I Jamba. Do You Jamba?
Written: Sep 11 '06 (Updated Sep 11 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Enlightened Smoothies satisfy and keep guilt at bay
Cons: If you're not careful, you could be consuming more than 450 calories in one drink!
The Bottom Line: ~*~Jambaism #3: Do unto your body as you wish your body would do unto you~*~
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| BeastieGirl's Full Review: Jamba Juice |
The word “smoothie” is practically synonymous with health shake in everyone’s minds these days, but in reality, smoothie has more in common with the word milk shake. Jamba Juice finds a happy medium between healthy and yummy- your taste buds don’t have to suffer and neither does your waistline- if you choose carefully.
Jamba Juice is a Smoothie Bar- meaning they primarily serve drinks made from a combination of fruits, juices, milks and other vitamin/herb supplements. Using only fresh ingredients, produce such as bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and carrots are often in their specialty drinks. Frozen yogurt, milk, non-dairy soy milk and low-fat dairy (and non-dairy) are all used to give the drinks their smooth texture, however they aren’t all used together, it all depends on what kind of smoothie you order.
Different “boosts” are also available to help give your smoothie a more healthful balance. Protein boosts add an extra 7 grams of protein, Energy boosts provide a vitamin B complex and the Burner Boost has vitamins and herbs to support your metabolism. Several other boosts are also available including an immune system boost and fiber boost. Every drink order comes with a free boost of your choice, but you can add on as many as you want for $.50 more. The most I’ve had in one drink is two different boosts and I have never had that protein shake taste that many performance based drinks have.
One of my favorite smoothie is the Protein Berry Pizzazz. It has soymilk, frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, ice and a protein boost, which has 20 grams of protein in a regular serving (710 grams) and also has 100% of the recommended daily allowance of Calcium and Vitamin C. All in all, it’s a pretty healthy drink, and very filling- which it should be, at 440 calories!! There’s only 1.5 grams of fat, and that’s fairly standard for Jamba Juice, hardly any of their drinks have much more than 2 grams of fat (carbs are a different story, though). Another fun drink is the Caribbean Passion, which has passion fruit-mango juice, orange sherbet, frozen strawberries and peaches and ice. Yum!
Other than smoothies, Jamba Juice also serves freshly squeezed juices and shots of pressed wheatgrass. They have a limited amount of snacks such as Pirate’s Booty popcorn, Odwalla bars and other organic bakery items. I never get any food here though, as an Original sized drink is practically a meal in itself and more than enough for me!
Smoothies come in 3 sizes- small (16 oz.), Original (20 oz.), and Power (32 oz.). I used to get the Protein Berry Pizzazz in Original until I saw the calorie count! Although packed with protein and low in fat, the calorie count is much higher than one might think for a “health drink”. There is a good side to all of this though, and that is that Jamba Juice is a pretty honest company. In addition to brochures available in the store that have nutritional information, there is also a book you can peruse with all the recipes and nutritional information on everything they make with a guide to their different selections.
There are also several “Enlightened Smoothies” that use a low-fat dairy substitute and have about half the calories as their other drinks. I’m loving Strawberry Nirvana right now, which tastes about the same as the Protein Berry Pizzazz, yet gives me less guilt. So if you are calorie or carb or whatever conscious, check out the menu guide before ordering- there will be something there for you, I promise.
And then there are the caffeine freaks (yes, I’m one of them). If caffeine is what you crave, you can still get your buzz on without stopping for coffee as well. Some of the boosts have energy boosting effects, such as the Matcha Boost, which is derived from green tea and has antioxidant effects as well. There is a Matcha Green Tea Blast that has 75 mg of caffeine- that’s more than 2 shots of espresso has! It’s okay, but you need to like green tea to like this drink. The Matcha Boost will better suit you if you’re looking for a little sweet taste too.
Most locations I have been to are relatively small, but they usually have at least a few tables inside and sometimes even outside. Often they have health books, mugs, bags and other similar items for sale. I have found a few good books there with smoothie recipes and other healthy living tips. Service is always friendly and I have yet to go to a location that needs cleaning. Yellow is their primary interior color and everything is designed to be bright and cheery.
Jamba Juice is located all over the country, with a good concentration in Southern California. They are also in Southern Florida, Tampa Bay, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Texas, Hawaii, Idaho and Washington, D.C. to name a few locations. Credit cards are accepted and they carry gift cards, similar to the Starbucks card. Prices range from about $3.95 to $4.95 for a smoothie and as mentioned, the add-on Boosts are $.50. It’s fairly reasonable considering an Original size will not leave much room in your tummy for other food items!
After I found out the truth about the calorie content of many smoothies, I was heartily disappointed. Reveling in Jamba Juice’s alternatives, I have been kept quite content. The yummy tastes and healthy benefits of the boosts keep me coming back. I would highly recommend Jamba Juice as a great way to start your day, as a decent size snack between meals, hangover cure, or even as a meal replacement- lunch on the go works for me. As a company, Jamba Juice tries hard to be a role model in the community. Their mission statement is called FIBER: Fun, Integrity, Balance, Empowerment, and Respect. If they continue to impress me the way they have so far, I’ll continue to be a customer- no other smoothie bar has impressed me as much (especially my taste buds!).
*~*Jamba is supposedly from an African word meaning "to celebrate"~*~
Recommended:
Yes
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