Blending vs Juicing. Which is better? This is a question I get very often. However, since I was hosted on the morning show at NTV Uganda a couple of weeks ago, where I was discussing the issue of making healthy juices for health promotion, I have received this question much more frequently. Let me try and shed some light here about this important issue.
First of all, what do these terms refer to?
In order to get to the bottom of this, we really need to understand what these terms are. It is not as obvious as many people think. In both cases of juicing and blending, fruits and/or vegetables are converted into a liquid form (juice) to be drunk rather than eaten whole. However, when juicing, the machine being used to make the juice extracts out the juice (which is drunk) and leaves behind the pulp (which is not consumed).
Juicing only refers to this. Blending isn’t the same thing as juicing. When blending, on the other hand, the machine converts the whole food by pulverizing into a smoothie like drink that contains both the juice and the pulp. So blending retains the pulp and juicing removes the pulp.
So, which of these two is better?
This really depends on your objective. In both cases, you will be consuming juice from foods that are nutrition powerhouses and will, therefore, give you an abundance of beneficial vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients. In both cases, the drink you consume is very healthy and is great for fighting disease and enhancing our immunity.
With both juicing and blending you are likely to be able to get (and often exceed) your required daily dose of fruit and vegetables because you can consume much more of these foods in juice than you would if you tried to eat them whole. And you will also benefit from eating them uncooked which is the best way to get all the beneficial nutrients they contain.
However, the key difference in choosing which is better lies in the fact that when juicing you remove the pulp. And when this is done, although the nutrient absorption is higher in juicing than in blending, because the pulp that is high in fibre is removed during juicing, caution needs to be taken for a couple of reasons.
The fibre helps to regulate blood sugar entry. Juices with pulp will have a better effect on blood sugar than juices without pulp. In fact, some juices made by juicing may not be suitable for people with diabetes, with blood sugar control problems especially if the juice was made with energy dense foods like fruit.
The pulp helps to keep people satisfied because it is bulky and high in fibre. Juice made by juicing doesn’t help with satiety and often people get hungry very often and rather quickly when they juice rather than when they blend. This could lead to eating more when someone is juicing rather than blending. And when weight loss is the objective it is important to stay comfortable and not be too hungry. Juicing isn’t as good as blending for weight loss.
The pulp helps with bowel movements. The juice from blending is better if you want your bowels to move better and also helps to avoid constipation. When you are on a detox, you want your bowels to move often to be able to expel the toxins being removed by the liver.
Juices made from juicing require much more produce (fruit and vegetables) because a lot of the pulp is left out. This makes it more expensive because you need considerably more produce to make the juice.
Juicers are much harder to use and even clean. Many people find that this puts them off and soon these juicers end up being unused expensive devices in our kitchen cabinets.
It, therefore, seems that aside from the extra nutrient absorption when you juice rather than blend, the loss of the pulp and fibre has significant drawbacks that you need to be aware of. That said, I recommend that as much as possible, you should blend rather than juice.
However, one key challenge remains when people think about blending. The pulp in the juice often makes it hard to drink and sometimes the juice is too thick and requires some chewing. Many people don’t like this.
The good news is that there are now more powerful blenders or nutrient extractors that allow you to blend the whole food which eventually comes out as a smoothie that is very easy to drink. Such devices produce very nice drinks (still thicker than what the juicer makes) but now very smooth, easy drinking and with all the pulp and fibre. This means all the benefits to your weight, digestion, satiety, blood sugar and even health are all retained. One of these devices is the popular nutribullet.
The Nutribullet is what I call a “super blender” that is superior to both a juicer and the normal blenders. It gives you the best of both worlds. When you own one of these, you no longer have to worry if you and your family are getting enough fruit and vegetables because you will love these drinks and will be able to supplement what you eat with what you drink. And it is one of the easiest devices to use.
I recommend that every home should have one of these devices. This is one device that I am very happy to promote. It has transformed so many peoples lives and can do the same for you. It will help you to regularly detoxify your body, reduce your belly, lose weight, prevent and manage chronic diseases like hypertension and even diabetes.
If you would like one please get in touch with our clinic and we can help you get one. See this as an investment to your health. Click here if you would like to get one or visit my website to learn more.
But one last thing, remember that it is usually better to eat high sugar foods like fruit whole (with all the fibre) than making them into juice. If you do, however, want to make juice, please ensure that it is mostly made of the non-starchy vegetables (like cabbage, spinach, broccoli etc) and with less fruit. The desired ratio of vegetables to fruit is 4:1 or 3:1. There should always be more vegetables than fruit but it is ok to have some fruit especially the lower sugar fruits and also to enhance the taste.
Ultimately the choice of blending vs juicing is up to you. In either case, you are much better off than drinking any other juice or any other drink (apart from water of course). However, my feeling is that blending with a high-quality blender such as a nutribullet overall is more beneficial than juicing.