Juicing IS NOT the same as blending and vice versa!

If you are using a BLENDER and think you are juicing you are NOT! You would be making a smoothie or a shake if it is made in a blender. Juicing is JUST the juice and you use a juicer, which extracts the juice and leaves you with the pulp. When you make a smoothie or shake, you are blending the WHOLE fruit and vegetable. Both juicing and blending are wonderful ways to get in a variety of fruits and veggies and both provide you with all kinds of health benefits. The picture over  ☞ is a great visual.

The Low Down on Juicing…

In the picture below you can see how much whole food it takes to get one decent size glass of juice. This yields about 1 1/2 cups of juice. When juicing, for the health benefits, you should try to stay with just one piece of fruit. Why? Because fruit does have sugar (fructose). Yes is naturally occurring and you are probably saying to yourself, “But you tell me that fruit is good for us and it is okay to eat?” Yes, fruit is good for us and the naturally occurring sugar is okay for us to consume as well but you want to eat your fruit more than you drink it. Think of it this way. To get one cup of apple juice you would have to juice approximately five apples, depending on the size. That is a lot of apples and a lot of sugar. Now, do you think you could sit down and eat five apples at one time? Probably not! The whole apple fills you up because of it’s fiber. This is why you want to stay with one piece of fruit when juicing. Make sense?

Juicing = Micronutrients

When you juice, you get micronutrients from the fruits and vegetables. What is micronutrients? It is the vitamin and minerals from those fruits and vegetables. If  you remember from 🔝 the juice is extracted and you are left with the pulp (the fiber). Why is this beneficial? The benefits of micronutrients are that you get immediate absorption of all that goodness from the fruits and vegetables due to your body not having to break anything down (the fiber and such). It also gives your digestive tract a rest which is a good thing from time to time.

The Low Down on Blending…

When you use a blender you are making either a smoothie or shake. A smoothie being your fruits and vegetables and a shake being a protein shake. When using your blender you do still want to watch those fruits, but think about it this way again. Would you blend 5 apples? Probably not! That would be one gigantic smoothie! Blending is a great way to get in greens. If you are not a greens eater try putting a handful of spinach in your next smoothie/shake. Spinach has such a mild flavor you won’t even taste it. Another advantage of blending all kinds of goodness is that you can have a complete meal in no time! You can add protein like a protein powder or plain yogurt. You can add healthy fats like a nut butter, almonds, ground flax seed, avocado, etc. The sky is the limit. Making smoothies/shakes is such a great, easy, fast and healthy way to whip up some goodness, especially for breakfast.

Blending = Macronutrients 

When you use a blender you are consuming the whole fruit and vegetable therefore you are getting the macronutrients, which means you are getting the benefits of the whole fruit and vegetable. When we consume the whole food our body has to work to break those nutrients down therefore the nutrients are released into the body much slower over time as opposed to juicing when it is immediate.

Which do I prefer? BOTH! You cannot go wrong with either! They both provide us with wonderful health benefits. I mean, anytime you are consuming fruit and vegetables it is a good thing. Right? Disclaimer: as long as your fruit is not being consumed in a “dessert” way or your veggies are smothered in butter or cheese. 😉

Some information for ya…a good documentary to watch on juicing is Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.

Much Love,

Jennie B