Remember the juicing craze that swept the globe?
If you’ve seen documentaries like Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead or Hungry for Change, then you’ve already seen almost all there is to it.
It spread like wildfire, and there’s a lot of misinformation that we’re going to cover in this post.
That’s not to say that you should never juice; there are benefits to both, but it’s time to set the record straight on the differences between blending and juicing.
The most notable difference is consistency. Blending fruits and vegetables together will keep all of the fibers (pulp) in the drink that you’re making.
Juicing extracts all of them, making a smoother and easier-to-swallow drink. Your ultimate choice might come down to this key difference, but there are other things to consider.
Benefits of Blending Food Over Juicing
Blending leaves the pulp in, and while there aren’t a lot of fans of pulp out there, it’s one of the most beneficial things for you.
Blending pulverizes fibers to make a smooth but thick consistency, which retains almost all of the benefits.
Antioxidant Concentration
Antioxidants in fruit and vegetables are one of the main reasons that they’re good for you. Antioxidants fight free radicals in the body, which are cancer-causing cells.
The more antioxidants in your diet, the better. When you juice, you’re leaving behind phytochemicals—anti-inflammatory agents that reduce swelling and pain throughout the body, while carrying antioxidants.
More pulp means more phytochemicals.
Feeling Full
One reason that you’re drinking a blended vegetable/fruit beverage is to, well, feel full.
Juicing might give a faster absorption of antioxidants and nutrients, but it’s not going to make you feel full.
You begin metabolizing juice before it has time to make your stomach feel full, but fiber takes longer to digest and has more substance to it.
Healthier Movements
It’s a touchy subject, but when you juice, you’re more likely to have inconsistent movements as well as unfavorable consistencies.
You’re getting nutrients, but your body needs fiber to process waste properly.
The lack of fiber affects the entire digestive process. Juicing might give you a spike of energy from the natural sugars, but it
Loud Operation
Juicers have to pulverize pulp and hard press liquid through a filtration system.
If you’ve never heard a juicer going off, consider yourself lucky—they operate loud enough to cause temporary hearing impairment, and that sound seems to echo in your kitchen.
Digestion and actually feeling full are enormously important. Nothing is worse than making an $8 cup of juice just to not feel full after drinking it.
Benefits of Juicing Food Over Blending
We’re not demonizing juicing, here.
There are still some benefits that blending just doesn’t offer, but for most of us, it’s not enough to side in.
Nutrient Concentration
While you will lose a good portion of the antioxidants once the pulp is extracted, you can pack more vitamins and nutrients into a smaller glass of juice over a blended beverage.
It’s like getting a shock to the system of pure nutrients and vitamins, and it definitely has its place even in a mostly blended diet.
Easier Digestion
While fiber is important for proper digestion, you will digest juice a lot faster.
So long as you’re not going on a juice-exclusive diet, this shouldn’t have too much of a negative impact on movements.
Because of this, you’ll feel that concentrated blast of nutrients and energy-inducing vitamins a lot faster than with a blended drink.
The walls of your mouth will begin absorbing these immediately, so you’ll feel it kick on in no time.
Easier to Consume
If you’re on a health kick but you aren’t really enjoying it yet, juicing provides a much more palatable way to introduce all of these vitamins and minerals into your body.
The pulp in blended drinks is often when drives people away, but with juicing, it’s a simpler way to take control of your health without having to necessarily enjoy what you’re preparing.
If you’re wondering why we didn’t talk about toxins being flushed from the body from juicing, it’s because there isn’t enough scientific literature to suggest that this effect has any merit.
Juicing plans will always talk about toxins, though they never specify which toxins are being removed from the body.
It’s a blanket statement: whether it’s juiced or blended, introducing fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet, in any form, is going to help your body and make you feel better.
It improves every part of your life.
Health Benefits of Blending and Juicing
Unlike many ambiguous articles, we’re going to actually tell you what blending and juicing do for your health, with studies to back everything up.
1. Since less than 33% of Americans are getting their daily recommended intake of fruits and vegetables, simply increasing your daily intake will provide the benefits that we all know fruits and vegetables offer.
2. Blending beverages maintains the fiber concentration in fruits and vegetables, and we could all use a bit more fiber. You want to keep the peels and skins on your fruits and vegetables to reap the most rewards, but this will improve your digestive health, and reduce your risk for obesity, type II diabetes, cancer, stroke, and heart disease.
3. Either way, you get a higher concentration of antioxidants than you are likely having now. Antioxidants directly fight oxidative stress, which is what causes your cells to degrade and withstand far more damage than they should. While it’s near impossible to overdose on natural antioxidants, supplements with manufactured antioxidants should be taken with the utmost seriousness.
4. Vitamin A is perhaps one of the most integral vitamins you can consume. While most vitamin A is found in eggs and meats, you can get a significant amount from vegetables such as spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots and more. Some are harder to work into dishes, but the benefits are well beyond worth it.
5. Potassium is usually received in supplemental form these days, but natural potassium helps to reduce your blood pressure without overdoing it. In synthetic or manufactured forms, it’s easy to overdo it on core nutrients like this, but this helps maintain a balance. Potassium is the opposite of sodium, in a sense: it helps to regulate kidney function and flush out extra sodium as a byproduct.
6. You’re likely to make a bunch of smoothies with your blender, and that’s a good thing. Despite the added natural sugars, you’re helping your heart with phytonutrients. Also, those sugars aren’t the same as processed white sugar: natural sugar is digested slower and helps maintain your metabolism, whereas processed sugar has no redeeming qualities. If you take it out of your life entirely, you won’t be missing anything.
Blenders Reign Supreme for Healthier Food Choices
It isn’t just a bias because we enjoy blenders—it’s important to get fiber and a higher concentration of antioxidants.
95% of Americas aren’t getting enough dietary fiber as it is, and blending your fruits and vegetables, as opposed to juicing them, will give you upwards of 60% more antioxidants.
Juice takes on the flavor of the vegetable, which is why whenever you find juice recipes with a lot of greens (think kale, spinach, broccoli and others that are less desirable), they always throw in a lot of apples or berries to balance the flavor out.
There’s nothing wrong with this, but with blending, there are more options open to you if you aren’t a fan of some certain superfoods.
You can’t use a juicer to make a smoothie. Smoothies are one of the best ways to introduce vegetables with the flavor of fruits, while still having all of the health benefits (I’ve been doing it to my children’s smoothies for years).
You can get a close consistency to juice without removing the pulp, as well.
The more you pulverize your beverage, the thinner the fiber is going to become. It’s not being destroyed or diminished; it’s just easier to digest and consume.
Juicing physically removes that pulp, and while some juice recipes might be extremely desirable, it’s like taking the entire point as to why you’re consuming all of these fruits and vegetables in the first place and cutting them in half.
Grab a High-Powered Blender Instead of a Juicer
Keep that pulp, boost those antioxidants, and live a healthier life.
We’ve covered a ton of different blenders, some of which can pulverize that pulp so it just tastes like a thick smoothie.
Think of the right blender as a gateway into the healthier side of life, in the most enjoyable way possible. It’s difficult to get your daily dose of fruits and vegetables unless you’re drinking them instead.
This is an investment; choose wisely, and you’ll have your blender for years to come.
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