A Nutritional Showdown: Juicing vs. Blending
If you’re passionate about wellness, you know that there are many ways to consume nutritious foods in order to boost your overall health. For people who are always on the go and love a convenient way to get their daily nutrients in, juices and smoothies are popular options.
You’ve probably heard of juicing and blending before, but have you ever taken a deep dive into the differences between the two? Though juices and smoothies often include many of the same ingredients, the method of creating these beverages can produce very different results.
One of the most important steps to creating your perfect healthy lifestyle is to educate yourself. That way, you can make informed decisions about your health. Read on to learn more about juicing vs. blending and why you might choose one or the other — or both — for your wellness routine.
Table of contents:
- What Is Juicing?
- What Is Blending?
- Juicing vs. Blending: Is One Healthier Than the Other?
- How to Choose Between Juicing vs. Blending
- How to Include Smoothies in Your Wellness Routine
- How to Include Juice in Your Wellness Routine
- Try a Juice Cleanse
- Making a Healthy Diet Easy with Clean Juice
What Is Juicing?
Juicing is the process of converting whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, roots, and seeds, into liquid form. Some juices are made with a single fruit or vegetable, while others are made from multiple ingredients for flavor, nutritional value, and consistency.
Juice can be created in multiple ways, but two of the most common today are the centrifugal juicer and the cold press juicer. The centrifugal juicer turns whole foods into liquids using a fast-moving blade, which essentially chops up the foods until they are extremely fine. The cold press juicer squeezes the foods down until they are crushed before separating the pulp. This step ensures that the finished product is smooth and easy to drink.
At Clean Juice, all our juices are created using the cold press method. Since the fruits and vegetables are never heated with the cold press juicer like they are with the centrifugal juicer, they can maintain a more complex nutrient profile. This method also allows us to extract as much juice as possible from our fruits and vegetables.
Common Juicing Myths
One of the most popular myths surrounding juicing is the idea that juices have less fiber than smoothies. The truth is that the juicing process removes the insoluble fiber present in fruit and vegetable skin. In doing so, though, it leaves soluble fiber intact, which is much more easily digestible.
Another common myth regarding juicing vs. blending is that juice has more sugar than smoothies. As long as both beverages are made with the same ingredients, one won’t have a higher sugar content than the other.
Benefits of Juicing
Juicing at home or ordering in is an easy way to get your daily servings of fruits and vegetables in. So many juice combinations can be both nutritious and delicious, and including juice in your diet regularly is a convenient way to boost your health.
Drawbacks of Juicing
Depending on the juicing method you prefer, home juicers can be relatively expensive. And though fruit and vegetable juice is known to be nutrient-dense, it shouldn’t be used as a meal replacement due to the low-calorie count. The only exception to this is if you’re drinking juices for a short-term cleanse.
What Is Blending
Blending is a method of liquifying fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients that create smoothies. In the blender, multiple small, sharp blades move quickly to pulverize the foods inside. While this process is somewhat similar to how the centrifugal juicer works, the blender doesn’t diminish the volume of the ingredients quite as much, which results in a thicker consistency.
The blending process does not release as much of the fruit or vegetable’s water content as juicing. As a result, you’ll typically need to add water, milk, juice, or another pure liquid into the blender to create your desired thickness. Most smoothies contain a wide array of ingredients for flavor as well as nutritional value.
Common Blending Myths
A common misconception about smoothies and blended drinks is that they are full of added sugars. Unfortunately, many of the top smoothie chains do add sugary ingredients like sherbet, ice cream, sweetened yogurt, or even flavored syrups to make their products as tasty as possible.
This means that you don’t get the maximum nutritional benefits from ingredients like fruits or vegetables. They are likely overshadowed by the high sugar and calorie content of the drink.
In truth, smoothies can be as healthy (or as unhealthy) as you make them. That’s why you should opt to prepare smoothies at home or order them from health-conscious brands like Clean Juice. This way, you’ll know exactly what is in the list of ingredients so you can make informed choices about your health.
Benefits of Blending
When it comes to juicing vs. blending, it’s much more common to have a blender at home than it is a juicer, which makes smoothies more easily accessible than fresh juice. Another bonus of smoothies is you can use frozen ingredients and still get the great taste and texture you’re looking for, while the juicing process typically requires fresh ingredients.
Blending is a very quick process that can yield several servings of a tasty, nutritious beverage in minutes. You can also add so much more to your smoothie than just fruits and vegetables, including all kinds of health-boosting, nutritious ingredients like:
- Protein powder
- Chia seeds
- Maca powder
- Spirulina
- And so many more
This is why a nutrient-dense smoothie can be safely used as a meal replacement. And good news – we offer all of these nutritious ingredients as add-ins to your smoothies at Clean Juice! Find your nearest location here.
Drawbacks of Blending
Since blended drinks typically have more ingredients than juices, it can be tricky to get the recipe exactly right. If you add too much of one ingredient or too little of another, you may end up with an unpleasant consistency or strange flavor.
And it’s important to remember that the insoluble fiber of the fruits and vegetables is still fully present in your smoothie. While having more fiber isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it may cause bloating or gut issues for those with sensitive digestive systems.
Juicing vs. Blending: Is One Healthier Than the Other?
Everyone has their preferences when it comes to taste, texture, and convenience in the juicing vs. blending debate. However, is one superior to the other in terms of health?
This is a complex question, as everyone’s health markers and wellness habits will look different. That said, in simple terms, there is no inherently healthier option when comparing juicing vs. blending. How “healthy” a juice or smoothie is will depend on how it’s made, what ingredients are used, and how your body reacts to those ingredients.
Once you realize that juicing vs. blending can be equally useful in your wellness journey, you can start to incorporate both into your routine, depending on your preferences and goals. The healthiest diets tend to be those that incorporate a huge variety of foods, which means there is plenty of room for both juices and smoothies.
How to Choose Between Juicing vs. Blending
Deciding which method to use can be tricky, especially when you’re considering details like nutritional value, convenience, and satiety. Both juicing vs. blending can be equally healthy, but you may choose one over the other depending on your specific needs.
Let’s take a look at two different situations and consider whether juicing vs. blending might be the better choice.
Juicing vs. Blending for Meal Replacement
Sometimes, you simply don’t have time to cook an entire meal full of the nutrient-dense ingredients you crave, especially during a busy workday. This is when drinking a smoothie to replace one of your meals can be extremely convenient.
Juices are full of micronutrients like vitamins and minerals, but they tend to lack essential macronutrients like protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. These are some of the most important nutrients to include in your meals in order to feel full, energized, and ready to take on the day.
To make your smoothie filling enough to replace a meal, try adding ingredients like yogurt, protein powder, nut butter, or chia seeds. You’ll be amazed at how satisfying a smoothie can be when you’re in a rush and need something nutritious on the go.
Juicing vs. Blending for Supplementing Nutrients
What if you’re already in the habit of preparing healthy meals for yourself but simply need to fill in some nutritional gaps? This can happen when you focus too much on the macronutrients in your meal and forget about the micronutrients.
We need so many different vitamins and minerals in our bodies every day, and getting them all in through breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be a challenge. This is where juice can come in handy.
If you include one or two fruit and vegetable juices in your day, you can double or even triple the number of micronutrients you’re consuming without too many extra calories. And since juice is made up of mostly water, more juice each day means more hydration. This could in turn mean better energy, clearer skin, smoother digestion, and many other positive effects.
How to Include Smoothies in Your Wellness Routine
Smoothies have so many incredible health benefits. If you’re interested in including smoothies in your daily routine, there are many easy ways to do so.
Try replacing one meal every few days with a nutrient-dense smoothie. The best time to do this is during a busy day when you don’t have the time to cook. Smoothies can be an especially beneficial option if you’re on a weight loss journey or are simply looking to clean up your diet. You’ll find that they can make for a satisfying and relatively low-calorie meal that you can enjoy anywhere.
Keep in mind, too, that you can adjust your smoothie recipe to increase your intake of any nutrients you’re lacking elsewhere. For example, if you’re having trouble getting enough protein each day, try adding a scoop of protein powder or some Greek yogurt to your smoothie. This works for both macronutrients and micronutrients, depending on your goals and what items you have on hand.
Rather have Clean Juice blend up fan-favorite protein smoothies for you? We have a wide array of delicious options like “The Recovery One” or the “The Chocolate One” with your choice of hemp or whey protein. Explore all our protein smoothies here!
How to Include Juice in Your Wellness Routine
Juice is a tasty, refreshing way to increase your nutrient intake and boost your overall wellness. Juices are much less dense than smoothies, which means they are easier to consume as a beverage with meals or in between meals rather than as a meal replacement.
Starting your day with fresh juice is a great way to jumpstart your hydration and nutrient consumption. This is an especially helpful strategy if you don’t typically eat breakfast or aren’t usually hungry in the morning. Beginning the day with fresh juice packed with fruits and vegetables will get you well on your way to consuming your essential nutrients before you’ve even had a meal.
Try a Juice Cleanse
Another popular way to incorporate juices into a healthy diet is through juice cleanses. A juice cleanse is a special diet that incorporates different types of juices either in place of or in addition to meals. There are numerous kinds of cleanses to choose from that allow you to focus on different goals, including energy, weight loss, debloating, and more.
Since juices are not adequate replacements for meals in the long term, our Clean Juice cleanses can last anywhere from a few days to a single day. After your juice cleanse, your body will feel refreshed and energized. This is a great way to get your digestion back on track after a vacation or simply reset your eating habits to include more nutrient-dense foods.
Making a Healthy Diet Easy With Clean Juice
When it comes to juicing vs. blending, our team at Clean Juice believes that both sides are winners. Including more fresh juice in your wellness routine is a great way to boost your health, consume more nutrients, and feel great. The same goes for smoothies, which can make it easy to pack in all the essential macro- and micronutrients to keep you satisfied between meals.
We make it easy to incorporate both juices and smoothies into your diet, as well as other healthy favorites like açaí bowls, sandwiches, and more. Find your nearest Clean Juice to get started today.
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Disclaimer: The information presented here is for educational purposes only and is in no way intended as a substitute for medical counseling. Consult your doctor before using any health treatment, including natural remedies, and tell your doctor if you have a serious medical condition or are taking any medications. If you’re unsure whether a cleanse would be a healthy choice for you, ask your doctor.