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Jamba, formerly called Jamba Juice, is a chain restaurant known for its signature smoothies and juices.

In addition to protein shakes, fruit smoothies, and fresh juices, the company offers a variety of breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, and smoothie bowls. Yet, despite its widespread popularity, you may wonder whether Jamba is good for you.

This article explores some of Jamba’s healthy options and describes what to look for the next time you order.

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Healthy vs. unhealthy options

While not all dishes at Jamba are healthy, several nutritious options are available.

Still, it’s important to know which factors to consider. Ideally, you should choose items made from whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, yogurt, nuts, and seeds.

Furthermore, you should check the dishes’ nutritional content carefully, aiming for items high in protein and fiber, low in sugar, and not excessively high in calories. Selecting items without add-ins would also be beneficial.

Some menu items are customizable, which can make finding healthier choices much easier. For example, you can skip honey and brown sugar in smoothie bowls and add nut butter or seeds instead.

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Healthier items at Jamba tend to be those made from whole foods that are low in sugar and not excessively high in calories.

Juices and smoothies

Many of Jamba’s smoothies and juices contain fruit juice blends, which are made from fruits like oranges, apples, pineapples, strawberries, and bananas.

Although these fruits are healthy, fruit juices are a concentrated source of sugar and calories. Additionally, unlike smoothies, juices don’t have any pulp, so they don’t contain any of the beneficial fiber found in fruits or vegetables.

Therefore, it’s best to opt for smoothies made from fresh fruits and veggies — and skip products that contain juice blends, as this can increase the sugar and calorie content of items.

Some healthy juices and smoothies on Jamba’s menu include:

• Smooth Talkin’ Mango: oat milk, mangoes, pineapples, and organic agave
• Greens n’ Ginger: lemonade, kale, ginger, peaches, and, mangoes
• Protein Berry Workout: soy milk, strawberries, bananas, and whey protein
• PB + Banana Protein: reduced fat milk, bananas, peanut butter, pea protein, and honey
• Purely Carrot: fresh carrot juice
• Great Greens: freshly juiced lemon, cucumber, and apples with fresh spinach
• Veggie Vitality: freshly juiced apple, freshly juiced carrot, and fresh spinach

You can also customize most of Jamba’s juices and smoothies to remove added sugars or juice blends and add healthy ingredients like frozen fruits, veggies, nut butters, and Greek yogurt.

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Although many smoothies and juices at Jamba are high in sugar or calories, several healthy options are available.

Bowls

Jamba offers many smoothie and oat bowls, most of which contain ingredients like fruit, yogurt, granola, milk, or coconut.

Some of the bowls on its menu are:

• Acai Primo: strawberries, blueberries, bananas, acai blend, granola, soy milk, honey, and shredded coconut
• Chunky Strawberry: strawberries, bananas, soy milk, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, and granola
• Island Pitaya: mangoes, pitaya (dragon fruit), strawberries, blueberries, bananas, pineapple juice, granola, honey, and shredded coconut
• Vanilla Blue Sky: bananas, pineapples, strawberries, blueberries, almond milk, vanilla coconut milk, blue spirulina, granola, and coconut chips
• Oatmeal: steel cut oats, soy milk concentrate, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, shredded coconut, brown sugar crumbles, honey, and granola

While these bowls generally contain nutrient-dense ingredients, most are also high in sugar, carbs, and calories. For example, the Chunky Strawberry bowl packs 580 calories, 94 grams of carbs, and 50 grams of sugar.

Although this might be an appropriate amount of calories for a meal for some people, this is typically too many calories for a snack. Plus, the carb load of this meal may be too high for many people to consume in one sitting.

Try to look for bowls that aren’t so sugar-heavy. For instance, the oatmeal bowl only contains 170 calories, 31 grams of carbs, and 5 grams of sugar. This would make a good choice for a snack or light meal paired with another source of protein, such as a hard-boiled egg.

Reducing your portion sizes, removing high sugar toppings like honey, granola, and brown sugar, and opting for fiber-rich extras like kale or pumpkin seeds will improve the nutritional value of your bowl.

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While Jamba bowls contain many nutrient-dense ingredients, they’re also high in carbs, calories, and sugar. To boost their nutritional value, reduce your portion sizes, avoid high sugar toppings, and choose high fiber add-ons.

Bites

The Jamba menu offers a variety of bites, including baked goods, wraps, and sandwiches.

It’s best to select items that are high in protein and fiber, which can help keep you feeling fuller for longer (1, 2).

Certain baked goods sold by Jamba Juice, such as waffles and pretzels, aren’t as nutritious as other choices, so it’s best to limit these foods in your diet or pair them with more nutritious foods that contain protein, healthy fats, and fiber.

Here’s a nutrient chart for a few of Jamba’s healthier bites:

CaloriesProteinFatCarbsFiberOatmeal1706 grams2.5 grams31 grams0 gramsSpinach ‘n Cheese Breakfast Wrap24015 grams7 grams30 grams3 gramsRoasted Tomato, Spinach, & Feta Breakfast Sandwich24011 grams8 grams30 grams4 gramsTurkey Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper, & Gouda Breakfast Sandwich29020 grams12 grams25 grams1 gramsummary

Jamba offers several healthy bites that are high in protein and fiber, such as breakfast wraps and breakfast sandwiches.

The bottom line

Jamba is a popular chain restaurant known for its juices, smoothies, bowls, and bites.

Although some items are less healthy than others, their nutritious options include high fiber smoothies, low sugar bowls, and high protein bites.

When ordering from Jamba, look for items made from whole foods and select products that are high in protein and fiber, as well as low in added sugar, whenever possible.