What Is Healthier: Juicing or Blending?
What Is Healthier: Juicing or Blending?
Health benefits of juicing and blending are huge. But, what is a healthier method to prepare a fresh healthy drink? Juicing or blending? Medical experts believe that both methods are healthy. They differ from each other by the technical specification and treating of fruits and vegetables. Their specificity determines when it is better to juice and when to blend. Namely, medical experts recommend juicing when the immune system is compromised, such as in cancer patients or when it is not fully developed like in children. Fresh juice is full of essential nutrients that go into the blood stream directly. Juicing removes pulp and thus depriving it of insoluble fiber. It makes the juice more digestible. We can also opt for a glass of fresh juice when feeling tired, drained, or weak. The healthy content of a fresh juice goes immediately into the blood stream, making us feel energized. Juicing does not only help us feel energized, but it also boosts our immunity very fast. On the other hand, blending helps us take more insoluble fiber that regulates digestion. Blending also enables using more vegetables that cannot be juiced like spinach, leeks, eggplants, and so on. To find out more about what is healthier: juicing or blending, the article “Which Is Healthier: To Juice or to Blend?” gives us the following explanation.
What Is Healthier: Juicing or Blending?
There are some big differences on both a micro and macro level when it comes to centrifugal juice extractors and blenders. The larger scale, macro-level differences appear in consistency. A blended apple has much more solidity to it than a juiced apple, and there are also clear differences in taste. Regarding the smaller, more cellular level, Foodmatters.tv says:
“Juicing is a process which extracts water and nutrients from produce and discards the indigestible fiber. Without all the fiber, your digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard to break down the food and absorb the nutrients. In fact, it makes the nutrients more readily available to the body in much larger quantities than if you were to eat the fruits and vegetables whole.” While this is great for those who want quickly digesting nutrients, the fact is that a juiced fruit or vegetable loses its valuable fiber content in addition to some of the nutrients contained in its skin.
TLDR: Blending fruits and vegetables retains fiber and nutrients that juicing excludes.
Even though juicing and blending are healthy, medical experts do not recommend to use any of them as a separate meal. They both lack fat and protein. Fat is especially important because it helps the rich nutrients from juice or smoothie to absorb better. However, we can make a smoothie a full meal or a healthy snack at least. By adding flax seeds, almonds, or nuts, we can make a high-quality smoothie that helps us feel full and energized at the same time.