozen pineapple chunks to achieve that texture consistency.
Recipe for Healthy Pina Colada Protein Smoothie
Are you more of a visual learner? I’ve created a special video of this recipe just for you where I demonstrate how to whip up this pina colada smoothie in American Sign Language (find it below the recipe section!).
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 Cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1 Teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 Cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 Scoop SFH Pure Whey protein powder
DIRECTIONS:
Ready for the easiest directions ever? Throw it all into a blender. Blend it up. Enjoy.
Substitutions and Macronutrients
SUBSTITUTIONS:
- You can swap in a vegan protein powder in place of the whey.
- If you’re not feeling the coconut milk, any other kind of milk will do.
- When making substitutions, just keep in mind that your macro count may slightly vary from this specific recipe. If you’re counting macros, just make sure to adjust the recipe macros in a macro calculator based on the ingredients you use.
MACROS:
- Calories: 249
- Carbs: 26g
- Fat: 6g
- Protein: 25g
Video: Pina Colada Smoothie in American Sign Language
Final Thoughts on the Best healthy Pina Colada Protein Smoothie
Every sip of this pina colada smoothie makes me feel like I’m on a tropical getaway. And I can also feel great about the fact that I’m helping fueling my body with a low-calorie, nutrient-dense meal that’s full of vitamin C, digestive enzymes and protein.
Do you have a favorite dessert or guilty pleasure food you’d like to see made into a healthy protein smoothie? I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments below!
Related Smoothie Recipes and Articles:
- The Apple Pie Protein Smoothie
-
The Incredible Green Protein Smoothie
-
Chocolate Covered Strawberries Protein Smoothie
-
3 Healthy Protein Smoothies for Fall
-
3 Healthy Holiday Protein Smoothies
More Healthy Recipes in American Sign Language:
All writing and images copyright © 2020 Rachel Elise Woods
References:
1. MB;, C. (2001, January). Effect of ascorbic acid intake on nonheme-iron absorption from a complete diet. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
2. Gorin, A., & Rdn. (2018, July 09). 7 food pairings that will increase nutrient absorption. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
3. Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on Dietary Antioxidants and Related Compounds. (1970, January 01). Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
4. West, H. (2019, January 7). 6 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Lemons. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
5. Raman, R. (2018, May 26). 8 Impressive Health Benefits of Pineapple. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
6. Steen, J. (2017, August 23). 8 Easy Ways To Boost Your Nutrient Absorption. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
7. Office of Dietary Supplements – Vitamin C Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. (n.d.). Retrieved August 12, 2020.
8. Harvard School of Public Health. (2020, March 02). The Nutrition Source: Vitamin C. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
9. Malterre, T. (2016). Chapter 2 The Glorious Gut. In The elimination diet: Discover the foods that are making you sick and tired–and feel better fast. New York: Boston.
Marta says
Ooooh, this looks good and the piña colada speaks to my Puerto Rican side! It’s a great substitute for the calorie-packed original.
ReeseWoods says
Healthy and tasty are a great combination!
Heather says
I’m OBSESSED with pina coladas! I can’t wait to try this healthier version.
ReeseWoods says
They are just so darn delicious!
Mama 'N Chief says
I’m currently doing a green smoothie cleanse, when it’s over, I’m going to try this!
ReeseWoods says
It’s a great one to incorporate!
Mae says
I can’t wait to try this healthy pina colada! Sounds delicious!
ReeseWoods says
You know it!
rachel says
Umm this sounds AMAZING! And I keep thinking I need to pick up some of the VEGA protein!
ReeseWoods says
It’s a great brand!
Hemp Suppliers NZ says
Great analysis, I love how you really went in-depth with everything it really projects what one needs to know about pina colada smoothie recipe. You have done an excellent job with this content I must say.
ReeseWoods says
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it!