Juicing vs. Blending

Welcome to the age old dilemma, Should I juice or Blend? Should I juice it or smoothie my way to health. Juiceful has the answer you need!

The popularity that juicing has seen over the recent years has brought millions of people more interest in drinking fresh fruit and vegetable juices that they make on their own at home. However, many people look at the price tags on some top-of-the-line juicers and realize they cost hundreds of dollars and even upwards of a thousand dollars or more sometimes for one that is really good. This has caused many people to simply use their blenders instead for the purposes of creating juices and smoothies. This has also given the rise to some controversy over juicing versus blending and whether one is better than the other when it comes to getting the healthy drinks so many people are looking for today.

Juicing

Before you can begin to analyze any type of argument between the two methods, it is best if you have a clear understanding of what each method is and what it entails. For juicing, the process is the extraction of nutrients and water from fruits and vegetables that gets rid of the indigestible pieces of pulp and fiber that are part of the produce. This leaves you entirely with the liquid results only of whatever fruits or vegetables that you are using to create the juice itself. This has several benefits to it. First off, you get rid of a lot of the fiber that cannot be digested properly by your system. This fiber actually slows down your digestion because it is harder for your body to digest it, making it harder for nutrients to be absorbed. With juicing, this fiber has been eliminated so that the juice flows into your body easier, is digested faster and the nutrients have easier access to your body.

The juices produced by fruits and vegetables can help greatly in healing your body’s natural system. They are so rich in nutrients that they are able to help in flushing toxins out of your body faster, allowing your body’s organs such as the liver and kidneys to expel toxins and waste and heal faster, making your body look and feel better. It is because of the rich nutrients you get from juicing that this is possible, giving you a great method for you to work on not only weight loss but to benefit the rest of your body as well, such as your skin, hair and nails and your immune system.

Of course, there are some precautions you need to take with juicing as well. It is not a good idea to strictly juice things like fruit and have that as your sole source of a meal, particular if you might have issues with diabetes. Since juices are so rich in nutrients and get into your bloodstream faster because there is no fiber, the pure sugars of most fruits can cause your sugar levels in your body to spike, which can cause problems for you in general with mood swings and energy loss when your sugar level crashes. For diabetics, this can be an added problem, causing their sugar levels to get too high. It is always best to discuss something like juicing with your doctor before you begin any type of regimen or diet to make sure that you are aware of any potential problems and what you may need to avoid for health reasons.

Blending

Blending, on the other hand is a somewhat different process than juicing. When blending fruits and vegetables, you are getting everything from the fruit or vegetable, skin and all. This means you are getting all of the fiber that is often found in the skin or the fruit itself because it is not simply the liquid being extracted but the entire piece of produce blended up into a liquid form. The blending will serve to break apart the fiber to loosen it up somewhat and this allows it to be more digestible for your body. The blending process creates a product that is going to provide you with a much slower and more even migration of nutrients into your body and you are much more likely to avoid any type of sugar spikes that can happen when you are strictly juicing.

The final product you receive when you are blending fruits and vegetables is often referred to as a smoothie. With smoothies, when you ingest a smoothie you are going to feel fuller than you do when you just drink juice. This is a natural by-product of the blending process since your final product contains much more fiber than a juice, so it is naturally going to make you feel fuller when you drink one. This can make a smoothie a great option for you when you want something for breakfast since it is going to make you feel full and is more likely to sustain you right through to your first snack or lunch during the day.

So which is Better?

The truth is when you are comparing juicing and blending you are comparing two very different products at the end, and they both can have health benefits for you no matter what. Blending and juicing each provide you with a good source of nutrients and vitamins; it is really a question of what it is that you are trying to achieve by using these methods. If your goal is to get larger amounts of servings of vegetables and fruit into your daily diet, then juicing may be the one for you. Juicing is going to give you more servings because of the nature of the extraction process and you will get more per serving in juice than you will in a smoothie.

The answer in the juicing vs. blending argument is that you can successfully use both as part of a good diet program. A blended drink of fruits and vegetables is a great way to start the day to help keep you full and give you the nutrients you need while using juices can help your body system overall by flushing out your system and providing you with faster access to the vitamins and nutrients your body needs. In the end, you can clearly benefit from using both methods to improve your overall health.