The Differences of Juicing vs. Blending Explained
To juice or to blend? That is the question among many health-crazed dieters these days when thinking about juicing vs. blending. Unfortunately, there is no right answer. Both processes have their benefits, and should be considered before going out and purchasing a blender or juicer.Ever since I was introduced to Vitamix blending, I have been making a green smoothie every day.
I usually have one for breakfast with some form of carbohydrates (toast, bagel, steel-cut oats). Green smoothies are also my go-to recovery drink after a long run. The Vitamix was a life-saver during the training of my last marathon. I have a lot of experience with their blenders and can offer some advice to those seeking information. However, this will not sway the truthfulness of this article.
Juicing
Juicing is the process of extracting juice from plant tissues such as fruit or vegetables. There are many methods of juicing, from squeezing fruit by hand to wide scale extraction via industrial equipment.
Fruit Juicing is generally the more preferred method by individuals and is often completed with a household appliance called a juicer, which may be as simple as a cone upon which fruit is mashed or as sophisticated as a variable-speed, motor-driven device.
True juicing should only be done with a proper juicer machine. A correct juice maker has a unique set of blades that helps to extract liquid out of fruits and vegetables, and the nutrients that are contained in the skins and seeds. Go here for reviews of the best juicers.
Benefits
Juicing veggies and fruits removes the indigestible fibre, making nutrients readily available to the body in large quantities. This will allow the body to soak up the nutrients, using little energy. As The Wellness Warrior puts it, “It’s like injecting goodness straight into your blood stream.” Many people don’t get the recommended daily amount of 6-8 servings of fruits and veggies. Most people can’t stomach the idea of eating that many carrots, apples, tomatoes, beets, celery, kale, etc.
Juicing makes it simple for people to get that daily amount, and enjoy it!Juicing helps you absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. This is important because most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body’s ability to absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables.
Juicing will help to “pre-digest” them for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition, rather than having it go down the toilet.You can add a wider variety of vegetables in your diet. Many people eat the same vegetable salads every day. This violates the principle of regular food rotation and increases your chance of developing an allergy to a certain food. But with juicing, you can juice a wide variety of vegetables that you may not normally enjoy eating whole.
[Notice: Vegetable Juice is Not a Complete Meal.
It is important to note that vegetable juice has very little protein and virtually no fat, so by itself, it is not really a complete food. It really should be used in addition to your regular meals not in place of it. So unless you are undergoing some special fasting or detoxification program, it is probably unwise to use juicing as a meal replacement. Ideally, it can be consumed with your meal or as a between meal snack.]
Blending
Blending is the practice of combining fruits and vegetables together in a high-speed blender — and consuming the resulting blend as a smoothie or soup. While this might not sound appetizing to most people, the blends (also called “green smoothies”), are actually quite delicious — even to those who are not fruit and vegetable lovers, and even to children.
According to blending practitioners, the ideal fruit and vegetable blend would have 60% ripe organic fruit mixed with 40% organic green leafy vegetables. Some people add almond milk or soy milk to make the blend creamier. This “green smoothie” is often referred to as the most nutritious meal on earth.
Benefits
A juicer extracts the juice of fruits and vegetables, but discards the pulp into the waste chamber of the extractor. Even when one uses a masticating juicer that squeezes every drop of juice from the produce — leaving only dry pulp — that pulp, which is often discarded, contains one of the main health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption – fiber.
On the other hand, blending liquefies the whole fruit or vegetable, and keeps the fiber in the blend instead of discarding it.Many nutritionists believe that drinking juices extracted from vegetables with high sugar content (such a carrots) or from sweet fruits (such as dates, lychees and bananas) will spike the body’s insulin levels, affect blood sugar levels and lead to an increased risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
That’s not the case with blended fruits and vegetables. That’s because they contain fiber, which slows down the release of natural sugars into the bloodstream. High-powered blenders like Vitamix are able to break down the cell walls of the fruits and vegetables, thereby releasing all the nutrients which the body can readily absorb.
Time is a valuable asset, and many people don’t have enough of it to make sure they’re receiving adequate nutritional benefits from their diet. Planning meals and cooking food takes a lot of time. On the other hand, a smoothie or blended soup in the morning takes only minutes to create. You can easily get 3 or 4 servings of vegetables – and their associated diet benefits – before lunch with little or no fat or cholesterol.
Another advantage of blending is that the green smoothies retain their freshness longer than juices. Although it’s always best to consume smoothies as soon as they’re blended, they can be refrigerated for up to a few days. Juices, however, begin oxidizing as soon as the juice has been prepared. They should, therefore, be consumed immediately. Otherwise, the juice’s nutritional content significantly deteriorates.
Do you juice or blend? Contact us with your thoughts on juicing versus blending.
As per Nour's blog post, I feel compelled to point out that there are two kinds of fibre; juicing discards the insoluble fibre (helpful for scouring out the pipes, yes) but leaves the soluble fibre in suspension. It's the soluble fibre that helps regulate blood sugars & is what negates the effects of fructose.