Juicing versus Blending.

Many folks are drinking food right now.  There are the green smoothie people, the juicers and those who juice thier fruits & veggies & add them to their smoothie.

If you are blending foods, you are drinking a whole-food, thick, shake-like beverage.  Bananas, avocados and yogurt are often added for a smooth creamy texture.

Those of us juicing never consider plunging bananas, avocados or yogurt into our juicers.  That would end badly.  If you have a masticating juicer (like me) it’s not even possible.  You can’t juice bananas or avocados.

Blending & Juicing are both popular right now.

Here’s an overview of both:

Juicing:  

“Juicing is a process where the liquid part of the fruit or vegetable is separated from the pulp, or fiber. You get a thin and concentrated liquid product that contains vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients, which are bioactive plant-derived compounds associated with positive health effects. You specifically need a juicer to do this.”  – source

• Juicing – The fastest way to nourish the cells in your body with food.
• Juicing – When consumed on an empty stomach the vitamins and minerals in fresh juice are able to quickly and easily go straight into the bloodstream (within minutes).  Source: Life, Cancer & God by Paula Black & Capt. Dale Black PhD, p.237.
• Juicing – Dramatically increases the amounts of nutrients that can be consumed in a day.  Especially, when someone is dealing with a life threatening disease (like cancer) a juicer will help them to consume the tremendous amount of nutrients needed to rebuild their damaged immune system.  With juicing, a person can consume up to 20 pounds of living foods in a day.  This is amazing.
• Juicing – Easy to digest.  Juicing is easy on your body and system since it is liquid.  This allows the nutrients in the foods to be absorbed quickly and easily.  By juicing regularly (some people juice 8-10 times per day) you can give your body and immune system a constant flow of nutrients.
• Juicing – Revitalizes your body at the cellular level.
• Juicing – Enables your immune system to be strong and fight and do what it was intended to do.
• Juicing – Gives your digestive system a rest.

Blending:  

“With blending, the whole fruit or vegetable is used: what you put in the blender is what you consume. The volume of the drink, which is often called a smoothie, will be much greater than that of a juice made from the same amount of fruits or vegetables. You can use anything from a standard blender to higher-end products like a Vitamix.” – source

• Blending – With blending you are consuming whole foods, pulp and all.  This will allow you to feel fuller longer.
• Blending – Smoothies go through the digestive system, which slows down the absorption of nutrients.  If you are watching your blood sugar, smoothies may be a good option since the sugar will be released into your bloodstream slower than juicing.  If you are partial to juicing and want to watch the sugar just make sure your juices contain mostly vegetables.  Too many fruits could equally mean too much sugar.
• Blending – Because pulp and whole foods are consumed they must go through the digestive system. (Which can take hours instead of minutes to hit your bloodstream).
• Blending – Limits the amount of vitamins and minerals you can consume due to the size and volume of smoothies.

Why Folks Choose Smoothies: 

Green smoothies are in.  Vita-mixes are the bomb.  They can turn anything in your house into a slushy, including your milk carton.  When you drink smoothies you are consuming the entire fruit or veggie along with whatever else you deposit into the blender (yogurt, juice, protein powder, etc).  These are great for you.  They fill you up and leave you feeling full for a long time.

My best friend has a Vitamix & I enjoy it immensely on the beach in summer.  It makes me fabulous fruity drinks I can sip from my beach chair as I watch the ocean waves.  Other than frozen tropical drinks on the beach, I’ll take a large chocolate malt made with raw milk and homemade ice cream.  That’s all I want from a blender.

Fruit smoothies, Green smoothies, Protein smoothies, all other smoothies I can’t stomach.  Yuck.  Too much foam.  Too much froth.  Too much food.  No thanks.

If it’s between drinking a frothy, foamy smoothie or eating some yogurt, and apple and some kale – I’ll take the groceries every time.  I just don’t like frothy, foamy, bloated drinks.

Sorry.

I have lots of friends who LOOOOOOOOVE smoothies & drink them daily.  I just don’t.  Apparently, I’m not alone.  As I was researching juicing and blending I found that there are many other like me who have an ‘aversion’ to blended, foamy beverages.

For me and the rest of the smoothie-opposers, God made juicers.  🙂

Now, let’s talk a little more about Juice..

Why I Chose Juicing:

Juicing is very different from smoothies.  When you “juice” a fruit or veggie you are extracting all the juice, enzymes, antibodies, vitamins, nutrients and fiber out of the specimen minus the pulp.  Sending a sweet potato through a juicer is quite a spectacle.  You end up with a cup of orange-colored juice and the machine “poops” dry ground-up potato from the other end.

Have you ever had fresh juice? It’s nothing like the store-bought stuff.  It’s probably not like anything you’ve ever consumed before.

It is liquid, yet oh so intensely full flavored.

I can shove spinach, kale, collard greens and even fresh ginger through my juicer and somehow an amazingly fruity, liquid concoction comes forth.  Radical.

Juicing allows you to inject your system with vital minerals and enzymes while giving your digestive system a rest.  It is so quickly and easily absorbed that the nutrition can make it to your bloodstream in minutes.

Because you are not eating the entire fruit (only all the vitamins & minerals out of it) you can eat TONS MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES.  Literally.  Juicing can allow you to eat up to 20 pounds of food a day.

Why would I want to eat 20 pounds of vegetables?  For a detailed look read this post on juicing.  

Here’s the overview:

1. In order for our immune systems to be healthy and keep us well they need living foods.  Living foods are alive (carrots, apples, kale, etc) and in their original state.  If a food has been frozen, canned, cooked or processed it is no longer alive – it’s dead.
2. We don’t eat enough living foods.
3. Our food today is not as nutritionally dense as it used to be. “YOU WOULD HAVE TO EAT 5 APPLES TODAY TO GET THE SAME NUTRITIONAL VALUE AS AN APPLE FROM 1950.”  SOURCE
4. This means we need to eat even more living foods.
5. Did I mention that we don’t eat enough living foods?

I choose juicing, although I know many folks who love blending.  The short reason that I chose juice is because I enjoy it, I can consume more fresh foods and I think it tastes better.

You Don’t Have to Chose:

I know lots of folks who juice and blend.  Sometimes they juice.  Sometimes the blend.  Sometimes they juice some fruits/ veggies & add the juice to thier smoothies.  Yup.  You can get crazy with the whole liquid food options.

Whether you juice, blend or just munch on fruits and veggies, the important thing is that you are consuming raw foods.  They are vital to our health.  They give life.  They heal… and here in America – the truth is most of us aren’t eating enough of them.

Do you juice or blend?  Tell me why!  I’d LOOOOVE to hear from you in the comments below.

Stay Healthy Folks!

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XO,

Candi