We all know that fruits and vegetables are good for us, yet very few people eat enough of them. Virtually every health professional recommends 6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. To help increase your fruit and vegetable intake try drinking all-natural nutrition packed fresh juices and smoothies! They are both amazing additions to any diet plan because they’re healthy and they provide a steady fuel supply to your body with all the necessary nutrients you need.
As more people are now experimenting with new recipes for green juices and smoothies and these beverages are becoming a more mainstream approach to healthy eating and detoxifying, it brings up a very popular question, “Which is better, juicing or blending?” Blending and juicing are both beneficial in different ways. But is one better than the other? Here is a short comparison to help you learn more about green beverages and select which method is right for you!
Juicing:
Juicing is a process which extracts water and nutrients from produce and discards all of the fiber allowing for a great concentration of nutrients to be easily absorbed by your body for immediate use. Without all of the fiber, your digestive system does not need to work as hard to break down the fruits and vegetables in your juice, therefore the liquid juice with all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and enzymes is quickly absorbed into your blood stream giving you radiant energy.
Benefits of Juicing:
- Quick Nutrition – All of the nutrients in your freshly squeezed juice enter your bloodstream immediately after consumption, since there is no fiber!
- Higher Energy Levels – Because all of nutrients provided by your juice are assimilated and absorbed so quickly your body is instantly replenished and revitalized, making you feel more energized!
- Easy Digestion – Because of the lack of fiber your digestive organs do very little work. This is ideal for people with irritable digestive system and is great for those seeking to cleanse and detoxify.
It is important to note that your green juice should be consumed as quickly as possible to make sure none of the valuable nutrients are lost, ideally you should drink within 12 hours for optimal nutritional value.
Blending (green smoothies):
Blending is a technique that liquefies and emulsifies your fresh ingredients creating a relatively thick and voluminous healthy beverage. Blending will finely chop up the entire fruit or vegetable, including the skin, to produce a smooth consistency.
Benefits of Blending:
- Fiber, fiber, fiber! Blending fruits and vegetables retains all the fiber, which helps you feel full longer! Fiber acts like a broom in your digestive system, cleaning out the toxins built up in the colon helping with digestion, and creates a slower release of nutrients into the blood stream avoiding blood sugar spikes.
- Feeling Full and Satisfied – Since the smoothie is packed with fiber and nutrients you have a glass or two and be completely satisfied for up 2-4 hours. Remember, that often times a smoothie can replace a meal.
- Stays Fresh – A smoothie can be stored up to 3 days without any vitamins or minerals being destroyed.
Both smoothies and fresh juices are excellent choices to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet, it just depends on what works best for you and on your individualized nutrition goals and needs. In the end, they are both healthy and delicious ways to boost the amount of micronutrients in your diet.